Weekly Top 10: Moving on from the Blues Scale, The Best Bass Videos, New Gear and More

1. Herbie Hancock with Tal Wilkenfeld: Actual Proof

Herbie Hancock has never been short on great bassists to play with over his career. Here’s a killer clip of his band being anchored by Tal Wilkenfeld on “Actual Proof” during the 2010 Montreux Jazz Festival. Wilkenfeld brings tons of energy to the performance and follows each soloist to support their ideas…

2. Getting “Unstuck” from the Blues Scale

A reader asked Damian Erskine how to get “unstuck from using the blues scale”. Damian tackles that (and a question about slap bass too) in this week’s “Ask” column…

3. Peekaboom: Bye Bye Blackbird

Simone Masina has shared another terrific video with us of his project, known as Peekaboom. Here the duo of Simone and vocalist Angelica Lubian perform “Bye Bye Blackbird”. As an added bonus, Angelica takes over on double bass while Simone solos on his bass guitar…

4. Bohemian Guitars Announces Boho Bass

Here’s something different: Bohemian Guitars has introduced the Boho Bass, a hollow body electric bass constructed with an upcycled oil can. Each body has a removable back as well as an internal wood frame for increased amplification and structural integrity…

5. Stuart Clayton: Golliwog’s Cakewalk

When I see a video by Stuart Clayton, I’m usually at a loss for words. As many of you know, his transcriptions are stellar, and his bass playing is equally so. Here is his arrangement of Debussy’s ‘Golliwog’s Cakewalk’, from The Children’s Corner suite of piano pieces. Just incredible…

6. Andrés Rotmistrovsky and Miki Santamaria: Human Nature

Andrés Rotmistrovsky and Miki Santamaria are two of our favorite bassists to feature here. So it was super exciting to see a video of the two of them playing together. The setting is the Lorita Basses workshop in Barcelona, Spain, where Andrés and Miki were trying out their signature basses…

7. Top 10: The Most Watched Bass Videos (July 2015)

Clear your calendar for the rest of the day, because it is time to celebrate (watch) the top 10 most watched videos on No Treble in July. Thanks for watching, commenting and sharing…

8. Ibanez Terra Firma Bass Gets Maple Fretboard

After introducing the model last year, Ibanez is now offering the Terra Firma model in 5- and 6-string models with maple fretboards. The single-cut BTB model is part of the company’s experimental “Bass Workshop” series and has several features typically found on boutique basses…

9. Bass of the Week: Fodera Flame Koa Monarch 4 Elite “#4000?

It’s always good to look back at your work when you hit a milestone, but Fodera does it with style. They recently completed a special Flame Koa Monarch 4 Elite that they’ve dubbed Fodera #4,000, and it’s a beauty…

10. Oteil Burbridge to Join Grateful Dead Alumni Band “Dead and Company”

Hundreds of thousands of people witnessed The Grateful Dead’s “Fare Thee Well” concert series, marking the final time the “core four” surviving band members would perform together under the band’s moniker. A month later, three of the four band members – Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart – have announced a concert on Halloween…