News - Page 305

Anthony Crawford has released Urban Jazz – My Story, his second album as a leader. The effort follows up on 2010’s Urban Jazz and continues his style of combining hip hop, pop, and jazz. My Story takes a more lyrical approach and features a stacked list of personnel that includes Frank McComb, Dave Weckl, Eric Darius, Ruslan Sirota and others....

The Tedeschi Trucks Band has announced that they’ve recruited bass legend Bakithi Kumalo to lay down the low end during their Spring tour dates. The bassist, who first made waves on the classic Paul Simon album Graceland, will be with the group this weekend at the Wanee Festival through the May 3rd performance in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Since original bassist Oteil...

After playing a handful of shows at the end of last year, The Rolling Stones are continuing to celebrate their 50 years together with new “50 and Counting” tour dates. The trek kicks off May 2nd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles before making its way across the U.S. with a few Canadian dates and skipping across the pond...

Paul McCartney has added several U.S. stops to his 2013 “Out There” tour. The trek will stop at seven cities, including McCartney’s first ever concert in Austin, Texas. Macca’s “Out There” performances will be packed with nearly three hours of songs from the bassist’s career from the Beatles to Wings to his solo work. His band consists of keyboardist Paul...

Alfred Music is getting the led out with two new titles in their Platinum Bass Guitar series. Led Zeppelin: I Platinum Bass Guitar and Led Zeppelin: II Platinum Bass Guitar combine to offer up transcriptions of John Paul Jones’ bass lines on 17 across both albums. Both books include both standard notation and tab for the bass lines, plus the...

Charnett Moffett is reflecting on his instrument and his career on his latest release entitled The Bridge: Solo Bass Works. The record captures the veteran jazz musician alone with his bass in a creative burst that focuses on his past repertoire as well as eight original compositions. “I wanted to express who I am, carry on the tradition of the...

In advance of Rush’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this month, Geddy Lee has given one of his basses to the Hall. Photo by the Cleveland Plain Dealer The instrument – Lee’s Fender bass used in the recording of “Tom Sawyer” from the 1981 album Moving Pictures – was installed on Wednesday at the Hall’s...

Metal outfit Killswitch Engage are back with their sixth studio album, Disarm the Descent, via Roadrunner Records. This is the band’s first album in four years and it marks the return of original vocalist Jesse Leach, who last recorded with the band on 2002’s Alive or Just Breathing. Bassist Mike D’Antonio says having Leach back is rejuvenating. “We had already...

After a seven year hiatus, Niacin has returned with an all new album. Krush, the sixth album by the trio of Billy Sheehan, Dennis Chambers and John Novello, offering up 14 tracks of the group’s trademark neo-fusion style. That blend starts with the diverse jazz and rock roots of Niacin’s members, combined with Novello’s Hammond B3. As we mentioned back...

Veteran jazz bassist Robert Hurst has released Bob: A Palindrome on Bebob records. Hurst’s sixth album as a leader has been a long time in the making with original songs written as far back as 1985. It was recorded in October of 2001, but between his time playing as a member of the Tonight Show Band, touring with Diana Krall...

As a bassist, Bugra Balci gained inspiration from working through Bach’s Cello Suites, which he says gave him a deep, wide approach to the bass and musicality. He’s taken those concepts of building technique through examples that go beyond exercises in his latest instructional book, The Virtuoso Bassist in 14 Melodic Baroque Etudes. “All the etudes are in this book...

The International Society of Bassists’ biennial convention is set for June 2nd through June 8th, 2013 at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and this year promises to be another great get-together. The week-long bass hang features over 200 events for bassists of all walks, including clinics, classical and jazz competitions, bass making competitions, performances and more....