Archive for November 2009 - Page 7

Historicity is an exciting and unique record. The album takes jazz music forward and is destined to be one of the classic piano trio albums, and is firmly within the stream of jazz but innovative and freewheeling as all the best jazz is. Despite its unusual approach it’s a hugely accessible record: vital, rhythmic and engaging. Vijay Iyer refers to...

We stumbled upon Bruno Tauzin and his videos and had a hard time picking one to feature. In the end, this performance was a favorite, featuring Bruno on 5-string fretless and playing his own Robert Schumann-inspired composition. Check out Bruno’s video page for more great performances.

Brown’s Guitar Factory has announced that they will now retro fit Kahler basses to be piezo and MIDI compatible. They are now prepared to distribute the retrofits and installation materials to retailers, custom shops and the players themselves. Brown’s Guitar Factory has developed saddle pieces that integrate piezo elements with the Hexpander and Graphtech Acoustiphonic systems – providing a full...

Bassist Evan Marien has released his latest album with Art of Life Records. Between Worlds is now available for download and ships after November 1st. The album features drummers Jovol Bell, Jeffrey Villanueva and Thomas Hartman; guitarists Andy Berman, Randy Runyon and David Fiuczynski (also playing fretless guitar); Jeremy Vovcsko on alto saxophone; and keyboardist Evgeny Lebedev. Between Worlds has...

There is no “one way” to play pizzicato. There are a few principles to bear in mind that are helpful no matter what technique we use. The main idea we need to communicate is that the left hand does most of the work in sound generation. Playing hard with the right hand can be counterproductive, causing injury and choking the...

We discovered this rare Jaco Pastorius video thanks to Ingrid Pastorius sharing it with us on Facebook recently. This video was recorded at the Berliner Jazz Stage, live in 1979. Ingrid sets up the video with some pretty cool insider knowledge: “…that day Jaco met Toots for the first time, had a backstage conversation with Chick about fame, was the...

In case you missed them, here are our most popular articles from the week of November 2nd, 2009. Lessons Jon Burr wraps up his lesson series on Melodic Construction: Extensions on Dominant Chords Evan Kepner shows us how to Build Dexterity on the Bass Columns & Features A review Donovan Stokes‘s Gadaha Ask Damian Erskine: Learning and transcribing Ray Riendeau...

Ampeg is running an online photo contest in celebration of their 60th anniversary. This is the first year for the contest, offering Ampeg enthusiasts a chance to show off their rig and win one of five Ampeg Micro-VR stacks (Micro-VR Head and SVT-210AV cabinet). To enter, visit Ampeg’s web site and upload pictures of yourself with your Ampeg gear. The...

In the late 80’s, Marcus Miller and Miles Davis performed live on David Sanborn’s TV show. This video includes the conversation between Marcus and Miles before they jumped into a performance of “Mr. Pastorius”, from the album. Good stuff.

Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx will be taking to the airwaves in 2010. Premiere Radio Networks has announced the upcoming launch of “Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx” in January of 2010 to be played on rock and alternative music stations. Sixx will give listeners and inside look at the rock star life, including perspectives from celebrity guests. There is also...

Aguilar Amplification has announced the TLC Compressor, the newest addition to their line of bass gear. The TLC Compressor is designed for both recording and live use and features a four-knob layout with a wide range of attack times, as well as variable threshold and slope levels. Features include: Threshold control: variable from -30 to -10 dBu Slope control: variable...

Bootsy Collins, one of the funkiest bassists ever, shares his formula for a basic funk line. Just keep it on the one, and you can do anything you want with it!