The technique of ‘slap bass’ which involves plucking the strings to produce a strong rhythmic click as well as the tone has a surprisingly long history. Although the technique has not been attributed to one player it seems that the sound developed and spread in the dance halls of New Orleans around 1916. The string bass had become a part of the ‘jazz’ sound and was replacing the tuba and sousaphone (except on the street where brass still reigned supreme.) In the late 1890s th