A common metaphor for the bass is an "anchor," the instrument that establishes the groove in tandem with the drums. Together, they create a solid foundation for the lead instrument, or instruments, to shine.

But if you call Ron Carter, the most-recorded jazz bassist alive, an "anchor," he'll have a few choice words for you.

"You ever see an anchor? It's down at the bottom, rusty," the three-time GRAMMY winner once said. "No one knows it's there; no one gives a s— that it's there, holding the boat back. Anchor of the band? That means the band's not going anywhere.

"That's not what I do, man," Carter continued. "My job is to knock your socks off."

These days, the music community is full of contemporary bassists who knock your socks off, in all genres. Which has less to do with tearing apart the rulebook than bringing their instrument to the center of the music discourse — an instrument in the front seat, not the back.

Take the colorful and virtuosic Thundercat; his bass acumen made him a star, and even blasted him into the Star Wars universe. (Flea followed suit, in a passing of the bass torch in a galaxy far, far away. Consider fellow GRAMMY winner Linda May Han Oh, a dazzling composer on both electric and upright bass; "jazz" barely contains her artistry.

From there, the list goes on and on: Esperanza Spalding, Mali Obomsawin, Charles Berthoud, Endea Owens, Alex Claffy, Sam Wilkes, Logan Kane, and so many others. Sungazer bassist Adam Neely's music-focused YouTube channel commands 1.7 million subscribers; the bassist-YouTuber Davie504, a whopping 13 million.

Clearly, the bass is alive and well in the popular conversation — and to address all the worthy practitioners who've popped up in the last decade and change would require a thick book. 

So here's a sampler platter: five radiant bassists bringing their instrument to the forefront, who hail from a range of backgrounds and scenes.

Blu DeTiger

Watch the video for Blu DeTiger's four-on-the-floor single "Elevator," and chances are you've never seen anything like it: a pop song, and video, with the bass prominently featured.

Yet the TikTok bass phenom is unconcerned with showing off and committed to the pocket. Same in "Hot Crush Lover," which further demonstrates her fluidity and suppleness on four strings.

"I remember thinking 'So many girls play guitar and sing,'" DeTiger told Spin in 2022. "I was like, 'I want to be different. I want to do something unique.' And I've never looked back."

Bass covers of pop songs by Beyoncé, Prince, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Nas X, and others put DeTiger on the map. Since then, she's evolved into a full-fledged indie pop star, signed to Capitol Records, even performing on "Saturday Night Live" with Bleachers.

"I'm grateful and lucky that I was kind of on TikTok and stuff early on and was finding my way then." DeTiger told Reverb. "Because I feel like if I was trying to do what I was doing then now, I don't know if it would've cut through the same."

But perforate the mainstream DeTiger has — and with it, the bass gets a great deal more shine.

Sam Wilkes

L.A. bassist, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sam Wilkes is pure versatility; his sound straddles jazz fusion and ambient psychedelia without tipping over into "chill study beats."

"Jazz is just a language within another broader language. I'm a curious person and music offers up endless possibilities for me," Wilkes told The Fader. "I guess I can't escape jazz. It's what hits people first and they hear what they hear."

Jazz or no jazz, Wilkes' omnivorous muse has led to regular collaborations with saxophonist Sam Gendel and singer/songwriter Louis Cole, as well as stints in the eclectic groups Knower — who's opened for Red Hot Chili Peppers — and funk cover band Scary Pockets. 

Reared on jammers like Phish and the Dead, Wilkes was bitten by the improvisation bug early on. Although he played electric bass rather than upright, he figured USC would accept him into their jazz program anyway; despite his prodigious talent, said stumbling block barred him from the school.

But when that door closed, another opened; he entered the world of R&B and became an in-demand session cat. The career that ensued wasn't "anti-jazz," exactly; it encompasses a multitude of musical spheres, commensurately owed to brainy analysis and vibey grooves.

Adi Oasis

Adi Oasis isn't just a masterful bassist; she's a completely 360° artist — playing, singing, composing, and producing with equal facility. As such, she's not just here to jam; on her latest album, 2023's Lotus Glow, she tackles difficult subjects of identity and belonging.

"Thematically my new album is fearless, yet vulnerable, and also more political," the French-Caribbean artist wrote in a statement. "Because I'm a Black female immigrant, and these are my truths."

Oasis' pursuance of truths have paved the way for a dynamic career; she's collaborated or shared stages with leading lights like Anderson .Paak, Natalie Prass, Lee Fields, Big Freeda, and Chromeo.

Her approach to her instrument is finding a subliminal core — and a seam of infectious energy. "For me, bass is about finding a good groove that people may not even notice — a good groove that I want to keep playing forever," she told Bass Player in 2021.

Clearly, Oasis continues to accomplish this mission with every gig, every record, every collaboration.

"My entire life, every single show has felt like a victory — and I've played a lot of shows," Oasis has said of holding down the low end onstage. "The feeling that I get when I perform… that's it. That's what I've dreamt about, that's the high that I'm chasing.

"So I've made it a long time ago," the multi-hyphenate continued. "The rest is just a matter of getting more and more people in the room to share it with."

MonoNeon

When two-time GRAMMY-winning bass great Marcus Miller calls a bassist a "young bad cat" — and Prince has worked with them — any lover of four strings should investigate immediately.

MonoNeon, born Dywane Thomas, Jr., is a mighty bassist who blends soul, funk, jazz, and hip-hop, often on his eye-catching YouTube channel, where he commands 179,000 subscribers.

Thomas' father, Dywane Sr., is a bassist in his own right; Thomas curiously learned the instrument upside down from the age of four. "My dad played the right way," he explained to Thrasher in 2021. "I don't know why I flipped it over."

Victor Wooten of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones fame was a formative influence. "Seeing Victor Wooten thump the way he does really made me practice on my slapping and thumping more," MonoNeon continued. "It was difficult trying to thump upside down — I'm still working on it."

In the same interview, he shouts out Joe Cleveland, as well as Curtis Mayfield's bassist Joseph "Lucky" Scott and Muscle Shoals bass legend David Hood.

The sky was the limit for MonoNeon; he was actually one of the Purple One's final collaborators. 

"It was super cool. It wasn't what I thought it would be. Like, it was really weird and s—, but it was also laid back," Thomas added. "I still think about those Paisley Park shows that I played with Prince. I miss that shit so much, mane!"

But Prince will be remembered forever — and the more MonoNeon continues his ascendancy, chances are he will too.

Anna Butterss

What do singer/songwriters like Bright Eyes, Phoebe Bridgers and Aimee Mann have to do wit jazz musicians like Makaya McCraven, Larry Goldings and Walter Smith III? At the top of the list is Anna Butterss.

The Aussie bassist and composer's art isn't simply contained in these accompanying roles, though; her 2022 debut, Activities, contains the full spectrum of her art in microcosm.

"I was trying to subvert expectations while still keeping the music engaging, almost hooky," Butterss told Interlocutor that year. "I'm a sucker for a singable melody, but I want it to be a little off-kilter in some way, to feel surprising."

"And I wanted to express a lot of complicated and conflicting emotions, feelings that are difficult to put into words," she continued. Butterss then cited something that reveals her jazz bona fides: Thelonious Monk's concept of "ugly beauty."

No matter which context Butterss finds herself in, imagination is paramount; she can stretch her personal style any which way. So can all five of these bassists, as they've proved time and time again — every time they bring a background instrument to the forefront, to brilliant results.

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