Archive for October 2018 - Page 8

Paul Kowert is best known as the bassist for the Punch Brothers, but he took his band Hawktail to the Reverb.com studios to play a couple tunes. The performances of “Say Old Man, Can You Play The Fiddle?” and “In the Kitchen” display the bassist’s virtuosity in a beautiful bluegrass setting. “Through both tunes, Paul deploys a masterful breadth of...

Jazz trio Phronesis has released their eighth album, entitled We Are All. The band, which was formed by bassist Jasper Høiby, dig deep to create expressive textures with a unified sense of melody. We Are All is a continuation of their unique instrumental sound, but it also leans on the message of togetherness. “More than ever before, we feel we...

If you’re looking for some bass-heavy tunes featuring some of the greatest players to ever pick up our instrument, Dave Schools has you covered. The Widespread Panic bassist curated a Spotify playlist of 21 songs with bass lines that “influenced and perplexed” him as a young player. “It is not meant to be a Top-21 list of greatest bassists but...

Electro-Harmonix has unveiled the Mod Rex polyrhythmic modulator pedal featuring four independent modulation sections synced in time. Each of the sections can be tweaked to create unique sounds. “MOD delivers vibrato, flanger, chorus or phaser. TREM features tremolo. PAN modulates between left and right in stereo operation and FILTER offers a choice of a modulated LPF, HPF or BPF,” EHX...

Simon Fitzpatrick is back with a new video, and this one debuts the first track from his new album, The Dwarf Planets Suite. “There are many basses and sticks layering up the track, but here I’m performing two of the main parts,” Simon shares. The album is available now on and .

Dunlop has expanded their BMF line of guitar straps with two new options. The first is a strap made from belt leather, which the company says get better with age. They come in brown and black. “Comfortable on your shoulder from the start, Belt Leather Straps become even softer as you wear them in, and they develop a patina that...

Rush’s seminal album Hemispheres will be getting a 40th anniversary reissue on November 16th, the band revealed. The new release will come in four packages: a super deluxe edition, a two-CD deluxe edition, a 3-LP deluxe edition, and a deluxe digital edition. Released in 1978, Hemispheres cemented the more progressive sonic approach that Rush started in A Farewell To Kings....

I always love a good metal playthrough video, and Beyond Creation never disappoints. Here’s the entire band playing through the song “Entre Suffrage Et Mirage” from their upcoming album, Algorythm. Bassist Hugo Doyon-Karout absolutely shreds throughout the clip with some sweet bass melodies thrown in at the end. Keep in mind he’s playing a fretless six-string!

Donny McCaslin has released Blow., an album his website says “fully realizes [David] Bowie’s influence and McCaslin’s evolved artistic direction.” The saxophonist worked with the pop megastar on Bowie’s final album, Blackstar, which was released just days before Bowie’s death in 2016. “Before working with him, things like this didn’t seem possible to me,” McCaslin explains. “The affirmation of that...

Orange Amplification has expanded their OBC line of bass cabinets with the OBC112. The 1×12 bass cab is constructed with 15mm birch ply to make it lightweight while packing a punch. “With rear porting and featuring a 400 Watt Lavoce Neodymium 12? bass speaker, the OBC112 produces a surprising amount of bottom end despite its modest size,” Orange writes. The...

I was lucky enough to catch Christian McBride’s New Jawn at Blues Alley in DC a couple weeks ago, and I’ve been reeling ever since. The band’s raw energy and unfettered power left me inspired (and waiting for their new album to drop). The New Jawn has no chordal instrument, leaving plenty of room for exploration and stretching. Consequently, it...

Lake Street Dive has announced a new set of tour dates that will take them into 2019. After covering the Northeast in November, the trek will head down the East Coast through the Carolinas and into Florida. The band, which is anchored by bass great Bridget Kearney, is touring in support of their latest album, Free Yourself Up. Check out...