GROOVE MASTER

“I don’t care if you can solo. Make people groove,” says the great Etienne Mbappé. Alison Richter digs into the philosophy behind the bass-lines

According to Etienne Mbappé, the criterion that makes for a good rhythm section is non-negotiable. “Bass and drums are the foundation,” he says, “and you can’t build a house without a foundation. Whatever music I am playing, I ask myself, what does my part provide? I want to make people dance. I want to see people swing. If you can do that, for me, you’re a great bass player. I don’t care if you can solo. Make people groove. If people don’t dance, then your job is not done.”

Mbappé holds himself to that standard in all of his recordings and performances, from his seven-piece band, the Prophets, to his work with the Ringers, John McLaughlin, and Project Mama Earth, where he played bass and guitar alongside vocalist Joss Stone, guitarist Nitin Sawhney, keyboardist Jonathan Shorten, and drummer/founding member Jonathan Joseph. The band’s debut album, Mama Earth, was released in 2017, after the band gathered at Stone’s home studio in Devon, England and wrote the songs together on site.

Mbappé used his Warwick Star Bass II SC5 and F-Bass BN5 on the album. “Both are great basses,” he says. “But the gear wasn’t that important for me in this recording, because the process of creation was so high and so intense that I could have grabbed whatever bass was there and played music with that. The guitars I found in Joss’s studio.”