Never a type of lone musician who plays the scales millions of times, the rising young bassist honed his skills in jam sessions, in the high school jazz band and playing with some of Detroit’s best jazz musicians, like Kenny Burrell, Yusef Lateef and Hank Jones. At Northwestern High, Jamerson picked up a vertical bass that was on the floor of the music room and “found” his instrument. In 1953, Jamerson’s mother moved to Detroit to find work. Forced to wear high shoes to walk, the incident left Jamerson limping slightly and with an embarrassment that would torment him for life.

He began to develop his innate musical talents while listening to gospel, jazz and blues stations incessantly.Īfter a bicycle accident, he spent a year in a wheelchair.

When his parents divorced, Jamerson divided his time between his grandmother who played the piano, an aunt who sang in the church choir and practiced piano at her cousin’s house. His father worked in shipyards and his mother was a domestic worker. was born on January 29, 1936, in Charleston, NC, to the union of James Lee Jamerson, Sr. Jamerson’s playing was nothing short of revolutionary. The innovative bassist moved the bass R & B / pop playing from the fifth root of two standard beats for a more dynamic approach: using fast pass tones, double stops and syncopation. Jamerson was not Motown’s first bassist, but he was certainly the first to incorporate a new perspective and intuitiveness along with his own jazz / blues formation on the R & B / pop inclinations of Motown founder Berry Gordy. James Jamerson shaped a new style of bass playing and brought what was considered by some to be an “inferior” instrument to the forefront through the use of the Fender electric bass, driven by his musical genius and incredible dexterity.

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