Archive for June 2015 - Page 6

Master of the acoustic bass and Brazilian jazz Nilson Matta has achieved a unique groove on his latest album, East Side Rio Drive. The album from Matta, also a well-known bass teacher, has drawn accolades from The Wall Street Journal, and joins players from both North and South America to interpret jazz classics like “Blue in Green” and “Boogie Stop...

It is the once-per-month celebration we love… the top 10 reader favorite bass videos. Here are the most watched videos on No Treble in May, 2015. 1. Remco Hendrix: Funk Bass & Drum Grooves Our friend Mark Barletta sent us a note to check out some videos by Remco Hendrix, a bassist from the Netherlands. Remco calls this “Fingerstyle Funk...

The world lost a pioneer in the music world yesterday as Ornette Coleman passed away at the age of 85. An innovator of the free jazz movement, the saxophonist was a major influence for a generation of musicians. We’re remembering Coleman with a 1987 clip from the Stadtgarten in Cologne, Germany. Coleman’s band includes two bassists – Jamaaladeen Tacuma and...

So, what happens when two very distinct bands with their hands in the pop, electronic, dance and rock spheres decide to start recording together? They release an album like the eponymous FFS, which abbreviates the names of each of the bands involved: Glasgow-based Franz Ferdinand (formed in the early 2000s) and the American sibling duo Sparks (formed in 1971). With...

This bass transcription was suggested to me by No Treble founder Corey Brown, serving to remind me of Miki Santamaria’s fantastic solo arrangements of pop songs for bass guitar.

Jason Everett, aka Mister E, sent us this clip of his song “The Return,” which features the bassist playing on his fretless seven string. “‘The Return’ is a recent composition and is the fourth and final movement of my epic composition ‘Moksha: The Elimination of All Duality,'” Everett writes. “[Moksha] is the sonic story of a soul that lives in...

Blues-rock-funk supergroup Royal Southern Brotherhood visited the almost-magical environment of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to produce Don’t Look Back: The Muscle Shoals Sessions. The band, featuring stalwart Louisiana player Charlie Wooton (ZABADODAT) on bass, is a powerhouse of blues/funk players, including Cyril Neville (The Meters, The Neville Brothers) on percussion and vocals; Yonrico Scott (Derek Trucks Band, Yonrico Scott Band) on...

Q: I was curious about your approach to playing jazz without a piano player or guitarist. I lead a secret, soon to be a quintet because our piano player is moving away. I respect the kind of stuff presented by Charlie Haden in his work with Ornette Coleman, but aside from the free really “out there” jazz, I’m at a...

Back in March, Spyro Gyra took the stage at Blue Note Milano. Anchored by bassist Scott Ambush, the band performed this tune, “De La Luz”. Terrific performance!

The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers is an iconic album, from its Andy Warhol-designed cover featuring a fly that really zipped open, to its songs, like “Brown Sugar,” “Wild Horses,” “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking,” and “Bitch.” Now, the 1971 record has been reissued in all its glory, to coincide with the Stones’ North American “Zip Code” Tour, in a vinyl...

Meet Deoindra Harrell, a young bassist who caught our attention with her love for bass. It is a love that runs so deep she said, “I honestly feel like I could care less what bass I’m playing, just as long as I have a bass guitar in my hands.” To us, that’s what it is all about. Deoindra is the...

Ibanez has added a new fretted model to the Gary Willis Signature series. The GWB35FDBKF is the first fretted Willis signature model and will be available as a limited edition instrument. The five-string bass is built with a three-piece maple neck topped with an ebony fretboard with off-set white dot inlays. The basswood body is finished in a flat black,...