Archive for July 2016 - Page 2

Suicidal Tendencies has a legacy of great bassists. Louiche Mayorga, Tim “Rawbiz” Williams, Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner, and Metallica’s Robert Trujillo have all held the throne, just to name a few. Earlier this year, bassist Ra Diaz stepped up to the plate to carry on the tradition. It’s been a bit of a dream come true for the Chilean-born, Los Angeles-based...

Children of the Light is a group consisting of Danilo Pérez on piano, John Patitucci on bass, and Brian Blade on drums. Here’s the group performing “Suite for the Americas”, which was written by Pérez.

The Black Art Jazz Collective, featuring Vicente Archer (Terence Blanchard, Kenny Garrett, Wynton Marsalis, Robert Glasper) on bass, has released Presented By The Side Door Jazz Club. The album refers to the Side Door Jazz Club in Old Lyme, Connecticut, which gave the group, which celebrates black culture in a positive way, a two-night gig with the chance to record...

Gator Cases has unveiled the GPB-XBAK Aluminum Pedalboard. Measuring at 32 inches by 17 inches, the American-made pedalboard can hold up to 20 pedals and includes hook and loop adhesive strips for rearranging them. It also has power supply brackets underneath the board for mountint two separate power supplies. Rear-facing cutouts make it easy to run power up to your...

Q: I know how to outline chords but how do you play them so they don’t sound mechanical or like an exercise? Any particular patterns that you like when approaching a chord? Thanks bud for all of your hard work! A: I’ve written quite a bit about playing arpeggios and inversions through changes (using the Real Book or iReal Pro...

Nathan Navarro is back with another brilliant bass video, and this time he’s playing along with a run-through of World 1-1 from the original Super Mario Brothers. The bassist dials in a retro video game tone before playing the music. He even plays the right sound effects for when Mario jumps, spits fire, gets the super star, and even landing...

Original Booker T. & the M.G.’s bassist Lewie Steinberg has passed away after a battle with cancer. He was 82 years old. Steinberg was born in 1933 in Memphis, Tennessee. While many people associate Donald “Duck” Dunn with the M.G.’s, Steinberg was the group’s first bassist and recorded on the first two albums: Green Onions and Soul Dressing. He was...

Meet Ben Titus, a multi-instrumentalist who calls himself a bassist first, and who keeps busy with a variety of music-related gigs. Ben in this week’s No Treble reader in the spotlight. Here’s his story… Bio: I’m a born and raised Virginia native who is a recent transplant to the Mid-West. Music has alternately been my salvation and my greatest frustration,...

I’ve been wanting to do some Gospel episodes but wasn’t sure where I wanted to start until now. The first song that we’ll look art is the post-Civil War spiritual, “Oh Freedom”. In particular, I’m going to show you some ideas on how to “hear the changes” , an extended Gospel-style turnaround and how you might approach this song if...

“Hot Fun in the Summertime” is the perfect song for the season, and “I Want To Take You Higher” is a bass masterpiece. Larry Graham throws it down in this medley of the two songs. The mix on this clip is a little wonky, but luckily the bass is turned up nice and high.

Bassist Nik West (Prince, Dave Stewart) has released a new EP, Say Somethin. The EP features another female rock powerhouse alongside West — Australian singer/songwriter and guitarist Orianthi – on the tune “My Relationship.” The version of the record available via SoundCloud kicks off with West’s cover of AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” and the rest of the album promises classic...

Just like with music, great bass designs often come from the inspiration of other basses. That’s the case with our featured bass this week: the Nichols Guitar Company’s Seas of Cheese Bass. As the name suggests, the model is inspired by the famous Carl Thompson basses used by Primus’s Les Claypool. “The design was inspired by Les Claypool and some...