Archive for February, 2009

Featured Bass Gigs

Owensboro, Kentucky:
Metal/Thrash/Progressive band “Factory Damage” is seeking a bass player details | band site
Oxnard, California:
An unnamed band posted, “are you sick of playing METAL? Are you sick of the same ol’ cover tunes? Do you want to be in a truly original band with a bunch of cool people? We are looking for a BASS [...]

A look at Larry Hartke’s “greatest unsigned bassists”

Hartke Systems founder Larry Hartke decided he wanted to find great, unsigned bass players from around the world, so he published his cell phone number with a call to action.
Over 5,000 players responded by sending in their CDs and web sites to him, and he’s since selected three winners. Each will receive Hartke artist [...]

Dave Matthews Band announces new album title

The Dave Matthews Band has confirmed their much anticipated new studio album will be titled “Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King” and will release on June 2nd, 2009. The buzz across the web is that “Groogux” is a reference to the late LeRoi Moore, the band’s saxophonist who passed away last year.
Dave Matthews himself [...]

Christian McBride joins Mike Clark on “Blueprints of Jazz”

Drummer Mike Clark has released a new album in Talking House Records’s “Blueprints of Jazz” series.
For “Vol. 1“, Clark enlisted Christian McBride for the standup bass role. Patrice Rushen joins on piano, Jed Levy on tenor sax, and Donald Harrison on alto sax.
Track Listing:
1. In The House
2. Like That
3. 10th Ave. 1957
4. Past [...]

Larry Graham – Funk Original

The original slap bassist Larry Graham (Sly & the Family Stone, Graham Central Station) shows how it is done in today’s featured video.
Once you get the slapping part down, you can add the vocals.

Woooo. I like that.

Return To Forever: like they never even left

Jazz/rock fusion pioneers Return To Forever are back with an upcoming 2CD set and DVD.
If the success of their 2008 USA and European tour is any indicator, the new album “Returns” will be well-received. Releasing on March 2nd, it will be the band’s first since 1979 with the original lineup of Stanley Clarke on [...]

RHCP extend study break

Flea continues to hit the books at the University of Southern California – Los Angeles, which is prompting the Red Hot Chili Peppers to consider taking another year of sabbatical. Or so they say.
According to an ominous statement from drummer Chad Smith, there could be other factors involved.
“You can’t force anybody to play who doesn’t [...]

Marcus Miller’s Frankenstein groove

This is a favorite among the notreble team. Marcus Miller and company take Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein” and really groove.
The band includes Miller, Keith Anderson, Poogie Bell, Dean Brown, Bobby Sparks and Patches Stewart and was filmed during the 2005 Tokyo Jazz concert.

A Boatful of Jazz

In a recent All About Jazz article, Larry Taylor takes us along on the Playboy Jazz Cruise which sailed late last month on Holland America’s Westerdam. The Caribbean voyage was hosted by Marcus Miller and featured a different headlining musician for each night.
The all-things-jazz cruise included history presentations, Q&A with the musicians, and late [...]

Michael Manring tour updates

Here’s the latest and greatest tour information from Michael Manring
Solo performances
Fri Feb 27 & 28
Anthropology Live Music Club in Mexico City, Mexico
Jackie Perkins & the Exotique Band
Thu March 5
Teatro Astoria in Lerici (SP), Italy (info: tour@armadilloclub.org)
Jackie Perkins & the Exotique Band
Fri March 6
Auditorium Toscanini in Parma, Italy
Info: simonevaleo@alice.it
Jackie Perkins & the Exotique Band
Sat March 7
Centro [...]