In memoriam

Really hate to start this post. But we lost Rocco Prestia today, so I’ll start a place to pay respect to our heroes who have left.

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Aww man, that sucks.

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Thanks for putting this here.
What a lord and legend of the bass.

There are some great books on his playing out there. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to dig into his style and his approach.
Everything was so deep in the pocket - like each 1/16th note fit like a key in a slot. And the way his lines move? That killer dead-string-sounding-but-muted articulation he could use?

Thanks for everything, Rocco.

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@itsratso Sadly I’m not familiar with him.
But I’m always looking for new to me music :slight_smile:
Care to share your fav tracks? So I can familiarize myself with his musical style and grace?

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Played for tower of power. Had a few hits in the 70s, but more famous for being an amazing live band. If you heard anything by them it was probably this:

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I put “Still a young man” on the headphones today and grooved to his bass line there for a long while. Must have played it 10 times back to back, a great player!

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OMG, rest in peace Rocco! Thanks for sharing.

Rocco was amazing. Saw him live with TOP a few times at the Petaluma Fairgrounds. This is one of my favorite Rocco lines - what a shredder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrxRJ9HlfZk

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RIP Rocco
https://youtu.be/rtE4V6YxKZ8

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I just saw that…ironically we just had one of their songs “what is hip” in my Berklee class lessons

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Wow. Double thumbing in the Berklee class - interesting :slight_smile:

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Actually it was more about left hand muting to get that distinctive sound. One of my professors (DannyMo) is well know for using that in his playing too.

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That course sounds awesome.

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It is…other prof is Rich Appleman (prof emeritus and founder of the Berklee bass program).
This is bass performance 101…developing your style/groove

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i would like to kind of clarify that the idea for this thread is to remember all the greats that we will inevitably have to say goodbye to, not just rocco. so anyone can feel free to add to it.

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I have to say that this one really hurts. Local hero, a guy I’ve not really been as close to as some of my friends were, but known since I was pretty much a kid. Great guy, he will be missed.

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rest easy.

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https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/5992439002

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Bummer… I had lately been thinking about adding one or two of their songs to my list of “tunes to cover”.

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