Archive for April 2010 - Page 6

Meet Regina Zernay Roberts, our bass player in the spotlight for April 13, 2010. Bio: I’ve been playing bass for about 23 years. For the last three, I’ve been the bass player for a band out of New Orleans called Cowboy Mouth. We play more than 200 shows a year, and have traveled the U.S. a half dozen times since...

Jeff Beck has released his first studio album in seven years, Emotion & Commotion. Recorded late last year, Emotion & Commotion features Beck’s recent touring line up, including Tal Wilkenfeld on bass, Vinnie Colaiuta on drums and Jason Rebello on keyboards, as well as a 64-piece orchestra and trio of singers. Beck is currently on tour with a new rhythm...

In this video Alvaro Martín spotlights a Columbian genre of music called Pasillo, which is typical of the country’s Andean region. The song is called “Espíritu Colombiano” (“Colombian Spirit”) and it was composed by Luis Eduardo a.k.a. “Lucho” Bermúdez.

Ashdown Engineering has released a new line of tube amplifiers. The new valve bass amps include the BTA 200, 300, and 400, the 550 Spyder head and touring combo, the 427 small block head, and the “Little Bastard” head. All of the new products are hand-made in the UK. BTA Line The BTA (Big Tube Head) combines one of Ashdown’s...

When word reached me that Harry Shapiro’s just released biography on Jack Bruce was available I raced to the bookstore. What a satisfying read; not the typical star worshipping pabulum one might expect in a biography focused on the life of a man who changed the face of rock and electric bass playing 40 odd years ago. Interesting early highlights...

Keeping a steady pulse is a fundamental skill for any musician, and it is especially important to any one who is part of the rhythm section. Even in styles of music that encourage flexible rhythmic expression (i.e. rubato, etc.), the ability to maintain an accurate pulse is essential for a musician. No matter what style of music we play, or...

Okay Stick fans… here’s one for you: Don Schiff jamming on the 8-string Stick Bass.

Here are the top 10 most popular features on No Treble last week, as determined by you! 1. Lesson: Introduction to Bebop Scale Forms In this lesson we’ll explore the basic forms of Bebop scales so you can start getting the patterns down and experiment with them in your music. 2. Video: Chick Corea Trio with Frank Gambale, Antonio Sanchez...

The 33rd annual Atlanta Jazz Festival will feature many great jazz artists, including bass greats Marcus Miller, Esperanza Spalding and Stanley Clarke. The event takes place on over May 29-30 at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia. Best of all? It’s all free. Swing Streets to Swing Beats featuring Esperanza Spalding and Raydar Ellis performs on the 29th, at 7:00 PM....

Here’s Tony Levin giving us a unique perspective of a Peter Gabriel concert in Lima, Peru. I love Tony’s background vocal appearance. Check out more from Tony Levin’s Road Diary.

Bryan Beller has announced his first ever full-band tour of the Northeast. The trek, which is in support of the Mike Keneally Band, is called the “They’re Both the Same Band Tour”… and for good reason. Beller leads a set, and then Keneally leads a set, but the personnel stays the same. Keneally plays guitar, keys, and vocals, Beller holds...

I’ve always loved the jazz-fusion music that came out of the ’70s, and Return to Forever is no exception. Check out this video of the group playing Stanley Clarke’s composition Vulcan Worlds, and watch out for the split-screen solo exchange around the 4-minute-mark.