Much orchestral music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries also calls for bass trombone, but since the true bass trombone is a very long, very unwieldy instrument, most bass trombone parts are played today on a hybrid instrument called the tenor-bass trombone.
Not only was he gifted at crafting bass lines and functioning as a timekeeper in the bass' traditional role, but he also possessed a sense of lyricism and melody that allowed him to make the bass a viable solo instrument.