Bootsy Collins

Band: James Brown / P-Funk
Gear: SVT4PRO, SVT410HLF
Website: www.myspace.com/bootzillaproduction

To back-engineer the development of funk, soul and rap, one only has to look as far as master bass innovator Bootsy Collins. The flamboyant, glam-alien bassist played alongside – and helped define the sound – of such R&B/soul/funk pioneers as James Brown and George Clinton, who benefited from Collins’ otherworldly rhythmic style, characterized by an envelope filter that morphed his bass into his signature watery sound.

With his trademark star-shaped Space Bass (boasting three inputs), Bootsy designs rap and dance floor grooves from the inside out, played in rhythms that should be patented, a trait distinguishable only to him.

Psychedelically nasty and funky, Bootsy and his Rubber Band (part of the Parliament/Funkadelic family of bands) provided a boilerplate for rap music and has created an unmistakable funk / bass legacy that has few, if any, peers.