Archive for May 2013 - Page 5

Ken Bebensee of KB Guitars made this gorgeous acoustic bass guitar for jazz bassist Robert Hurst, whose work ranges from stints with Wynton Marsalis to being a member of The Tonight Show Band. The 5-string bass brings together elements of a cello and an archtop jazz guitar for a unique hybrid bass. It’s built with an extra deep body made...

Bassist, designer and copywriter Adrian Elton shares his beautiful 1964 Höfner 500/1 this time around. Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG began building instruments in 1887, later becoming the largest manufacturer of string instruments in Germany. Much of the company’s popularity is attributed to Paul McCartney’s use Höfner 500/1 bass, three-quarters of a century or so later. To this day,...

It has been nearly two years since we first featured the band known as the Crash Kings. We were immediately drawn in by their story first, and then the music made us big time fans. Bassist Mike Beliveau and his brother Tony (keyboards and vocals), formed this band to create a big rock sound without a guitar. And boy did...

Photo by acidpolly Eric Avery has announced he’s parting ways with the newly revamped Nine Inch Nails, citing exhaustion from touring with Garbage. The band, whose lineup was unveiled in late February by creator Trent Reznor, has not named a replacement. “It’s with very mixed emotions I tell you all that I’m pulling out of NIN,” Avery wrote on his...

Q: I am at a stage with playing jazz where I feel confident playing bass lines, such as walking through challenging pieces. Given time to learn the chord sequence, I am pretty confident at playing solos over the top of backing tracks and grooves. My problem is that when playing with a jazz band – when everyone cuts out for...

We don’t feature a ton of bass play-alongs here, but when Francis Allen shared this one, it was too darn funky to ignore. Here’s Fabienne Gilbert laying it down on Jaco Pastorius’ fun and funky tune, “Come On Come Over”.

The Black Flag reunion group, simply known as FLAG, has announced a tour schedule for 2013, from May through September. The tour is based around several festivals, including Punk Rock Bowling, the Orion Music + More Festival, and Amnesia Rock Fest. Not to be confused with the official Black Flag, FLAG consists of former Black Flag members Keith Morris, Dez...

Meet Charles Robitaille, a bassist from Montreal who got a later start in life than many here, but made up for it with hard work and a love for the bass. Charles is our reader in the spotlight for the week of May 13, 2013. Bio: Well I started playing pretty late, at about 17 years old. I worked very...

Killswitch Engage’s Mike D’Antonio and Ibanez have teamed up to release the bassist’s third signature model, the MDB3. Based on the company’s Destroyer model, the bass’s mahogany body features beveled edges to provide right arm comfort while picking. Its three-piece maple neck is topped with a rosewood fretboard inlaid with a MDB logo at the 12th fret. The pickup departs...

Today is Jack Bruce‘s 70th birthday, so we’re celebrating with some old school Cream. This footage of the tune “I’m So Glad” is from Cream’s “final farewell” tour in November, 1968. The extended solo break features some great bass by Jack, and lots of focus on his playing. Happy birthday, Jack!

Christian McBride makes his return with Inside Straight today with the release of People Music. The album comes nearly four years after the group’s debut, Kind of Brown. The new album finds the quintet in hard-swing mode, delivering what they call “more road-tested, ‘lived-in’ Inside Straight” in an accessible way, and one that makes the audience part of the experience....

SmartMusic’s website is already a fantastic resource for students and educators, and they’ve recently started to expand their software to the iPad. If you already have a Smartmusic account, you can use that login to gain instant access to the full library available to you as if you were operating through the web portal. Future updates promise additional abilities like...