Archive for May 2015 - Page 5

Lucio Enrico Fasino shared his newest project with us – a collaboration with vocalist Deborah Falanga. The duo put together this unique version of the Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong tune, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” made famous in separate recordings by Gladys Knight and Marvin Gaye. Things really start cooking around the halfway point, with a hint of...

Top session bassist Mike Visceglia committed the experience of being a pro bassist to print with his book A View From the Side, which is now available in a new paperback edition. Visceglia, well-known for his work with John Cale and Suzanne Vega, has also played/performed with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Phoebe Snow and Bette Midler. The...

Electric upright bass company MK has announced a new passive jazz model of their flagship bass. The Jazz-P features piezo transducer pickups and passive electronics, which MK says solves tonal problems of the bass including noise at high levels of amplification. It’s built with a single piece of horse chestnut for the body and neck with an ebony-stained pear wood...

Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” is an obvious favorite among bassists who like to tackle tunes and arrange for solo bass. Bassist Gustavo Araújo shared his super arrangement for looped bass. I love how fluid the vocal lines are in this version.

Vinyl-loving Queen fans can now get their hands on a 4-LP version of last year’s Queen Forever compilation, which included a “lost” ballad version of late singer Freddie Mercury’s “Love Kills.” Queen Forever focuses on the band’s love songs and includes work from its now-retired bassist John Deacon. Deacon’s work is not only present throughout the album, but it also...

The quirky jam legends of Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit have announced they will be reuniting this summer for a handful of tour dates presented by Relix Magazine. Originally formed in 1988, the band will hit the road with its classic lineup of Hampton, guitarist Jimmy Herring, drummer Jeff Sipe, and bassist Oteil Burbridge. The band will...

It’s 6:57pm. I made it — and with three minutes to spare! Sixty minutes ago, I was at work, way across town, biting my fingernails as I shut down my computer for the day and ran out of the office. Thankfully, the traffic gods smiled upon me and aside from a few inescapable red lights, I managed to weave my...

The King is gone, but he’ll never be forgotten. We’re remembering the legacy of B.B. King today with a clip of “Let the Good Times Roll” from his performance at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2009. The song’s lyrics talk about living life to its fullest, and we can all agree that’s something the guitar legend did. King always...

Incubus has released the first of two EPs slated for release this year. The rockers’ first EP of the year, Trust Fall (Side A) features four songs, including the title track “Trust Fall,” which bassist Ben Kenney calls “our seven-minute FM-radio opus… It’s our ‘Stairway.’” The last bit of that comment is a little tongue-in-cheek (see the first video, below)....

EBS has taken their Reidmar amp design and built it into a new series of combo amps. The Magni 500 bass combo series features 210 and 115 models that incorporate an all-analog preamp with a lightweight power amp section. Both the 210 and 115 configurations include a tweeter to fill out their range. Similar to the Reidmar head unit, the...

We have another video from the 1978 performances by Weather Report in Pennsylvania, thanks to Rick Suchow. This is “Scarlet Woman”, which features one of the greatest lineups ever: Jaco Pastorius, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter and Peter Erskine. As we mentioned in the videos we’ve shared in the past from this show (“A Remark You Made” and “Birdland”), Dr. Fred...

Death metal band Six Feet Under, originally formed as a side project from Cannibal Corpse by frontman Chris Barnes, has released its 11th album, Crypt of the Devil. The record was recorded bassist/guitarist Phil Hall’s studio in Virginia, which is where Hall tracked its bass and guitar parts. The sound achieved is just what you’d expect. Check out “Open Coffin...