Archive for July 2015 - Page 3

Rockready has unveiled the Volo series of gig bags including a model specifically for basses. The Volo Bass Gig Bag measures in at 50 inches high, 18 inches wide, and 4 inches deep to fit most basses. Featuring a durable outer covering, its design includes integrated ABS panels, a reinforced padded base, and a padded, adjustable neck support for protecting...

Scales, scales, scales. Why does my teacher always make me play scales? If I have to play the C Major scale one more time, I think I’ll puke. And with a metronome? Why can’t I just learn songs and jam with my friends? Ah, the war between playing and practicing. I know this battlefield well; the metronome is always outnumbered...

Adam Stevens has shared another great solo bass arrangement of great tune. This time around, he tackles “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free”, which was written by Billy Taylor and “Dick Dallas” in the early ’60s and made popular by Nina Simone in 1967.

Newly unearthed modern jazz recordings from a Nov. 14, 1958 Hamburg, Germany performance by Oscar Pettiford Quartet have been released on the collection, We Get the Message. Pettiford, a highly influential double bassist/cellist, was known for saying that the center of his work was “to pass on the message.” Sadly, he was able to do so for only so long...

Swedish amp company EBS has announced their Black Label series of bass pedals will be getting overhauled with the Black Label Studio Edition lineup. The series updates six pedals – the MultiComp SE, the DynaVerb SE, the UniChorus SE, the OctaBass SE, the MetalDrive SE and the MultiDrive SE – with several improvements for studio use while retaining their effect....

Many bassists are lucky to find success with a single band. Marco Mendoza, on the other hand, has found it with several. His resume includes stints with Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Ted Nugent, Blue Murder, Bill Ward, and many more. Now he’s joined fellow veteran musicians in The Dead Daisies, a band that hearkens back to the classic roots of rock....

Leonardo van der Laat sent us this great clip of bassist Manou Gallo leading her Groove Orchestra during the Saint-Jazz-den-Noode festival in 2013. Born in the Ivory Coast and currently living in Belgium, Gallo’s style blends traditional African music with modern funk and pop in a fun way. Check out the Manou Gallo Groove Orchestra getting down on “Chanter L’amour”:

Joe Satriani’s 15th album, Shockwave Supernova, sees the guitar great not only try on an outlandish alter ego, but also features a world-class band — bassist Bryan Beller (Dethklok, Steve Vai, Dweezil Zappa, The Aristocrats), keyboardist/guitarist Mike Keneally, and drummer Marco Minnemann. “I couldn’t have asked for a better band to help bring these songs to life,” Satriani said. According...

Q: Recently I’ve been struggling with scale degrees and chords. Right now I practice my scales using in 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, etc. However my problem is being able to name the notes of the scale because for the most part I have memorized scales based on patterns (like how playing E major is the same as A major, just on...

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, somebody like Alex Spradling comes along and blows your mind. The bassist tackles saxophone legend John Coltrane’s lightning fast solo from “Countdown” on his double bass. Spradling’s economy of motion makes the blazing lines come off as a fluid stream of notes as his left hand glides over the strings.

Progressive metal band Symphony X has released its ninth studio album, Underworld. With bassist Michael LePond (Affector, Rattlebone, Mike Bino Project) holding down the low end, the album takes its inspiration from the classic Dante poem the “Divine Comedy,” particularly its “Inferno,” as well as the ancient Orpheus myth, said Symphony X guitarist and songwriter Michael Romeo. “So there’s the...

Meet bassist Jeffrey Bryan Rijnsburger, a man who hails from the place with the “famous Dutch windmills”. But more important than that, Jeffrey is pursuing the dream of playing music. Here’s his story. Bio: I’m originally from Zaandam, the place with the famous Dutch windmills. Outside providing backing vocals wherever needed, I’m a 100% dedicated to bass and try to...