News - Page 256

Imagine Dragons’s sophomore effort, Smoke + Mirrors is already generating heat with the single “I Bet My Life.” Britain’s Q Magazine has already given the album high marks — four stars — and compared the Las Vegas band’s vibe to that of “Songs From the Big Chair”-era Tears for Fears. It says the album is a “modern pop-rock gem.” Other...

Double bassist Ben Wolfe has worked alongside some of the jazz world’s biggest names, including Wynton Marsalis and Diana Krall. And as he’s done so, he has also forged his own impressive path as a player, composer and bandleader. His latest recorded effort sees him heading up a quartet on The Whisperer. The record features him, Orrin Evans on piano,...

Foo Fighters’ bassist Nate Mendel is hitting the road alone this spring. He’s touring to promote the release of If We Kill This Thing We’re All Going to Eat for a Week by his solo side project, Lieutenant. The album comes out on March 10 and Mendel’s first Lieutenant date is March 18 at SXSW in Austin. Mendel is the...

Bassist Greg Christian, following his second departure from thrash metal band Testament, has formed the core of a new band. Christian, who was an original member of Testament and left the band in 1996 and returned in 2004 only to step away 10 years later, has joined forces with guitarist Artak Ozan of Kinnefret, and according to Blabbermouth, is looking...

A fan’s handheld video, combined with audio and newly created animations, brings to life two previously unreleased June 1978 Boston Music Hall performances by Bob Marley & The Wailers. The CD/DVD package called Easy Skanking in Boston ’78 is being released in celebration of the late Marley’s 70th birthday year and the 1978 band, of course, features Aston “Family Man”...

A whole slew of Rush albums are being reissued vinyl in commemoration of the band’s more than four decades of music making, and now the Canadian trio featuring bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee will continue the celebrations with the R40 Live Tour. The tour, which begins May 8, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will visit 34 North American cities. The tour came together despite...

Johan Hansén-Larson can be considered a regular here at No Treble, with several of his videos being featured here over the years. Now, the Swedish bassist can be heard at length on the Kristian Persson Elements jazz album, Let It Go. Cormac Larkin of the Irish Times says “Funk and soul are the main references in Persson’s hot, big-hearted sound,...

Ray Brown’s work as a double bassist was incomparable, and a new book of transcriptions from Hal Leonard pays tribute to him. An 80-page paperback, features 18 transcriptions, photos, performance notes and a forward by contemporary jazz virtuoso Christian McBride. While Brown is best known for his work with Oscar Peterson, he also played with Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah...

The new duo PUUL, comprised of British bassist Tim Harries (Brian Eno, Bill Bruford) and Norwegian soundscape artist Terje Evensen (John Paul Jones) has release its debut album, Puul. The band name came from Harries, who says he always wanted to be in band with a double “u” in its name. The two musicians share a unique sensibility, according to...

Jason “Jay” James has exited Welsh metal outfit Bullet Form My Valentine, the band announced in a statement. James, who also handled backup vocal duties, had been in the band since 2003. “It is with regret that Bullet for My Valentine has to announce that Jay James is no longer a member of the band,” the group wrote. “Jay has...

The Vijay Iyer Trio’s new album, Break Stuff, contemplates musical breakdowns and breaks. The trio includes not only bandleader Iyer on piano, but also double bassist Stephan Crump (Jen Chapin Trio, Ches Smith Trio, Secret Keeper, and Rosetta Trio) and drummer Marcus Gilmore. Iyer called upon both of them to be completely themselves as the recorded Break Stuff, Crump said....

Adrenaline Mob’s latest EP, Dearly Departed, combines covers and originals in a nine-song set. It includes outtakes from the group’s last full studio album, Men of Honor (which featured past bassist John Moyer) as well as covers and acoustic versions of the group’s past work. The group’s current bassist, Erik Leonhardt (ex-Tantric) appears on the new recordings. One of the...