Danny Ziemann Quintet: SKJ
Double bassist Danny Ziemann gets a huge tone while leading his quintet on the classic Milt Jackson tune “SKJ”. He also kicks off the solo section with a super lyrical solo to set up the song’s vibe.
Christian McBride Big Band Releases “Bringin’ It”
He started his career as a band leader by Gettin’ To It, but now Christian McBride is Bringin’ It on his new big band album. It’s the famed jazz bassist’s second album with his big band, which has a few new members this go around. The adjustment was a quick one. “These guys know my sound. They know my style....
Darkglass Electronics Unveils New Amp, Bass Cabinets
Darkglass Electronics has a new rig to offer after announcing the Microtubes 500 bass head and expanding into the realm of cabinets with the DG210C and DG410C. The new head unit is the smaller brother of the Microtubes 900 and carries many of the same features at 500 watts and a lower price point. The unit matches a solid-state preamplifier...
Hot Tuna Head Out For Fall/Winter Tour
Hot Tuna is ready to hit the road again! The duo of Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen have announced a winter tour that will include acoustic and electric sets across the United States. The run includes several dates with guest guitarist Steve Kimock as well as a performance at Dark Star’s Jamaican Jam in Runaway Bay, Jamaica. Drummer Justin Guip...
Ron Blair: Recording The Bass on Tom Petty’s “American Girl”
Ever since Tom Petty passed away, I’ve been watching tons of his videos on YouTube. There are tons of great performances, but this Reverb.com interview with Heartbreakers bassist Ron Blair stuck out. Blair talks about how they figured out the melodic bass line to “American Girl” from the band’s self-titled debut. “[I started] to play all these things up high,...
11-String Bassist Jean Baudin Releases Third Solo Album, “2600”
Extended range bassist Jean Baudin has released his third solo bass album, entitled 2600. The bassist recorded the entire 27-track album using only his 11-string Kenneth Lawrence bass and a pedalboard. “Having recorded my previous two solo ‘bass’ albums with a strict set of boundaries (no overdubs or edits), I wanted to try something different for my third album,” Baudin...
Suhr Introduces the Alexa Chorus/Vibrato Pedal
Suhr has announced the Alexa, a multi-wave dual channel analog chorus and vibrato pedal. The flexible unit can be used with bass, guitar, or keyboard. Featuring an all-analog signal path, the Alexa offers six selectable waveforms with independent Speed, Depth & Delay controls for each channel. It also has an assignable chorus/vibrato switch for Channel A. Other features include Selectable...
First Fragment: Le Serment de Tsion
First Fragment, featuring bass monster Dominic “Forest” Lapointe, has just released a new music video for their song “Le Serment de Tsion”, and it’s brutal. Lapointe kills it with a biting tone and insane chops to add extra fire to the track.
Dwarfcraft Devices Unveils The Grazer Pedal
Dwarfcraft Devices has expanded their effect lineup with the Grazer, which they describe as a granular repeater and glitch machine. “[It] builds sounds by continuously taking tiny samples from the input audio,” they explain. “The sounds range from off-kilter echoes to curious “buffer overload” skips, all the way up to harsh machine glitches.” The Grazer has a Size knob to...
Mastodon Releases “Cold Dark Place” EP
Hot on the heels of Emperor of Sand, Mastodon has returned with a new EP entitled Cold Dark Place. Anchored by bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, the four-song album is compiled from previously unreleased tracks. Three of the four songs are from the album were recorded during the sessions for 2014’s Once More ’Round the Sun while the fourth track, “To to...
D’Addario Introduces Bass Tool Kit
Bassists looking to take care of their own instrument have a new set of tools to choose from. The D’Addario Bass Maintenance Kit includes a set of tools and cleaning equipment to keep your bass in shape. The case itself contains individual component compartments with pockets for extra strings and a magnet to hold loose screws, nuts, or washers. Inside...
Bass of the Week: Crom Custom Shop Romantic Warrior
Matias Crom sent us photos of his Romantic Warrior model, and I dropped everything I was doing. The 34-year-old, Italian-Argentinian luthier has been making baroque instruments like lutes and viols for the past 10 years, but he started making basses when he was 18 after hearing Primus. His unique influences are melded together in the bass, which features a beautifully...