a very well-rounded bass player who can play (or has defined) any style/genre of rock music: blues rock, country, hard, funk, folk, jazz, etc. noted for powerfull blues based bass lines often juxtaposed with fluid melodic sections within the same song. see led zeppelin II as a fundamental study in the evolution of rock bass. The song black dog on IV is entirely made up around Jones' classic bass riff. jones could also play a variety of other instruments as well: keyboards, guitar & mandolin, among others. he arranged music and composed music, and was an oft used session player prior to joining led zeppelin. Remember, Jimmy Page hand-picked Jones to play in his new group-ya really think he's just ok? Page is arguably considered at the top of the list of rock's greatest guitarists. some say Jones is overrated because he was in led zeppelin, others say his contributions to the band are underrated. Is he the best rock bassist of all time? Probably not. it's very subjective to quantify playing ability-there are many great/5 star/whatever bassists I could argue a case for. Does he belong in the discussion of great bassists? EASILY.
