Archive for September 2009 - Page 2

Jazz bassist Scott LaFaro is being honored with the first biography on his brief but influential life, Jade Visions: The Life and Music of Scott LaFaro. The biography has been written by LaFaro’s sister Helene LaFaro-Fernandez and includes contributions by notable jazz writers highlighting LaFaro’s contributions to the bass community. LaFaro made his mark on the scene with the Bill...

Bassist and composer Ben Allison will be releasing his ninth album, Think Free, on October 13th 2009, with Palmetto Records. Think Free features Allison on bass with Steve Cardenas on guitar, Shane Endsley on trumpet, Rudy Royston on drums and Jenny Scheinman on violin. The album consists of eight originals by Allison, and continues his “train of thought” from previous...

Greg Bagley is a Seattle-based freelance bassist who currently endorses Kinal basses. By the looks of his videos on Youtube, it seems that he can play just about any style well. He also shows off several of those Kinals and other basses. This is his solo bass version of How Insensitive by Antonio Carlos Jobim played on his Kinal Kompact...

CruzTOOLS has introduced the GrooveTech, a new tool in their line of musician tools for bass and guitar. GrooveTech’s hex key set is matched to virtually all bass makes. The complete feature list for the GrooveTech includes: 6-in-1 screwdriver which includes two Phillips tips (#1 and #2), two slotted tips (1/4” and 3mm tip for vintage-style bridge saddles), and two...

Bassist Scott Ford (Twilight Singers, the Gutter Twins, Camp Freddy), has been suffering from an advanced bone loss disease making him susceptible to severe blood infections. To help with the rising medical bills guitarist and former The Cult member Billy Morrison decided to host a benefit show. The Scott Ford Benefit Show is today, at The Roxy in Los Angeles....

Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo recently shared his personal views on the environment and taking care of yourself, in a 12 minute interview with HardTimes.ca. The interview took place while Metallica was in Montreal, and also covers topics from Metallica’s band dynamics, veganism, surfing and pre-show rituals. Metallica donated $21,462 to Sun Youth in Montreal from the proceeds from their two...

President Barack Obama and First-Lady Michelle Obama will be serving as honorary chairs at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Bass Competition and Gala Concert this October. The Gala co-chairs include Madeleine Albright, Herb and Lani Alpert, Quincy Jones, Debra Lee, Bill and Carolyn Powers, and Joseph E. Robert Jr. The Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition features a different instrument and...

Eldar Djangirov’s CD, Virtue, has been spinning in my car for weeks now. I unfortunately had never heard of Eldar until reading a review about this new CD and when I checked it out I was instantly a fan. At first I was drawn by his amazing technique and angular lines but the deeper I got into the music I...

Here’s a cool video of Victor Wooten leading a bass clinic in Orlando, Florida along with bassists Anthony Wellington and David Pastorius. More proof that there’s never too many bass players (or Hartke amps, it seems!)

Bass virtuoso Michael Manring is holding an all-day workshop in Sligo, Ireland on October 2, 2009. The event is hosted by Sligo Jazz Project. “For a small town with a population of about 20,000 we have worked very hard and been very lucky to get some wonderful musicians visit here over the past few years, particularly with regards to the...

Bass Player Magazine is giving out two lifetime achievement awards at their Bass Player Live conference next month. Jazz bassist Charlie Haden and funk bassist Rocco Prestia are receiving the award. The ceremony takes place in Los Angeles on October 24th and 25th, at S.I.R. Studios and the Key Club. There will be a screening of “Rambling Boy,” a new...

In the previous lesson I talked about using melodic minor arpeggios to change the sound of an underlying chord structure. This lesson will take that concept a step further and focus on identifying functioning and static dominant seventh chords and how to apply the melodic minor scale in various ways to control multiple degrees of tension. This will also lend...