10 Seconds: Aleks Dimitrova
1. Oscar Peterson - Georgia On My Mind (0'47" - 0'57")
from Oscar Peterson - Night Train (1963)
“These are probably the most significant 10 seconds in any piece of music in my life so far. This is the tune, and later album, which started off my obsession and journey in jazz. Initially, I replayed the line which Oscar plays here probably hundreds of times just trying to revisit the feeling I got the first time I heard it. The tension, the time feel, the touch, delayed resolution etc - everything about it is perfect to me. I have always loved the blues, and through this I found a whole other endless world of it AND discovered Ray Brown, who stays (and will probably forever remain) my biggest inspiration when it comes to the double bass."
2. Ahmad Jamal - Sweet and Lovely (1’35” - 1’45”)
from Ahmad Jamal's Alhambra (1961)
"Another piano trio record - my favourite. The whole record is a conversation between Ahmad Jamal (piano) and Israel Crosby (bass). It is so dynamically sensitive and melodically calculated, I have never heard anything in this format that compares. It’s such a familiar band format, so the fact that they managed to craft such a distinguishable sound is invaluable.
The reason I picked these 10 seconds is because it’s at this point that Vernell Fournier (drums) transitions from brushes to sticks and starts playing ride cymbal time. It’s another rewind for me, another really hard-hitting moment from my earlier development."
3. Judee Sill - The Archetypal Man (0'05" - 0'15")
from Judee Sill - Judee Sill (1971)
“This album has recently and very quickly become incredibly special to me, I would put the whole thing here if I could. Judee Sill is a genius and one of the best songwriters to ever live, but so underrepresented. I listened to it a lot when I was away this summer and it reminds me of how rocks look through clear water when it’s sunny. The musical and lyrical narration of the whole album is totally unparalleled in my opinion, and I think that everyone could apply it to their own life in some way, she creates a profound sense of relatability.
I chose these 10 seconds because this was the first song I was shown from this album, and I replayed this intro countless times. When the bass comes in on the walk up it just makes me float and also cry."
4. Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway - You've Got a Friend (2'25" - 2'35")
from Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway (1972)
“LEGENDARY collaboration, legendary song. There’s nothing else I can really say about this. I picked these 10 seconds because of the insane left hand keyboard line Donny plays here, I just love all these small moments in music, all the little cogs and parts that cumulate into the whole. Also Chuck Rainey on basss!!!"
5. Ray Brown Trio - Freddie Freeloader (4’32” - 4’42”)
from Ray Brown Trio - Live At Scullers Jazz Club (1996)
“RAY BROWNNN!! He commands attention like no one else. I can’t explain how Ray’s playing makes me feel, it reaches somewhere very deep. You can hear the whole lineage in everything he does.
In a technical double bass sense, his intonation and beat placement are absolutely unfaltering. But again, this is just a theoretical way of trying to explain why something has a profound effect on you - which feels inexplicable."
6. Blind Blake - Diddie Wah Diddie (1’19” - 1’29”)
from Blind Blake - All the Published Sides
“No one has ever played the guitar like this since. I cannot believe that this is one instrument and not two, and he’s singing at the same time?!"
7. Robert Hurst - Albert Collins (0'13" - 0'23")
from Robert Hurst - Black Current Jam (2017)
"I first heard this tune when I watched the Kris Davis trio perform at the Vortex. I was completely amazing by Robert Hurst’s way of playing the double bass. It has become a staple cover in a trio I co-lead (‘Sula’) with some of my biggest inspirations, who I’m very lucky to also call my dearest friends, Kezia Abuoma and Miranda Radford."
8. Immanuel Wilkins - Fugitive Ritual, Selah (4’54” – 5’04”)
from Immanuel Wilkins - The 7th Hand (2022)
“This is a very special piece of music. There is no solos, Immanuel plays the melody over and over for the entire duration of the tune, after an incredible bass intro by Daryl Johns, and it just takes you somewhere else. Words can’t even scratch the surface of how this makes me feel. These 10 seconds crush my heart every time."
9. Sly and The Family Stone - Can’t Strain My Brain (0’28” – 0’38”)
from Sly and The Family Stone - Small Talk (1974)
“Root note masterclass."
10. D’angelo - I’m Glad You’re Mine (4’55” – 5’05”)
from D’angelo - Live at the Jazz Cafe (1995)
“There’s been a common theme here of ‘I remember when I first heard this’, and wanting to revisit that feeling, and it’s the same with this song. Music is so deeply associated with memories, and the people associated with those memories. I think that’s really most of what it is for me. It feels so magical and intangible to be able to access a feeling so clearly through a sound. Sometimes things can feel so ‘be all end all,’ and it's so comforting to realise that you have not heard everything you will associate a new feeling with in your lifetime. Aside from this, I picked these 10 seconds because this breakdown just hits me every time, I love how behind the beat the guitar line is."
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