Archive for May 2012 - Page 10

Regular No Treble readers will be familiar with Donovan Stokes from his column, The Lowdown with Dr. D, but you may not be as familiar with his playing. As a professor at Shenandoah University, Stokes is well versed in the classical realm of double bass playing, yet his own compositions draw on an array of genres. His stunning performances often...

Today is bass legend Ron Carter’s birthday, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t celebrate with some of his incredible playing. Here’s the bassist’s Golden Striker Trio, featuring pianist Mulgrew Miller and guitarist Russel Malone playing their namesake tune, originally performed by the Modern Jazz Quartet. Happy Birthday Ron Carter!

Bassist Lloyd Brevett, the pioneering upright player and founding member of the Jamaican ska group The Skatalites, passed away yesterday after being treated for seizures due to a stroke he suffered in March. He was 80. Brevett is one of the central figures in bringing ska music from Jamaica to the world, as one of the original members of The...

After 20 years of work making and repairing stringed instruments, Meaulnes Laberge formed ML Basses to focus on building electric basses. One of his striking instruments is the Volcan, an edgy yet elegant design available in 4- and 5-string configurations. Featuring bolt-on construction, the Volcan is built with a light maple body, three-piece maple neck and an Indian rosewood fingerboard....

Photo credit: Ilán Terrell As a long-time camper and recent instructor at Gerald Veasley’s Bass Boot Camp, I’ve spent many a camp learning from some of the bass greats. A few years ago, Andrew Gouche appeared for the first time as an instructor at the BBC, bringing along gospel and a whole lotta soul. This year, Andrew returned for the...

Bassist Will Cady took the Jaco Pastorius tune, “Portrait of Tracy”, and put a modern spin on it thanks in part to the use of the Hot Hand and some wah.

Jazz guitar vet Mike Stern has a new album coming out on June 19, 2012, and bass fans have a lot to look forward to with this release. All Over the Place features eight different bassists on the 11-song release, including Esperanza Spalding, Richard Bona, Victor Wooten, Anthony Jackson, Dave Holland, Tom Kennedy, Will Lee and Victor Bailey. Stern recruited...

Fender has introduced the 2012 line of Pawn Shop guitars, which they claim are inspired by their eccentric creations from the ’60s and ’70s and are “guitars that never were, but should have been.” Included in that lineup is the Fender Pawn Shop Reverse Jaguar Bass, an instrument that takes their classic design and flips the body as well as...

Q: What’s your take on effects pedals? Do you use any? A: I have been exploring many different pedals and having fun with the sonic possibilities, though I rarely use them outside of my home. My most used pedal is my reverb pedal, because I like the what it offers when playing in small group settings (a piano trio, for...

While I was working on the videos for our Isolated Bass Week, I stumbled upon this video mashup. Songwriter/producer Luciano Albo took two legendary tunes: the Beatles’ “She’s Leaving Home” and Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”, and mixed them together. The Motown classic of course features James Jamerson on bass, and the Beatles’ tune features Paul McCartney on vocals. Pretty...

Three years ago today, we officially launched this online magazine for bassists we call No Treble. Over these three years, we’ve made many friends: almost 66,000 on Facebook, over 4,500 on Twitter, not to mention the countless bassists we’ve met at NAMM, at concerts and other places). This, without a doubt, is the best part for us here at No...

NOFX has released 126 Inches of NOFX, a special box set containing 18 of the band’s classic 7? vinyls. Containing 82 songs, the collection is filled with limited and formerly out of print titles as well as previously unreleased material. The box set is limited to 1,792 copies, and all of the vinyl will be colored gold. The band, fronted...