There are lots of good bass players these days with tremendous chops, such as Linda Oh:
...Ben Williams:
...and what's-her-name Spalding:
...but I don't think these bassists should be playing gigs as leaders, which they all do from time to time. They're not ready yet—although Esperanza Spalding is certainly qualified as a singer, which is different from leading a band as a bassist. The problem with leading a band as a bassist is that the instrument is made for accompanying, first and foremost, so it's really difficult for a bassist to impress her or his musical personality on an ensemble... What often seems to end up happening with less experienced bassist-leaders is that they end up playing a lot of histrionic solos that creates a kind of structural imbalance in the music—kind of like building an excessively large, ornate pedestal for a comparatively inconspicuous statue. Remember, even Charles Mingus didn't really start leading his own groups regularly until he was in his thirties, and only led a half dozen or so recording sessions before that point:
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