5 Cool Instruments - 5: The Double Bass

So me and my brother were having a, shall we say, lively debate about the coolest instrument and I thought I would produce a count down of the 5 coolest instruments in my humble opinion.

Now I not one man's 'cool' is another man's 'square', so we will do the cool test:

The following image is an example of the kind of cool we are aiming for:



So now we know what cool is. Thus we have the double bass. One of my favourate instruments and undeniably cool; it's got ROOTS in the some of the greatest music genres of all time (see below) it has a lush, smokey and sensuous sound (see from the jazz solo), but it is also suprisingly versitile(see remaining links - esp. Stanley Clarke!!!)

Marco Panascia solo jazz bass Blues in F by Charlie Parker (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4Hx0VfUbTw

BLUES, BABY! - Willie Dixon - Bassology (1966):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcqqyL-Y6Go&feature=related

Tony "Slash" Redhorse from The Rocketz = rock 'n' roll (2009):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xIcndVBLSc

The sensational Stanley Clarke discusses the double bass (2007):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py3jT0uaZw0&feature=related

However, as Stanley Clarke says it is slightly limited by its sound and shape -- it is also prone to be tarnished with the brush of novely music which, whilst not always *totally* awful, is certainly not cool in the Kia Ora sense(see The Baseballs). But if it is played by something who really knows what they are doing, then it can be thoroughly interesting, unusal and entertaining.

So double bass. Number 5.