Anthony Jackson, a scholar and virtuoso of the electric bass who redefined his instrument while also laying down funky grooves for both pop stars like Madonna and jazz greats like Chick Corea, died on Oct. 19 on Staten Island. He was 73.

He had Parkinson’s disease and in recent years had suffered multiple strokes, his manager, Danette Albetta, wrote in announcing his death on social media. Bass magazine reported this year that health issues had largely prevented Mr. Jackson from performing since 2017.

In 2005, Modern Drummer magazine called Mr. Jackson “one of the most in-demand session musicians in the world” and described his opening riff on the O’Jays’ 1973 hit “For the Love of Money” as “one of the most memorable bass lines in popular music.”

Mr. Jackson was a career sideman whose work ranged across many styles of jazz and pop. In just five years, he played on Quincy Jones’s cover of “Takin’ It to the Streets” (1978), Diana Ross’s “No One Gets the Prize” (1979), Paul Simon’s “Oh, Marion” (1980), Steely Dan’s “My Rival” (1980), Madonna’s “Borderline” (1983) and Luther Vandross’s cover of “A House Is Not a Home” (1983).

“I enjoy playing with a large ensemble,” he told Bass Player magazine in 2008, “and being the one to put a big, fat foundation under it.”

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