Archive for December 2015 - Page 4

This week we’re checking out a six-string Glade model from Mana Basso custom basses. The gorgeous singlecut bass features a Padouk, Wenge and Swamp Ash body matched to a Wenge, Padouk and Flamed Maple neck for a rich textural palette. Its Birdseye maple fretboard leads your eye to the bass’s carved headstock, which is made as part of the neck...

Now that your fingers are getting in shape from the first two lessons, but how do you tackle making large interval leaps on the fly? Accurate shifting is an equally important skill to mastering technique. Upright bass players work meticulously on shifting to be as accurate as possible. We’ll borrow a few pointers from them as well as dive into...

Jan-Olof Strandberg uses his solo project, aptly entitled The Strandberg Project, to bring together musicians from all over the world to create incredible musical experiences. He also regularly invites guests bassists to join his band for tours, including Michael Manring, Armand Sabal-Lecco, Paul Jackson, and more. His latest collaboration is with Dominique Di Piazza, who joined him for the “Strandberg...

If you’re looking to explore some new contemporary Balkan, gypsy, jazz/funk/electronica, you’re in luck. The New York Gypsy All-Stars have released its second album, Dromomania. The band, co-founded by versatile, Athens-born, Berklee-educated bassist Panagiotis Andreou, has a thoroughly unique sound. All of the band members pull from varied musical traditions. Andreou, for example, crosses genre boundaries, using funk and rhythmic...

Another week in the books, which means it is time to celebrate the best of the best from the world of bass. And this week was all about great how to’s, great videos, some great gear – and more. Thanks as always for reading, watching, commenting and sharing. 1. Keelan Jones with Cory Henry: Sunday Stroll Snarky Puppy keyboardist Cory...

Electro-Harmonix has expanded their series of looping pedals with the 720 Stereo Looper. Featuring 720 seconds (12 minutes) of stereo recording time, the pedal includes ten independent loops and unlimited overdubbing for flexible looping. The looper has 24-bit A/D/A converters and a sample rate of 44.1kHz for high quality audio. Its controls are streamlined with a Push:Mode button that toggles...

Tim Carey sent us his latest video, taking Corinne Bailey’s “Put Your Records On” and making it a terrific arrangement for bass and vocals. The vocalist is Amanda Taylor, and once again, a great pop tune is made even better.

Lovers of the Warner Bros. era of jazz trumpeter/composer Miles Davis’ career, which began in the mid-1980s, can delight in a definitive 8-CD box set called The Last Word – The Warner Bros. Years. The of remastered music covers the Tutu, Amandla and Doo-Bop albums, and the Dingo and Siesta soundtracks. The set also includes a 1986 Miles Davis Octet...

Multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier is a freak of nature, so it figures that his cover of Michael Jackson’s classic “PYT” would be just as out there. Collier – who arranged, performed, produced, filmed and edited the clip – included some off the wall bass licks and a thriller of a unison line with the keyboard.

French jazz bass virtuoso Hadrien Feraud (Chick Corea, John McLaughlin) has released his second album, Born in the 80s. The album mixes jazz fusion, R&B, hip-hop, and soul and the 1984-born Feraud acknowledges the record’s not all about the bass — “It’s more about music,” says Feraud, who was inspired to commit himself to bass after hearing a Jaco Pastorius...

Want to learn how to use the Nashville Number System and easily play some of country’s greatest songs? The Nashville Number System Fake Book promises to teach you how to use the notation system, which reveals a song’s harmony, key, meter, rhythm, phrase structure, instrumentation, arrangement, and form on one piece of paper. The book is written for use by...

The AKAI Deep Impact is one of the most sought after synth bass pedals around. Discontinued years ago, the pedal is often seen selling for $800 or more. Now the Deep Impact’s designer has announced the next generation of the synth pedal with the Future Impact I by PandaMidi. While the Future Impact I is able to reproduce all nine...