Archive for August 2016 - Page 3

Ida Nielsen has gone by several names, including Ida Funkhouser and Bassida, but one thing has always stayed consistent: her rock solid funk style. The Danish bassist was building her own artistic empire with her band and a pair of solo albums when Prince handpicked her to be his bassist. Starting in 2010, Nielsen toured the world with The Purple...

Sometimes we hear something along the lines of “get that guy a guitar” when we feature a bassist playing an instrument with more than 4-strings/piccolo strings/playing solo bass. But we’ve never heard the opposite, until now. Pete Cottrell plays an 8-string guitar, and people have asked him, “why don’t you just play the bass?” So he decided to do an...

The latest entry in the GarciaLive archival series presents the Jerry Garcia Band, in one of its most durable iterations, in a newly rediscovered recording from 1976. GarciaLive Volume Seven: November 8th, 1976, Sophie’s, Palo Alto, features Garcia’s longtime collaborator John Kahn (who also worked with Garcia in Old and in the Way and died in 1996, a year after...

MakeMusic has released version 25 of their popular music notation software, Finale. The new update carries several improvements including the transition to being a 64-bit application, making it more efficient and capable of handling 64-bit sound libraries. It also includes improved workflow and program support. “Features added in this release include transposed note entry, large time signatures, an incredible playback...

Q: I use a Fender American Standard Jazz bass and have Labella Flats on it. It’s a great bass, but not suitable for the type of genres that I play. I am seeking for a fatter and tighter sound, as deep as possible but with a lot of clarity. I have been looking into different pickups too. What should be...

Here’s another band I recently discovered that just blew me away. House of Waters features the trio of Hammered Dulcimer virtuoso Max ZT, bassist Moto Fukushima and percussionist Luke Notary. Members of the band have some impressive credentials too. Fukushima has performed with Mike Stern, Leni Stern, Karsh Kale, Dave Weckl, Joe Lovano and countless others. NPR called House of...

Swedish death metal band Soilwork has released a collection of rarities on the album, Death Resonance. The album includes rarely released and unreleased material dating back to 2005, as well as two new songs, and features the work of bassists Ola Flink and Markus Wibom. The band, with current bassist Wilbom, is also still supporting 2015’s The Ride Majestic. Take...

Meet Phil Mann, a busy bassist, journalist and educator living in London. Just looking at Phil’s gig list is impressive enough, and we loved his answer to the “Day Gig” question. Phil is this week’s No Treble reader in the spotlight. Here’s his story… Bio: I’m a graduate of the Players School Of Music in Clearwater Florida – having studied...

This challenging lesson outlines a musical tactic called “follow ups” to add to your groove tool box. We’ll go over some cool ways to create call and response follow up patterns using all of the components of music – helping you to play great lines over chords that will render tasteful musical ideas! Be sure to download the transcription for...

I recently discovered The 4 Korners, and I’m glad I did. Anchored by bassist James “JT” Thompson Jr., here’s the band performing a track from their sophomore album, Portal of Gold. The album is scheduled for a fall release.

Transcriptionist Aidan Hampson has turned his talents to to the work of prolific singer/songwriter Paul Simon. His latest book, The Best of Paul Simon for Bass, features bass lines created by some of the greatest: Anthony Jackson, Tony Levin and Bakithi Kumalo on fretless bass. The book includes 12 songs: Mother and Child Reunion Me and Julio Down by the...

Chris Kollias wrote in to share his new bass from 39 Custom Guitars, and it’s a beauty. The CK Canorous is a 5-string that the bassist wanted to cover a wide tonal palette. “The main purpose of this instrument is to cover a wide variety of sounds according to the demanding needs,” Kollias said. “The neck is made of white...