Archive for January 2012 - Page 5

Grammy award winner Esperanza Spalding has released the first dates of her upcoming world tour, set to kick off April 18th, 2012 in Buffalo, New York. The bassist/vocalist will make her way around the U.S. with with concerts spanning the East, West, and South before she crosses the pond to visit Europe, and then returning to North America again. The...

Bassist Federico Malaman pays tribute to Michael Jackson with a live version of the King of Pop’s “Speed Demon.” The song’s title rings true for the blazing lick that Malaman pulls off throughout the clip, starting at the 0:27 mark. You might recognize this bass by Laurus. The Laurus T900-XR was our bass of the week earlier this month.

Elixir Strings has announced some new changes to their popular line of coated bass strings, including a new coated stainless steel set. The stainless steel strings are designed to offer the bright and clear tone of stainless bass strings, but easier on the fingers and longer tone life. The company’s original nickel-plated bass strings have been tweaked to offer improved...

Mixing retro and modern, Reverend’s Decision bass is their take on the “P/J” style, with the company’s Split Brick pickup in the neck position and their J-Rails in the bridge position. The pickups are blended with a Pan knob, which Reverend says let you go from “funk to thump and all points in between.” The Decision is built with a...

The No Treble crew has you covered for all the latest bass gear, bassist news, videos and stories. We’ll be at the show all four days, so keep it lock on this page for our ongoing coverage

Bassist Johan Hansén-Larson sent in this video of him playing along on Cannonball Adderley’s sax solo on the tune “Minority”. On bass. Johan writes, “…some mistakes, but playing Cannonball solos on bass is sort of like trying perform brain surgery with a tractor.” Well, whatever it is, we’re stunned.

The annual WesFest concert and scholarship event, held in honor of bassist Wes Wehmiller, has been announced. This is the seventh year for the event, following Wehmiller’s passing in 2005. The event is organized by Wehmiller’s friends and fellow Berklee alum, including Kira Small and bassist Bryan Beller, and is designed to be both a celebration of the bassist, as...

Flying Colors, a new band consisting of ex-Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, Dixie Dregs bassist Dave LaRue, guitarist Steve Morse, keyboardist Neal Morse and vocalist Casey McPherson, have announced details of their self-titled debut album, set for a March 27th, 2012 release. The band utilizes elements from each member’s experience and background, according to Portnoy. “This album has bits and...

Q: I have a question about transcribing. I’m a pretty skilled player and can read, but I have a lot of problems writing down the rhythms that I hear either in my head or from a particular song. Any suggestions on how I should go about learning to notate more difficult rhythms? A: Rhythms can be tricky when you’re first...

Meshell Ndegeocello and her band recently stopped by Santa Monica, California’s NPR affiliate, KCRW, for the Morning Becomes Eclectic show. The group performed material from Ndegeocello’s latest album, , released in November. This tune, “Dead End”, is one of those tracks, and showcases Ndegeocello’s unique way of making everything groove. KCRW has the full sesson available on their website.

Godlyke has introduced a pair of new power accessories- the Iso-Pump Voltage Converter and the Ground Hound Ground Isolator. The new gadgets will be debuting at the NAMM Show. The company’s GH-1 Ground Hound takes care of grounding issues by creating an isolated ground connection for effects devices. In addition to fixing ground loops, reducing line noise and reducing cross-talk...

Meet bassist Pete Sams, a full-time working bassist who was very busy in 2011 (he played 225+ shows), including many with a live karaoke band. Pete is our player in the spotlight for the week of January 17, 2012. Bio: I’m the bassist and bandleader for Rock-bot, a live band karaoke group (500+ songs, words on the screen, etc.), an...