Archive for February 2010 - Page 7

Larry Graham is back! The original bassist for Sly & The Family Stone and pioneer of the slap-thumb method of bass playing is taking his group, Graham Central Station, back on the road. Graham Central Station was formed in 1973 and performed together until 1979. Graham re-formed Graham Central Station after Sly and the Family Stone’s induction into the Rock...

Q: What is considered a “good” practice session?? Say, if I take an hour to practice, what should I be working on… doing warm-ups, running through set lists of songs I know, learning new material, listening and trying to imitate players I like, etc. Just trying to be as productive as possible with my time. A: In my opinion, ANY...

Today’s featured video showcases Brazilian bassist Bruno Masquio, playing along to a recording of his original composition, “So Far…” Bruno is currently working on his solo CD. Check out more from Bruno on his MySpace page and his band page.

Schecter has announced the new Raiden Special and Raiden Elite basses, geared towards the “feature driven, price conscious player.” Both basses feature 34” scale and 6-bolt necks. The Raiden Special has a body of basswood with a quilted maple top and a 24 X Jumbo fret Rosewood board with a maple neck. The Special also features the coil tappable Schecter...

Meet Lizz Chisholm, better known as Double-Z. Double-Z is not only our bassist in the spotlight for the week of February 2nd, 2010, she’s also listed as one of Marcus Miller‘s influences. Bio: I’ve been a world class bass player, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist for 40 years now. I’m the 1st hip-hop bass player, from touring with Grand Master, Melle Mel...

A top notch free jazz record featuring two improvising masters, Temporary is a great example of state of the art freely improvised upright bass. Both William Parker and Giorgio Dini play expressively and passionately and both are wonderfully skilled in the use of the bow. The record consists of five free improvisations that demonstrate Parker and Dini’s passionate playing, focussed...

Today’s video features bassist Xiaohe Shi performing a solo piece on his F Bass. Xiaohe was born in 1980 in Beijing, and is now living in Germany. He started playing bass in 1995. Check out more from Xiaohe on his MySpace page.

Geoff Lloyd, who co-founded and played bass for the popular Canadian rock group, the Matthew Good Band, passed away this weekend. The cause of death has not been made public, but a Facebook post states that “Geoff had been fighting his inner demons for a number of years, and they finally got the better of him.” Lloyd was the bassist...

Due to tons of requests, Tech 21 has introduced the VT Bass Deluxe, a 6-channel programmable version of their SansAmp Character Series VT Bass pedal. The pedal brings together the warmth of an all-analog signal path and the convenience of digital recall to allow players to easily dial up their favorite tones. The controls on the VT Bass Deluxe include...

In my opinion, one of the more interesting things you can do on the Upright these days is Slap it! Beyond it’s hipitude, it is a legitimate technique, just like arco (bow) and pizzicato (plucked), and it can make you more employable if you master it. So let’s take a look at the technique. What is Upright Slap Bass? (in...

We featured Brian Derek as our player spotlight a few weeks ago and held on to this video to feature at a later date. Well, that day has come. Brian says this video is a “6/8 impressionistic chamber jazz for fretless bass, flute, piano and drums. Recorded live 10-2009.” Enjoy:

Here’s the top 10 most viewed articles from last week on No Treble: Video: Zander Zon: Hallelujah for solo bass Player News: James Jamerson’s widow sues La Bella Strings Video: Bass Jam: Tal Wilkenfeld, Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Oteil Burbridge, J.D. Blair Video: Edmond Gilmore: Havona play-along Player Spotlight: Ronnie Penque New Release: Anthony Jackson to release his first-ever solo...