Archive for September 2020

Jazz master Ron Carter has added two new books to the library on his web store: “9 Ron Carter Bass Line Transcriptions” and “From the Bottom Up”.

As if 2020 isn’t strange enough, three heads of state have joined forces to melt faces. Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin (who plays a lot like Nick Schendzielos), and Kim Jong-Un have teamed up as the Nuclear Power Trio. Today, we’re featuring the title track from “A Clear and Present Rager”.

Tower of Power has announced that bass legend Francis “Rocco” Prestia has passed away. The band made the announcement on their social media.

Hilbish Design has teamed up with Red Fang to release a new limited-edition pedal called the Night Destroyer. The unit, limited to 150 units worldwide, is based on the Sunn Beta Series amps the band has used throughout their career.

The very first Snarky Puppy we shared (in 2011) was for their tune, “Skate U”. That video put the band on the map for us and for many readers. They’ve been remixing and remastering their earlier works this year, including this tune.

Former Trivium bassist Brent Young has died of undisclosed causes. He was 37 years old. Young was in Trivium from 2001 to 2004 and was replaced by the group’s current bassist, Paolo Gregoletto.

Steve Smith of m7 Bassworks shared his latest build called the Type [M]. The model, which won a Talkbass build-off, is the luthier’s take on a modern bass.

Whenever I spot a video with Mohini Dey, I stop what I’m doing, and I’m never disappointed. But this one might be my favorite so far. Dey grooves hard and takes a killer solo on “Nirvana,” with Siddharth Nagarajan and U.Rajesh.

Mark Stone, the original bassist for Van Halen, has passed away after a battle with cancer. The news was shared by his brother, Brad, on Instagram.

Back in the 80s, I wore out my copy of Pete Townshend’s “White City: A Novel” record, thanks in large part to Pino Palladino. “Give Blood” recently came up on my shuffle, and I started looking for videos. That brought me to this excellent play-through by Gonzalo Godio.

The great Christian McBride has just released a new album with his big band called For “Jimmy, Wes and Oliver” that pays homage to a trio of jazz greats: organist Jimmy Smith, guitarist Wes Montgomery, and arranger Oliver Nelson.

Lakland has expanded its Skyline series of basses with the Skyline 55-OS and 44-OS. The new instruments are versions of their 44 and 55 models with offset body shapes and a few different specs.