Archive for July 2016 - Page 9

Blink-182 had around 30 songs written before heading into the studio to record its latest effort, California. But, when the pop-punk band, now featuring guitarist/vocalist Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio, started working together on the group’s seventh studio album, all those songs went out the window. “We hit the ground running so hard that we just kept writing and writing,”...

Meet Beth McPherson, a bassist from Dallas who impressed us with her drive in pursuing music – both as a craft and as an eventual career. We’re betting she’s going to succeed in both. Beth is this week’s No Treble reader in the spotlight. Here’s her story… Bio: I’ve been playing electric bass for about 8 years, and upright for...

Orange redesigned their entry-level bass combo range with the Orange Crush Bass series. The line – consisting of 25, 50, and 100-watt combos – upgrades their most accessible bass amps with a parametric EQ circuit inspired by their new 4 Stroke bass amp. They also feature analog circuitry, redesigned speakers and ported cabinetry, an onboard tuner, and a headphone output...

Here’s a great clip of a Jeff Beck Band performance at Madison Square Garden in 2013. The tune, “Women of Ireland”, is a subdued one, featuring some sweet lines by bassist Tal Wilkenfeld. The band also includes Lizzie Ball on violin and Jonathan Joseph on drums.

You know Tony Levin for his extensive bass work with King Crimson, Peter Gabriel and innumerable sessions, but aside from being a music composer and lyricist, he’s also a writer who has kept an online “Road Diary” for two decades (its newest incarnation is here). He has now released a book of poetry, “Fragile as a Song.” Bill Bruford, who...

Warwick’s Custom Shop has been putting out some beautiful instruments. Our bass of the week is one of their latest creations: a Streamer Stage II sporting a 1-inch Macassar Ebony top. The masterbuilt bass features neck-through construction centered around a 7-piece wenge and purpleheart neck. Its Tigerstripe Ebony fretboard is inlaid with dragon heads below the 12th fret and yin-yangs...

This lesson is called “Beautiful Practice” for a reason. Our exercise this week creates a lush harmony and texture all while working out our theory and technique at the same time. The theory portion of this week’s lesson is that we’ll be playing diatonic triads in open voicings. If that sounds foreign to you, don’t worry. We’ll be breaking down...

No Treble reader Michelangelo Brandimarte shared this video with us of his bass and vocals duo, Up&Down. Joined by vocalist Claudia Pantalone, they cover “Twisted” and “The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines”. This one swings!

Joseph Patrick Moore’s Decade II 2006-2015, is a compilation of remasters of the bassist/composer/producer’s work, which melds contemporary jazz with funk, rock, pop, urban, spiritual and electronica music. Moore’s last previous compilation record, Decade 1996-2005, was released in 2006. Moore is known for his work with Stewart Copeland (The Police), Earl Klugh, Bob James, Chris Duarte and Michael Tolcher, as...

This was a week for how-to’s. Three of the reader favorite top 10 were just that: Damian’s “Soloing When The Band Drops Out”, Blyss’ “Talking Style: Rhumba Blues” and Dr. D’s “Some Thoughts on Playing at Fast Tempi” all making the list. No Treble readers also enjoyed some great videos and new bass gear too. Unfortunately, this week also included...

Charles Berthoud is getting a lot of attention on his new video. After watching it, we can see why. Here’s “Reflections” – a composition Charles wrote for solo piccolo bass.

Renowned bassist/vocalist/composer Richard Bona, originally from Cameroon and known to some fans as “The African Sting,” has released an album with his Afro-Cuban project Mandekan Cubano. The album, Heritage, is his first studio release since 2013’s Bonafied. Heritage explores the music, dance, rituals, and oral history of Cuba, and the established themes in Bona’s art – using music to address...