Archive for November 2013 - Page 4

One of my favorite Vulfpeck tunes is “Outro”, from the EP Vollmilch, released earlier this year. Here’s the band performing it as the closer of their set at Rockwood Music Hall in October. As usual, Joe Dart is laying it down, and the whole band is just cooking. So cool to see them in a live setting like this. They...

For his fourth solo album, Elevation, bassist Tony Grey recruited an all-star cast of musicians, including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Hiromi, (Grey’s uncle) John McLaughlin, Branford Marsalis, Zakir Hussain, Mike Stern and Steve Lukather. Each of the recruits had something else in common – they have all been backed by Grey at some point. The 10-track album features six originals...

Croatian custom instrument company Aries Basses has announced a new model named the Alpeluti. Described as their entry-level bass, the simple design is built in batch to keep prices down. The Alpeluti features bolt-on construction that pairs a mahogany body with a 3-piece maple neck and Indian Palisander fingerboard. It has a long 35″ scale and an asymmetrical neck profile...

Here’s bassist Gheorghe Postoronca performing his most excellent solo bass song “On The Road” from his upcoming album. Postoronca shares that the tune – which features beautiful jazzy chords and a killer groove – was inspired by the novel of the same name by Jack Kerouac. Bravo!

GHS debuted the Big Core Bass line of bass strings at Bass Player Live! this year. The strings feature a combination of stainless steel and nickel-iron wraps over a larger core. The increased core-to-cover ratio design is optimized for drop tunings without having to use heavier gauges. The set is rounded out with a tapered E string that maintains balance...

Hevos is continuing their series of compact bass amplification units with the release of the 400S bass amp, a 400-watt head that weighs 4.4 pounds. Based on a Class-D power amp, the 400S is designed for both electric and upright bass. The 400S has two input sections with separate gain controls to allow for plugging in two basses at once,...

Marcus Miller recently shared a series of videos of his performance with Kazumi Watanabe during the 2010 Tokyo Jazz Festival. So many great ones out to watch, but in this one, Marcus makes his fretless sing. The band also includes Omar Hakim on drums, Warren Bernhardt on keyboards and Mike Manieri on vibes.

MonoNeon has teamed up with producer Kriswontwo to release WEON, an instrumental album that draws on experimental hip hop, avant garde, and funk to create an inspired collection of new music. The duo worked over the internet by sending tracks back and forth to each other until they were finished. Each of the songs, which were composed by the two...

This week we check out the NY Charlie by Bunker Guitars. A signature instrument for New York City bassist Charlie Contreras, the bass’s design centers around the company’s Sustanium Tension Free Neck, which uses a resonant cold roll steel bar to handle the stress on the neck. The neck is then fitted with aluminum dowels to to bolt onto the...

Bassist Jan Urbanec shares the funkiest videos with us. (We encourage that behavior, by the way). Here’s Jan with guitarist/vocalist Zden?k Bína performing live in what the bassist describes as a “Two Man Groove Band”. Groove is right!

We have sad news to report as founding UFO bassist Pete Way has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Way, who departed the English heavy metal band in 2009 due to medical issues, found out this summer while having his abdomen scanned for his liver. “My liver has been the area of most concern over the years,” Way told Classic Rock...

F Bass has expanded their Vintage Series of basses with the VF-P. The model, which pays tribute to an industry classic, is a passive P-bass featuring a one-piece maple neck and a two-piece alder body. The VF-P has a standard 34-inch scale and 21 frets with a compound fingerboard radius. Its neck comes with a modern shape for playabilty though...