Young gun Dane Alderson follows Jimmy Haslip and Felix Pastorius as the newest bassist to swarm with the Yellowjackets
There are bass gigs, and then there are the coveted bass chairs — seats so well established by baddasses in service to major musical voices that when a replacement comes onboard, the expectations are particularly high. That was certainly the case when Jimmy Haslip left the nest of Yellowjackets, after four decades of landmark work, to be followed in fine form by Felix Pastorius for a few years. Since then, the buzz about the third heir to the Jackets throne can best be described as a continuous crescendo. Dane Alderson has been nothing short of a revelation. On his 2016 Jackets’ debut, Cohearance, he first turned heads on saxophonist Bob Mintzer’s straight-ahead jaunt “Guarded Optimism,” bringing a new level of nuance to walking on the electric bass, both in half-time and double-time tempos. Next, he takes an assured, expressive solo on pianist Russell Ferrante’s key-hopping ballad “Anticipation,” before bringing both skills to the giant-stepping harmony of Ferrante and