Archive for 2014 - Page 101

Our friend Tiago Miller sent us this video of the talented Brazilian bassist (and Tiago’s teacher) Vagner Faria. Tiago shared “This guy is phenomenal. He is the winner of the 9th edition of the BDMG Instrumental Award, an important award for instrumental music in Brazil.” The video was recorded for the BOSS Brasil Loop contest in 2012, featuring a tune...

Megadeth’s David Ellefson and Anthrax’s Frank Bello have teamed up for a brand new project called “Altitudes & Attitude”. The band features both bass players taking turns laying down the low end as well as filling the guitar role. Bello also handles lead vocals. While the duo’s resumés are chockful of metal, Altitudes & Attitude is solidly in the realm...

The gear is coming, the gear is coming! News from the NAMM Show started coming in advance of the event, and we’re very happy about that. In addition to the new gear stories, we had three great columns and some awesome bass videos last week, which all add up to the top 10 most popular on No Treble. Thanks for...

Guild is reviving the M-85 with two new models this year: the Newark St. Collection M-85 bass and the GSR M-85 II bass. Each of the instruments is a take on the vintage bass, which was the companion to the Guild M-75 Aristocrat guitar. Guild Newark St. Collection M-85 Bass The Newark St. M-85 is a singlecutaway, semi-hollow body bass...

It has been quite a while since we’ve featured a video by Blake Branch. This one is actually over three years old, but is well worth sharing. Blake transcribed the complete bass line on Stevie Wonder’s “For Once in My Life,” which of course was masterfully played by James Jamerson. Almost as impressive is the tone Blake gets from his...

The sound of bassist Reggie Washington, who has recorded, collaborated and/or toured with with the likes of Cassandra Wilson, Meshell N’degeocello, the M-Base Collective, and Ute Lemper, has left a significant mark on a new live record from jazz saxophonist and composer Archie Shepp and Attica Blues Orchestra. The heart of the record is material from Shepp’s Attica Blues album,...

ESP will be unveiling the first batch of products from their new US factory at NAMM this year. The instruments will be part of the new E-II series and will be built in North Hollywood, California. Among the new basses will be the ESP E-II AP-4 and AP-5 models. Each of the four and five-sting versions are built with bolt-on...

My pal Seth introduced me to this song a few years ago, and for some reason it always makes me think of New York City. We featured this song with Paul Jackson before, but this version is taken from Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters 2005 tour with Marcus Miller holding down the low end. Marcus takes a solo starting around the 5:30...

The Sword, anchored by bassist Bryan Richie, has announced the tenth and final leg of their tour cycle for their latest album, Apocryphon. Kicking off in Austin, Texas on February 13th, the band will first head east, then north to Canada and back down into the U.S. The band has also released a lyric video for “The Hidden Masters,” which...

For some of us, finding the time to playing bass is a luxury. We don’t get many opportunities to sit down and groove, learn our favorite songs, or hit the woodshed to practice technique. Work takes up too many hours in the day and after having to make dinner, spend time with our friends or family, and take in a...

Our friend Steven Smith sent this in to us, saying “I just discovered a new band – new to me, that is – Spare Parts. Great 70s groove! The bassist is Colin Scott, [and he’s] layin’ it down on the Fender Jazz. Sweet!” Sweet indeed. Love that old school sound.

Bassist Gwil Sainsbury has quit the English indie rock band Alt-J, according to a post on the band’s Facebook page. “We’re sad to say goodbye to Gwil – the last 5 years with him in the band have been fantastic and we are all proud of our achievements together,” the post reads. “However our enthusiasm to continue working on our...