Archive for April 2010 - Page 8

Meet Oscar Harris, a bassist from Columbus, Ohio, and our player in the spotlight for April 6, 2010. Bio: Oscar Harris is the Lead vocalist/bassist/songwriter for the band Unisoul, and the owner of Rokcity Studios. Oscar began his career as a musician as a rocker in a cover band playing a ’67 Fender P Bass. His musical style emulated the...

Ex-Hole and Smashing Pumpkins bassist Melissa Auf der Maur has just released her new album/multimedia project, Out of Our Minds. The project consists of the music album, music video, film, and comic. You can order variations on the package at Melissa’s web site. “OUT OF OUR MINDS | OOOM began as a song,” Auf Der Maur writes on her web...

Here’s a cool trio, I wish there were more like these out there. Jorge Pardo on the flute is joined by Carles Benavent with his characteristic sound on the bass and Tino di Geraldo on the drums.

Freebass, the three-bass supergroup hailing from Manchester, has released their debut EP entitled Two Worlds Collide. The band consists of Peter Hook (Joy Division/ New Order, Gary “Mani” Mounfield (The Stone Roses/Primal Fear), and Andy Rourke (The Smiths). The album also features guest vocals by Tim Burgess of the Charlatans, Pete Wylie of the Mighty Wah, and Howard Marks. The...

The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP) has announced that Billy Sheehan has signed on to lead an interactive bass masterclass. The event will be held on April 28th at the ICMP’s Kilburn facility in London. “Billy’s masterclasses are designed to be as inspirational as they are informative, teaching students how to improve their playing and develop their style,” said...

One exciting way of use a looping device with your bass is to enhance a composition. A recorded phrase can become a backbone over which to improvise. For example, a phrase can take the form of a tapped rhythm (e.g. using muted strings), a short rhythmic phrase lasting only one or two bars or a longer phrase dependent on your...

Here’s a nice little jam session between Marcus Miller and Hadrien Feraud at the Markbass booth during NAMM 2008.

Here are the top 10 most popular features on No Treble last week, as determined by you, our faithful readers (and favorite people). 1. Gear Watch: Fender Introduces New American Deluxe Series Basses Fender has updated all three basses in their line of American Deluxe series. 2. Video: Michael Manring: Sugar Check out this great video of Michael Manring playing...

Here’s a 2007 performance of the Chick Corea Trio with bassist Tal Wilkenfeld and drummer Antonio Sanchez, joined by guitarist Frank Gambale. The performance took place at the Melbourne Jazz festival.

South African bassist extraordinaire Bakithi Kumalo will be touring with folk duo Simon and Garfunkel in their North American ‘Old Friends’ tour. The tour focuses mostly in Canada, with about seven U.S. dates. Kumalo joined Paul Simon for his classic 1986 album Graceland, and has worked with him since. Kumalo has also worked with many pop and jazz musicians, including...

Rotosound’s newest line of roundwound strings are designed for bassists who like to de-tune their instruments. The RS 66LH “Drop Zone” 65 to 130 gauge strings allow a 4-string bassist to drop down to B. The Drop Zone+ set allows 5-string players to drop from low B to F# with 85 to 175 gauge strings. For more info, check out...

Jazz bass legend Christian McBride will be hosting a new weekly radio show on Sirius XM’s Real Jazz channel. The show, entitled “The Lowdown: Conversations with Christian,” premieres today at 1 PM ET. The format of the show takes place on stages in jazz clubs around the country while McBride interviews and performs with special guests. The first episode features...