Oh absolutely!! I always talk about the bassist playing smooth, connected (legato) lines, always making sure to be right "on" the quarter note. Ray Brown did this SO WELL, as you might be able to hear!
Whenever I teach bass players, or pianists wanting to learn left-hand walking bass, keeping the line together is the first thing I say to them. In rock music, it's different, because usually the drums drive it forward. In jazz, the bass does, so it's imperative to have a legato line. Unfortunately too few people know how to properly do this. I mean, I get it, it's really difficult, but you gotta be willing to learn it! (Yes, I've played lots of rock, too--technique and common tools needed are COMPLETELY different.)
I may be putting it a little too harshly, but when I first learned jazz piano at around 10 years old, I learned how to play a steady, walking bass line in the left hand over a blues in all 12 keys before I learned ANY jazz chords. That was my assignment every week--a blues in a new key, at a medium tempo, with a walking bass line played legato. First thing I ever learned about jazz. A really good, legato bass line also helped me get my first gigs. (Actually, I found that teacher, and in turn discovered jazz, totally by accident, but that's another story for another day.)
