Bob,
Piano and organ players will use the root in many cases. Many times these players will use a base line either chromatic or in 4th and 5th to tell a story, it’s the beautiful part of those instruments. It’s my opinion that our styles sound mechanical for that very reason, we have a boring base line.

I have used piano music (Both staves) to make a sequence using the written base line (The left hand) and the sequence was anything but boring. Drums are acceptable in the styles, but bass is the heart of music, it can change the mood of any song. In my guitar and piano playing I try to give the bass lines special attention. The melody is telling a story, the chords tell another, and the bass complements it all.

John C.