Archive for May 2015 - Page 4

Tonight marks the final episode of the Late Show with David Letterman, bringing an end to the legendary career of the longest running late-night talk show host. It also marks the dissolution of the CBS Orchestra, which has stuck with Letterman since his days at NBC when they were known as the World’s Most Dangerous Band. Bass guru Will Lee...

Coal Chamber’s first album since 2002 has arrived. Rivals is the first album to feature the band’s onetime touring bassist Nadja Peulen. She said for the record, she and several other band members started putting tracks together by working together by jamming on and fine-tuning riffs before heading into pre-production. This is what the ultimately ended up with an album...

Meet Lynne Davis, a musician who started young in her musical journey, and turned her focus to bass thanks to Pino Palladino’s work with Paul Young. Lynne has enjoyed a busy and fruitful career as a bassist and educator. She also says “crikey!” For most of those reasons, she was an easy choice for this week’s spotlight. Bio: I have...

Bass legend Chris Squire has been diagnosed with an uncommon form of leukemia called Acute Erythroid Leukemia, according to a post on the Yes website. The bassist, who co-founded the influential prog-rock band, will be receiving treatment in his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona during the next few months. Squire’s treatment will force him to sit out of the band’s upcoming...

Matt Lawton shared his new video with us, performing a solo bass arrangement of the Al Green tune “Let’s Stay Together”. There’s plenty to like about this one.

Deathcore band Veil of Maya has released its fourth studio effort, Matriarch. The band, featuring bassist Danny Hauser, has a new vocalist for the album, Lukas Magyar (Arms of Empire) has replaced Brandon Butler, the band’s singer of seven years. Single “Mikasa” provides a good example the band’s current sound: Matriarch is available on and as a digital download (...

This week we take a look at another eye-catching bass from o3 Custom Guitars called the Rhodium. The Spanish-made bass is also called the Purplehaze due to its gorgeous purple satin finish over its ash body. Its neck is a five-piece laminate comprised of flamed maple and wenge with a pau ferro toneblock. The bass is fitted with a pair...

When using the bow, the natural tendency is to play louder at the frog and softer at the tip. We must, of course, counteract this predisposition on a regular basis. Simply playing a full bow with consistent timbre and volume requires it. Generally, we do this by adding pressure, via arm weight, to the bow as we move further from...

Here’s a great clip of Chris Minh Doky with his band performing the funky tune, “Break Song”. Things kick off with the always entertaining Dean Brown on guitar, with the rest of the band – including Dave Weckl on drums and George Whitty on keys. Chris takes a sweet solo too.

Post-bop jazzman Michael Oien has released his debut album, And Now. “This is my most important artistic statement so far, writing my own music and recording it with my own band,” says Oien, a double bassist who has made a name for himself in the New York City jazz scene. The band is a quintet that also includes alto saxophonist...

This week we shared the sad news of Rutger Gunnarsson’s passing. Known for his work with ABBA, Gunnarsson received lots of love from the bass playing community here and around the web. This week also featured a lot of top bass videos, Damian’s popular “Ask” column on focused practice and performance, plus some new gear and the bass of the...

Bass luthier Cleve Johnson has introduced a new model to his lineup from LedBelli Bass Guitars called the Jonah “Thin Wing.” The bass is a variation on LedBelli’s flagship Jonah with extra shaping for a slimmer profile. “The ‘wings’ of the bass are heavily contoured and thin, thus the ‘thin-wing’ designation,” Johnson explains. “The thickest section of the body is...