Archive for September 2016 - Page 5

Cort Guitars has expanded their bass lineup with the AB850F, an acoustic bass guitar featuring a full-size, jumbo body that the company says produces plenty of volume. The bass, which comes in natural and black finishes, is constructed with a dovetail neck joint and venetian cutaway for better access to the upper register. Its body back and sides are mahogany...

Marcus Miller’s “Blast” is one of my favorite tunes. So I was thrilled to see this trio – anchored by bassist Leslie Johnson – performing their own version. Joined by guitarist Dave Giraldo and drummer Jay Jackson, Leslie not only handles the great bass line, he also plays keys on the track. Dig it.

The Ron Carter Quartet, led by the inimitable and prolific jazz bassist/cellist/composer, Ron Carter, has collaborated with vocalist Vitoria Meldonado to create the record, Brasil L.I.K.E. (short for Love, Inspiration, Knowledge and Energy). The Grammy-winning Carter is working with American and Brazilian standards in bossa nova on the album, and creating excerpts of jazz within each song. The record also...

Gibson has unveiled their 2017 instrument lineup, including the new Gibson 2017 EB Bass T. The new version revamps the EB Bass design with a new body shape among other features. As part of the “T” series, the bass is created with tonewoods and pickups chosen for vintage Gibson sounds. The bass is built with a swamp ash body, set...

Hold onto your hats, because this isn’t your typical jazz duo. The Bass Coalition Summer Workshop wrapped up this year with a stunning recital by guest artist and jazz legend Lynn Seaton. For the finale, he invited Donovan Stokes to join him for a special version of his song “Patrician Commission”. Both double bassists got gnarly with distortion pedals to...

Alabama’s St. Paul & The Broken Bones is back with a sophomore slab of retro-soul on Sea of Noise. The eight-piece band says the album is more reflective of its tastes than its debut, Half the City, and depends less on belting from lead singer Paul Janeway and more on incorporating his voice into the arrangements, according to a Wall...

Soften The Glare, featuring former Mudvayne bassist Ryan Martinie, are ramping up for a new album and a new tour. The instrumental/prog/jazz/rock band revealed they are currently working on their debut album. “[We] have started sessions for their debut album with Jamie King (Between The Buried And Me) at The Basement Recording NC studio,” they wrote. They’ll be hitting the...

For those of you keeping tabs, it’s safe to say that I’m a soul music junkie. Motown, Philly Soul, R&B from Memphis and Muscle Shoals, you name it — I can’t get enough. I’m a sucker for listening to old records, reading books about the development of record labels such as Stax and Atlantic, and seeking out the musicians who...

Jason Raso sent us this video of him performing a tune he wrote and performed using three basses, a guitar and a drum track. “Last week I was fortunate enough to visit the Fodera shop in Brooklyn. What a treat meeting all of the amazing people who build these beautiful instruments. I thank them all for such a warm welcome!...

ZZ Top has the longest-lasting original lineup of any major rock band – the Texas trio of Billy Gibbons (guitar), Dusty Hill (bass) and Frank Beard (drums) have remained together for more than 45 years. But until now, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers have gone without releasing a live album. More than four decades on, they’ve assembled LIVE...

A week after it was unveiled, Victor Wooten has weighed in on his role in the new prog-metal project Octavision. The group, which is the brainchild of guitarist Hovak Alaverdyan, has garnered loads of attention since releasing a single song, “Three Lives“. “Although I enjoyed playing on this song, please know that Octavision is not my band,” Wooten wrote on...

As musicians, our main goal is to express ourselves as freely and truly as possible. One listen to Derrick Hodge’s and you’ll know he achieved that, but it goes deeper. Each song has an openness that seems to touch on the listener’s own emotions, like tapping into a social consciousness. The Second is, in fact, the bassist’s second solo album,...