What's a rhythm section?

If you were starting a band and you could pick any musicians you wanted, which musicians would make up your perfect/ideal rhythm section (drums, bass, rhythm guitar or keys, etc.)?

• Answer:

  I personally like bass and drums as a good foundation. And if there is a lead guitar player (so technically not the rhythm section) a keyboard rounds it off nicely. This is just my personal preference. But the most important thing of all for a good rhythm section is that the individual musicians mesh really well. An ideal rhythm section should be so much on the same page that they sound like one big instrument. A rhythm section that is extremely together and in the pocket will sound 10x stronger and better than one that just doesn't have that feel. Hell, let's make it 20 times stronger. I play a lot of jazz bass, and the majority of my time playing with the group is spent paying attention to what the drummer is doing. If me and the drummer are not locked in, it just doesn't sound right. This goes for pretty much any style you try to play. I've always believed the difference between a good band a great band is how good the drummer and bass player are at their respective instruments and how well they play as a unit.