Sorry if I wasn't being clear I mean the sequence of notes not the rhythm and meter. I managed to get my head around syncopation a few years ago.

If you listen to the bass line from 4'28'' or 6'00'' in the track, I just don't understand the sequence of bass notes. To me it just sounds like a "semi random" selection of notes where each one has little bearing to the one played previously.

To give an obvious contrast compare this to say the bassline from In The Mood or Little Brown Jug. Obviously this is a very different type of music (not even really "proper" Jazz I know) but there is an obvious pattern to the sequence of notes and how they fit in with the rest of the parts.

As a mathematician who understands the need for a strong relationship between maths (or, more generally, regular patterns) and music I want to understand the theory behind this type of bassline. Or, to put it another way, if he was improvising, what rules would the bass player be using to determine which note to play next if he's not just playing random notes?