Archive for September 2016 - Page 2

There’s a great scene in the movie School of Rock, where Jack Black’s character asked one of the students what she had been playing during music class. The student tells him it was a cello, and he said “here’s a bass… tip it on it’s side, and ‘cello’, you’ve got a bass.” While that’s not the exact story of bassist...

Here we have the second installment of the Creative Bass Lines, and this month, it’s “Bass Gruv”. For this we’re looking at a Headhunters-esque bass groove I wrote. This would fit the harmony of an E dominant 7th chord, or for a crunchier sound, try setting up a vamp with an E7?9, too. I wanted to introduce some of you...

Bassist Jonathon Burgess sent us this video of his project with vocalist Sophie Aked. In this video, the cover Gregory Porter’s terrific tune, “No Love Dying.” We always dig the bass and vocal duos, and this one is no exception.

Jazz bassist Matt Brewer (Greg Osby, Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer) leads a quintet on his latest recording, Unspoken. All the members of the quintet are top-notch players and improvisers younger than 40: tenor saxophonist Ben Wendel, pianist Aaron Parks, guitarist Charles Altura and drummer Tyshawn Sorey. Together, they bring to life seven original Brewer compositions, and their versions of Bill...

This week we’re checking out the J Ferro Escalon bass. The model is part of a new series created by industry veteran Jose Ferro, who spent 17 years as Executive Vice President of ESP Guitars. Available in four- and five-string versions, the Escalon features neck-through construction with a five-piece maple and mahogany neck matched to mahogany body wings. Its top...

If you’ve been following this column for a while, you know we place a lot of emphasis on the details of good technique, including the left hand. Sometimes, though, we go to see our favorite bass players and they have the “pistol grip”. So is it really necessary to use one finger per fret and good posture on the fretboard?...

Tim Carey shared his latest video, and as always, we were quite impressed. “It’s a duo version of ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ featuring 17 year old Serena Dominguez on guitar and vocals,” Tim shared. “We stuck to the same basic arrangement as the original but added an extra solo section so we could both have some fun on the changes. It...

The Robert Glasper Experiment’s exploration of jazz and hip-hop continues on the group’s latest, ArtScience. The band’s bassist, Derrick Hodge, whose sophomore solo album The Second dropped in August (check out the No Treble interview), not only holds down the low end, but also sings one of the record’s first singles, “Find You,” according to Billboard. The core band members...

We had a lot of fun putting together this week’s stories and features, and you all seemed to dig what’s happening in the world of bass – big time. Here are the top 10 reader favorites on No Treble for the week. Thanks as always for reading, watching, commenting and sharing. 1. Gibson Unveils 2017 EB Bass T Model Gibson...

After showing a prototype at the NAMM Show this year, Darkglass Electronics is now shipping their first bass amplifier. The Microtubes 900 offers several upgrades from the prototype including extra power and an intuitive footswitch. Its design includes an all-analog preamplifier matched to a Class D Power module that dishes out 900 watts. Darkglass explains that the amp has an...

It has been a while since we were able to share a video by Aaron Gibson. Thankfully, there’s a new one out, and once again, it is stellar. Aaron is working on a new album, which he’s crowdfunding on Kickstarter. “Full Dark” is one of the tracks, which features Nahuel Bronzini and the Amaranth Quartet. Can’t wait to hear more.

Serbian bassist Nenad Vasilic, known for his blend of jazz and Balkan styles, has released his first trio recording, Wet Paint. Vasilic, who previously recorded in slightly larger groups, focused on walking the line between vintage and modern sounds with his trio and even reached into his own past in the attempt. The album includes a cover of his favorite...