New School

Jauqo III-X is a bassist that plays by his own rules. After coming up in a household filled the sounds of jazz and Motown, Jauqo picked up bass as a teenager and never looked back. “My interest in Bass grew into—for lack of a better word—an obsession,” he shared on his website. “If it was anything Bass-related, I wanted to...

Todd Matthews first caught our attention with his awesome looping rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” on double bass. Since then, the innovative bassist has refined his style even further to include effects and incredible arrangements to fill out the sound of an entire orchestra. He recently released his debut solo album, Here Come the Pig Mammoths, which has nothing but...

Mike Dimin is a bassist that focuses on stretching what he calls “The Chordal Approach.” Inspired in part by jazz guitarist Joe Pass, Dimin took his knowledge of melody, harmony, and rhythm to start making chord-melody arrangements of songs for bass. He also utilizes a looper to create “lush arrangements of everything from Jazz Standards to R&B and pop classics...

Quintin Berry is a bassist who sticks out. Instead of holding his bass like most players, Berry created what he calls the “cradle style,” in which his right arm supports the body of the bass while the neck angles down towards the ground. It developed out of applying things he learned from violin lessons, and though it started from messing...

Stew McKinsey is a bassist with an affinity for extended range instruments. It wasn’t long after getting into the 4-string that he was introduced to a 5-string, then a 6-string, and so on. His current arsenal includes a 10-string Conklin Sidewinder. While that may seem extreme, McKinsey is quick to point out his efforts are to be a musician first....

Atlanta-based bassist Darren Michaels is helping to expand the role of our instrument. With extended techniques and an open mind, Michaels has been finding new sounds to convey his music in both band and solo contexts, though he dislikes the term “solo bass.” It’s not the technique that drives him, but the connection of music with his listeners that makes...

Trip Wamsley has been pushing the convention of bass playing for years by experimenting with extended range basses, piccolo tuning, and out-of-this world technique. He’s one of those guys who can seemingly play anything with ease. Besides his phenomenal playing, his style is creativity knows no bounds. His creativity is found in his supportive bass lines as well as his...

With a new album and videos (see below) to accompany its release, Jayme Lewis has been taking the online bass community by storm with his awe-inspiring playing and tight band compositions. Lewis puts the bass out front in all the right ways, letting his equally skilled bandmates take the lead when the time is right. Beginning on piano at age...

Extended range bass artist Scott Fernandez is pushing musical boundaries. Equally comfortable on a 4-string as well as his 12-string, Fernandez incorporates his extended techniques to create lush harmonies, intense counterpoint, and intriguing melodies. His arsenal of effects pedals also help to create thick soundscapes while adding depth to his compositions. Fernandez only stepped out into the solo bass arena...

YouTube has helped us discover many talented bassists we may not have found otherwise. One great example is Or Lubianiker, aka Rule of Thump. The Israeli bassist has a wicked sense of groove matched with a wicked sense of humor that combine perfectly in his songs, instrument demos, and video lessons. Besides his “fingerlickin’” playing, Lubianiker is a positive force...

When you get down to it, what’s music without context? New School bassist Seth Horan, who has been bringing the bass to the forefront with his solo singer/songwriter style for a decade now, says it is all about the song. After being introduced to virtuosic bass music while still a novice to the instrument, Horan’s style grew steadily through his...

Bassist Evan Brewer goes above and beyond the call of standard bass playing. With a solid foundation in heavy music as anchor of the tech metal group The Faceless, Brewer’s technique and knowledge of styles allow him to do session work in all genres. Brewer’s debut solo bass album, Alone, dropped last summer to rave review. We reached out to...