Archive for 2016 - Page 67

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals crafted a new album after reforming for a 2015 tour, and now, the band, featuring the inimitable Juan Nelson on bass, is touring behind that album, Call It What It Is. The Call It What It Is Tour kicks off June 23 at Marymoor Park in Redmond, Washington, and wraps up Dec. 4 at...

There’s crazy stories and then there’s really crazy stories. The timeline of Arthur Barrow’s success falls into the “really crazy story” category (without question). Barrow – a young musician trying to find his way – decides to teach himself the electric bass in 1974 while attending the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. He was studying composition and organ,...

Last summer, Tedeschi Trucks Band took to the road for their Wheels of Soul tour. The band joined up with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and guitarist Doyle Bramhall II. Here’s the group performing “Tell Mama”, the tune made popular by Etta James in 1967. Tim Lefebvre lays down the bass and looks like he’s having fun doing it. The...

Garry Tallent, the longtime bassist for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, has released his first solo album, Break Time. However, on this record, Tallent handles the guitar work, vocals, percussion, and “various silly noises.” The bassist this time around is none other than Dave Roe, the prolific Nashville bassist known for working the legendary Johnny Cash. Roe plays standup bass...

Happy June. Now that May is in the books, it is time to celebrate the top 10 reader favorite bass gear stories for the month. Thanks for reading, commenting and sharing. And sorry for the GAS. 1. Fodera Imperial Mini-MG Bass Fodera and Matthew Garrison have teamed up once again to introduce the Imperial Mini-MG. The headless and compact design...

Q: I have never been to a random, strangers-in-the-night jazz jam as a bass player and a lot of jams tend to have their set bass player (ahem – often the organizer of said jam – ahem). What’s the etiquette if you just want to walk a few tunes with everybody? A: First of all, I love your, “random, strangers-in-the-night”...

I love musicians that experiment and think outside the box. Here’s a great example of that with a video by Niodel. The duo of bassist Paolo Cipollini and drummer Mattia Bellotti get their sound by mixing in live electronics and “sound expansions” to create eerie and sublime sonic textures. Here’s a clip they simply call “6”:

Jazz trio Thumbscrew, featuring double bassist Michael Formanek, honed the music for its latest album, Convallaria, at the Pittsburgh residency program City of Asylum. “I’ve done some composition residencies working on my own. But we were all there together, working on music every day, trying things out. I miss that from my younger days,” Formanek said of the residency spent...

Meet Kurt Skrivseth a multi-instrumentalist who plays bass and guitar in the band Pale People. Kurt has overcome some pretty amazing physical challenges with playing bass, as you’ll see in this story… Bio: I’m a 27 year old bassist from Montana. I’ve played in numerous local bands, big bands, jazz combos, cover bands, corporate gigs and musical theater productions. Shortly...

In this episode, we’ll continue to explore the Afro-Caribbean influence on the music that we know as Rock and Roll and R&B. I’m going to show you just a few ways that I use note length and some other “flavor packets” to spice up the 3:2 Clave and give it my own style and personality.  I’ve included some transcriptions of...

Today is Christian McBride‘s birthday, and he’s giving us a gift. In this video, Christian plays (with Berklee Bass Chair Steve Bailey) and shares some tips on intonation during a clinic. Happy birthday, Christian!

Not many full shows from Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention are available from mid-1970, making the Road Tapes, Venue #3 package a special one. The set includes two complete July 5, 1970 shows from Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At the time, Jeff Simmons handled bass for the Mothers, which also included Flo & Eddie, George Duke,...