Archive for 2011 - Page 68

In this video, bassist Shane Lentz shows off a bunch of the bass parts for tunes played by his band, Kamikabe. Hold on to your hat! Shane’s bass is tuned down several steps, with lowered action and Dean Markley Blue Steel 45 – 105 bass strings.

Furthur, featuring former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh and guitarist Bob Weir, have announced a summer tour spanning July 14-31. The group will be starting in West Virginia at the All Good Festival, making their way up and down the East Coast, eventually landing at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, Georgia. Besides All Good, Furthur will be playing the...

Bassist/composer/arranger Petros Klampanis has released his debut album, Contextual, on Inner Circle Music. The ten track collection includes a mix of original compositions and covers, including a rousing rendition of the Beatles’ “Blackbird,” featuring the vocals by Gretchen Parlato. Klampanis also tackles electric bassist Gary Willis’ “The Necessary Blonde” with a string quartet arrangement. Among the bassist’s original tunes is...

Dean Guitars has unveiled the USA Thousand Series, a new line of U.S.-made instruments. While focused primarily on guitars, Dean is issuing a 1000 version of their new Hillsboro bass with several options to suit, including 4 and 5-string models. The USA Hillsboro 1000 is a double cutaway design featuring an alder top and body that comes in finished in...

Attend just one of Gerald Veasley‘s Bass Bootcamps, and you’ll likely call yourself a Bootcamper for life. BBC, as the attendees call it, just celebrated its tenth anniversary this year, with Veasley maintaining a very active role. In addition to an impressive line-up of clinicians, bassists Victor Wooten and Stanley Clarke stopped by to check things out and share with...

Christian McBride on fretless! Here, McBride takes a solo on the Pat Metheny tune “James”, with Metheny’s trio.

Sylvan Bolduc has released Groove 101, an instructional book and audio DVD containing 260 grooves and exercises to teach just about every musical style. Written in musical notation and tabs, the 90-page book aims to also improve your overall groove and “inner clock.” Included with the audio examples are detailed listings of each bass used, including a 1969 Precision, 1969...

Warner Bros. is re-issuing the 1986 Miles Davis hit album, Tutu, in a new deluxe edition. The album, which features considerable work by bassist/multi-instrumentalist Marcus Miller. This was Davis’ first release with Warner Bros., after he shocked the music world by ending a 30 year relationship with Columbia. The backstory behind this album is interesting. The album was originally titled...

Q: Is there anything outside of the norm that you are working on or thinking about with your musical explorations? A: Actually, in the May issue of Bass Guitar Magazine (UK), Franc O’Shea (his columns are always enlightening and thought provoking), wrote an interesting piece on dividing the chromatic scale and giving every semi-tone a pulse in a bar of...

Here’s an awesome video of Richard Bona and Chris Minh Doky playing jazz duets on electric and upright, respectively. The two powerhouses blow over a blues before tearing into the standard, “There is No Greater Love.”

The fifth annual New Hampshire Bass Festival has been announced for June 15th through the 18th. The four day event, which takes place in Manchester, New Hampshire, is a mixture of school and festival as 16 clinicians from around the globe present classes from 9am to 6pm each day. The NHBF is directed by Berklee bass and arranging professor Jim...

Meet Cameron Holley, a bassist from Wichita Falls, TX, and our player in the spotlight for May 31, 2011. Bio: I grew up in a really musical home and got my first bass for Christmas when I was 10 years old. Nine years later, I play all the time, anywhere I can. Even if I have to play guitar or...