Pino Palladino

After four decades, here’s what we know: Every time the Welsh session giant reinvents himself, a legion of bassists follow. Pino began by putting fretless on the pop-music map with a Jaco-like presence, via soaring Music Man-issued sub-hooks on hits by Paul Young, Don Henley, and many others. Moving to a flatwound-strung Fender Precision and a fingerstyle technique rife with thumb-plucks, he connected with D’Angelo and sat way back in the pocket, setting the standard for neo-soul and hip-hop bottom.