Shalamar put out some of the most infectious R&B records of the early 80s. “There It Is” is one of those tracks I keep going back to because the groove is just relentless.
Shalamar was a Los Angeles group put together by Solar Records — the same label that gave us The Whispers. The classic lineup was Jeffrey Daniel, Howard Hewett, and Jody Watley. They had massive hits in the UK especially, crossing over in ways that most American R&B acts of the time didn’t manage. “There It Is” came from the “Friends” album in 1982, which is one of the strongest records in the Solar Records catalog.
The bass on that album was handled almost entirely by Leon Sylvers III, who co-produced the whole thing. If you’ve been following this blog, you’ve seen his name before — he also wrote and played the bass line on the Whispers’ “And The Beat Goes On.” The man was a machine in that era. His approach to bass is always in service of the song: never overcrowded, always pushing the groove forward.
What I find interesting about “There It Is” specifically is the way the bass sits under the vocal. It has this forward momentum that makes the track feel like it’s constantly building even when the arrangement stays the same. That’s a production trick, but the bass playing is what makes it work.
Playing this on the MusicMan StingRay 1987 gives it a slightly different color than the original. The Stingray is more aggressive in the mids, more present. Leon Sylvers on the recording was probably playing a Fender Jazz or Precision — that softer, rounder tone. But the groove translates perfectly regardless of the instrument.
These Solar Records bass lines are exactly the kind of vocabulary I want to document in the transcription bundle I’m working on. Lines like this deserve to be broken down properly, not just tabbed out.
Shalamar came out of the Soul Train Records system in the late 70s, and their 1982 record “Friends” was produced at a moment when British and American funk were starting to influence each other. “There It Is” sits right at that intersection — it has the precision of American session work but with a slightly harder edge in the rhythm programming.
The bass line on this track works because of what it doesn’t do. There are moments in the verse where a less experienced player would fill every beat. The line stays back, creates tension, and then resolves. That discipline is hard to teach and impossible to fake. Either you hear the space or you don’t.
Learning to hear space as a musical element is one of the things that separates intermediate players from advanced players. Notes are easy. Most students can learn to play notes. The hard thing is understanding that the distance between notes has musical weight, and that you control that weight by choosing when to play and when to listen.
Practice this groove at 60% tempo with a metronome. Feel where the pulse is when you’re not playing. That feeling — the awareness of the beat when you’re silent — is what keeps your time from wandering.
The Shalamar groove vocabulary is worth studying because it sits at the intersection of disco’s precision and funk’s feel. The tracks are programmatic and tight but not mechanical. There’s a humanity in the rhythm section playing that prevents it from sounding sterile even when the arrangements are very produced.
Take one bar of this groove and play it correctly for two minutes. Then play it correctly for five minutes. Then play it while having a conversation with someone in the room. When you can maintain the groove at that level of automaticity, you’ve actually learned it. Most players stop at step one and wonder why they fall apart under pressure.
The short version on ‘There It Is’: it’s a masterclass in disciplined groove playing from a period when British and American R&B were in productive conversation with each other. Learn it, play it correctly, and your pocket will be better for having done the work.
Every groove you learn properly adds to a library that you draw from unconsciously when you’re playing live. The goal is to make that library large enough that you’re never reaching for something that isn’t there.
Add this to your list of grooves to know by heart. Not approximate — by heart. The kind of memory where you wake up and can play it before your first coffee. That level of internalization is what separates players who know a groove from players who own it.
The discipline required to play this well transfers to everything. Start here and you’ll play better in every other context too. That’s the honest case for studying grooves like this one seriously and completely.
Want to Go Deeper?
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Shalamar?
An American R&B group from Los Angeles formed in the late 70s on Solar Records. The classic lineup — Jeffrey Daniel, Howard Hewett, Jody Watley — released a series of hit albums in the early 80s including ‘Friends’ (1982).
Who played bass on ‘There It Is’?
Leon Sylvers III played bass on the majority of the ‘Friends’ album including this track. He also produced the album. He’s one of the key figures in the Solar Records sound.
What bass is used in Igor’s video?
The 1987 MusicMan StingRay. The midrange of the Stingray is more aggressive than the original Fender sound on the recording, but the groove and pocket feel translate perfectly.
What makes Shalamar’s bass lines special?
The bass always supports the vocal without competing with it. Leon Sylvers had a gift for writing lines that push the momentum of a track while staying completely invisible until you focus on them.