Archive for April 2013 - Page 4

Jermaine Morgan shared this video featuring his single, “Journey”. He said “This is an old one, but I hope you’ll enjoy.” We did, and we’re betting you will too. Jermaine is in good company on this one – he recruited Ron James on sax, David “Fingers” Haynes on drums and Will Perry on keys.

Jim Dunlop is now shipping the MXR M89 Bass Overdrive, the latest effects pedal in their Bass Innovations series. The pedal features standard overdrive controls with Volume, Tone, and Drive knobs, but adds a Clean control to blend in clean signal with a pre-tuned EQ. “Pre-tuning the Clean signal ensures that when you blend it with the overdrive signal, the...

Parliament-Funkadelic member Cordell “Boogie” Mosson passed away on April 18th from an unspecified illness. He was 60 years old. Mosson grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey, where he was friends with future P-Funk guitarist Garry Shider. The duo eventually joined a band called United Soul, which came to the attention of P-Funk founder George Clinton. Clinton produced several of the...

No Treble reader Aleksi Aaltonen shared this video with us, saying “Here’s a great video of the absolutely best ever Finnish bassist Pekka Pohjola. This guy isn’t yet on your page for some reason ;).” After just a handful of seconds of watching this video, we realized we needed to fix this oversight immediately. Here’s the Pekka Pohjola Group performing...

The Tedeschi Trucks Band has announced that they’ve recruited bass legend Bakithi Kumalo to lay down the low end during their Spring tour dates. The bassist, who first made waves on the classic Paul Simon album Graceland, will be with the group this weekend at the Wanee Festival through the May 3rd performance in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Since original bassist Oteil...

A collaboration between Martin Off and luthier Jozsi Lak, the Off Guitar Design soulbrotha’ bass is unique mix of retro and modern design aesthetics. The bass, which gets its design from the company’s soulsista’ guitar, is handmade by Lak in Germany. Much of the soulbrotha’s construction is optional, from the body wood (alder, swamp ash or mahogany) to the neck...

Janek Gwizdala is staying ahead of his goal of putting out an album every year with the release of Theatre by the Sea. His third record in 18 months, the album features nine tracks of the bassist’s own compositions and lush arrangements performed by a host of heavyweight musicians including Peter Erskine, Mike Stern, Randy Brecker and more. Gwizdala wrote...

Here’s an awesome video of Uruguayan bassist Diego Zecharies playing David Anderson’s Capriccio No. 2 for solo double bass. His rich, thick tone and intensity make the piece sound like it’s played by a full ensemble. Bravo!

Höfner has introduced new “Cavern” versions of their Contemporary and Ignition Series Violin basses at the 2013 Musikmesse in Frankfurt last week. The pickups on the new models are positioned closely together and towards the neck in the Cavern style, similar to Paul McCartney’s original 1961 bass. Each of the entry level basses will be built with the same specifications...

Q: I’ve been learning to play the bass for about a year now, and I have a concern: I am a very instinctual bassist. I tried playing guitar when I was younger, but didn’t connect. I took to the bass right away. I “hear” a groove in my head, and I’m able to reproduce it on the bass. So my...

Dave Marks sent us this killer video from one of his fusion gigs, where the band lays into the classic Billy Cobham track “Stratus.” Marks locks into the groove (originally played by Lee Sklar) before the band stretches out for some jams. The bassist then takes a spacey solo at the 8:55 mark, eventually whipping the group into a frenzy...

After playing a handful of shows at the end of last year, The Rolling Stones are continuing to celebrate their 50 years together with new “50 and Counting” tour dates. The trek kicks off May 2nd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles before making its way across the U.S. with a few Canadian dates and skipping across the pond...