Archive for December 2010 - Page 2

Here’s a sweet bass solo by Lester McFarland with blues guitarist Lloyd Jones from a late-’80s/ early-’90s cable access television show called “Kids for Kids.” Lester is rockin’ out on his old school S.D. Curlee bass while the band just grooves with him.

Jack Bruce has announced he will be performing with the Tony Williams Lifetime Tribute Band in January and February 2011. The group, which also features guitarist Vernon Reid, organist John Medeski and drummer Cindy Blackman, will be holding several day residencies in three major jazz venues in New York, Oakland, and Seattle. The group pays homage to the late Tony...

We’re counting down the 2010 Top 10 lists on No Treble this week. Today, we’re featuring the Top 10 Player Spotlight features, based on reader views. Our Player Spotlight feature runs each week, showcasing a bassist from our community. 1. Ryan Madora Meet Ryan Madora, a bassist from Philadelphia, PA and our player in the spotlight for August 31, 2010....

Back in June, we featured a two-part video of Jaco Pastorius performing a solo during a Weather Report concert in Reading, PA in October, 1978. Here’s the third and final segment, where the light man had some trouble, but Jaco wowed the crowd.

Here are the most read, most popular stories and features on No Treble for the week of December 19 – 25, 2010. 1. Jingle Bells: Bass Style Here’s a little something to get you in the holiday mood. From Youtuber taolikuenjing comes his rock bass version of Jingle Bells. The fun starts around the 30 second mark. 2. Bass Chords:...

Aguilar Amplification’s latest addition to the world of lightweight amplifiers is the Tone Hammer 500, a 500 watt bass amp weighing in at just four pounds. The amp utilizes the same preamp found in Aguilar’s Tone Hammer D.I./preamp pedal, with bass, treble and sweepable midrange controls. The Drive control uses the company’s proprietary AGS circuit, which adds subtle distortion and...

This gem of a video showcases the brilliance of Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen as much as any we’ve seen. If anyone knows where this clip is from, please drop a note in the comments. We’d love to see more.

Alfred has expanded on their Jazz Play-Along Series to include new volumes with books and play-along CDs tailored for bass clef instruments, and the entire rhythm section. The rhythm section editions contain written parts for bass, piano, and drums, and offers solo opportunities for those instruments. The publisher has also included an easy play-along series crafted for the novice improviser....

Here’s a nice fan shot video of Victor Wooten performing a Christmas-inspired solo during a Bela Fleck & The Flecktones concert last year. The performance took place at the Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Music Festival at the Congress Theater.

We’re not saying this is the Santa, but we’re not saying he isn’t either. (We’re trying to avoid coal in our stockings tomorrow). Regardless, here’s a dude that looks like Santa doing his solo bass rendition of “Silent Night”.

Over the summer, Rufus Reid attended a workshop at Columbia University called the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute, which he later recalled the highlight of his year that far. After proving time and again his mastery of writing for the small ensemble, Reid decided it was time to build his large ensemble composition chops. The workshop was so successful for him...

LeCompte Basses has introduced their first signature model bass, the “Chewy Linton.” Chewy Linton is the bassist for the Austin, Texas-based band, Ember, who released their major label debut earlier this year. Linton describes the bass as somewhat of a mix of a Spector NS and the Warwick Thumb, explaining there were features of each he loved but when combined...