Archive for February 2018 - Page 5

Q: When making music, i.e. improvising, making a song, creating a groove, etc., I find myself sometimes approaching it from what I hear while fiddling around, and at other times approaching it more cerebral, as in “let’s create a groove that has a flat nine in it.” I like to call these the bottom up (let the sounds guide me)...

Zander Zon put together this video and arrangement in celebration of Valentine’s Day. “Taking it back to the 1960s with this one! It’s my first Elvis tune and I thought it was a good one to do for Valentine’s Day,” he shared. “Want to play this song for your special someone? Or want to try to use this song to...

Chris Hillman’s first two solo albums have been reissued on a new CD called The Asylum Years. The country-rock pioneer started his solo career with 1976’s Slippin’ Away, with Clear Sailin’ following the next year. Though Hillman laid down the low end for the iconic bands The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, he only played bass on two tracks...

Spector was showing off several new models at the 2018 Winter NAMM Show including the new Bantam 4, a short-scale bass with a chambered alder body. The combo of features helps to keep the bass’s weight down to just seven pounds. The basses are built with a carved NS-style body topped with quilted maple in black cherry or black stain...

Bassists Wojtek Pilichowski and Adrian Maruszczyk got together to record this bass duo, and it is absolutely fantastic. I especially love the unison lines and those solos.

Attention Frank Zappa fans: the complete Roxy performances are now available in a seven-CD box set. Recorded in December 1973, Zappa’s concerts at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood are considered a high-water mark of his career with his band The Mothers in top shape. The lineup for The Mothers at the time included keyboardist George Duke, bassist Tom Fowler, trombonist...

Warwick unveiled a bass counterpart to the Framus Idolmaker at the Winter NAMM Show. Produced in the custom shop or as part of their German Pro Series Teambuilt line, the Warwick Idolmaker Bass is built with a carved mahogany body and a bolt-on wenge neck. It comes in four or five-string versions as well as fretted or fretless. Warwick uses...

Instrument builders always bring their best gear to the NAMM Show. As we were wandering the halls of the Anaheim Convention Center we found the Boutique Guitar Showcase, which brings builders from around the world to show off their work. We saw tons of great instruments, including the jaw-dropping Cintra bass from Portugal’s Ergon Guitars. Luthier Adriano Sérgio was on...

Peekaboom bassist Simone Masina sent us their latest video, and there’s a cool story with it: “I want to share with you our new video – the first cover we’ve done live. It is also the same tune you shared by us three years ago,” Simone shared. “Now, I can say No Treble brings luck to us!” We love it,...

Consider the Source has announced they’ll be bringing their brand of sci-fi Middle Eastern fusion across the U.S. on a massive spring tour. The trio, anchored by bass guru John Ferrara, will be pregaming with a date at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York before heading to the Ardmore Music Hall in Pennsylvania on March 2nd. Their concerts...

One of the booths at the NAMM Show that always has tons of buzz is the Marco Bass Guitars display. This year they introduced the N1 bass, which they describe as a game changer. Although the bass is their entry-level model, it’s still made in the USA in the Marco shop. “Marco Cortes has spent over three decades perfecting his...

Consider the Source bassist John Ferrara has just released his second solo song, entitled “Ben Franklin’s Hair.” What does the title have to do with the incredible two-handed tapping melody? Not much. “I don’t know why I named it that, don’t think about it too much,” Ferrara admits. “The song was inspired by Romance era composers like Franz Liszt and...