Tribal Tech: Face First, Live
Holy smokes, I never get tired of Gary Willis‘ bass playing, even with the stuff he recorded almost 20 years ago. Here’s Willis laying it down with Tribal Tech, with Scott Henderson on guitar, Scott Kinsey on keyboards and Kirk Covington on drums. The quartet is playing “Face First,” the title track from Tribal Tech’s sixth album of the same...
Dave Matthews Band Releases “Away from the World”
Dave Matthews Band has released Away from the World, the band’s eighth studio effort and first since the 2009 release, GrooGrux King. Matthews, who formed the band in 1991, recently told NPR that he’s surprised he’s made it this far. “I can remember saying ‘I can’t imagine that I’m going to be doing this when I’m 45’ — and I’m...
Reader Spotlight: Ben Clarke
Meet Ben Clarke, a bassist who got his start on clarinet and sax and moved on from there to the most awesome instrument on the planet. Ben is our player in the spotlight for the week of September 11, 2012. Bio: Starting formal musical training on clarinet, then baritone & tenor saxes in Junior High. Picked up the guitar and...
Top 10: The Most Watched Bass Videos (August 2012)
Of all the awesome bass videos we shared in August (all 31 of them), 10 of them ruled supreme, based on No Treble reader views. August included our popular “isolated bass week”, and many of those made the list. Enjoy! 1. Red Hot Chili Peppers: Flea’s Isolated Bass on “Scar Tissue” Flea can be a crazy funk-rock bassist, but here...
Weekly Top Ten: New Bass Gear, “Havona” Transcription, 12 Year Old Bassist, Top Bass Videos and How To’s
Here are the most read stories and most watched videos on No Treble for the week of September 2-8, 2012. Thanks for reading, commenting and sharing! 1. Vox Introduces Apache Series Bass Guitars Vox has expanded their bass lineup with the Apache series of basses, which pick up where their predecessors from the ’60s left off. The new travel instruments...
Gibson Announces Grabber 3: ’70s Tribute Bass
Gibson first introduced the Grabber bass in the 1970’s, with the company completely redesigning their version of the electric bass following their successful run with the EB series. Gibson is going back to the Grabber with the introduction of the Grabber 3, a ’70s tribute bass the company says “recaptures the best qualities of the original version, produced from 1973...
Esperanza Spalding with The Roots: Live Performance of Weather Report’s “Predator”
My friend Marsha was telling me about Esperanza Spalding performing a Weather Report tune, where she lays down the bass line while singing the melody. I couldn’t believe I missed it. So after searching for a while, I found this (not perfect, but plenty good enough) fan-shot video of Esperanza with The Roots (wow!) performing Weather Report’s “Predator” (holy smokes!)...
John Paul Jones to Tour with Supersilent
John Paul Jones is no stranger to experimental music, from his days with Led Zeppelin through today. This November, Jones will be stretching out even more as he tours with the Norwegian avant-garde/improvisational group Supersilent for a handful of live dates in Europe. In a recent issue of Uncut, Jones said the improvisation with Supersilent reminds him of the way...
Renaud Garcia-Fons: Tiny Desk Concert
Whenever there’s a new video featuring bassist Renaud Garcia-Fons, I’ll drop everything to watch it. NPR recently hosted Garcia-Fons in their Tiny Desk Concert series where the bassist showed the world his approach to bass, music and his love for various genres. Garcia-Fons kicks things off with “Aqa Jan”, a tune we featured back in early 2011.
Rush’s “Clockwork Angels” Tour Kicks Off Today
Rush is kicking off their North America tour today in Manchester, NH. The tour is in support of Clockwork Angels, the group’s 20th studio album, released in June. The 33-date tour covering the U.S. and Canada will run through December, and following a five month break, the trio hits the road once again to tour across Europe. Clockwork Angels debuted...
John Entwistle: Isolated Bass on The Who’s “Sea And Sand”
No Treble reader Miles Graf-Brennen shares this epic isolated bass (mostly) track of John Entwistle, performing along with the Who on “Sea And Sand”. We’ll let Miles set it up: “This is a pretty random choice, because the bass part on this album are so critical to both its lyrical emotion and its rocking drive. Listening to the isolated bass...
Under the Bridge: Double “V” Projection’s Bass & Drum Cover
A couple of month’s ago, we introduced Double “V” Projection, the collaboration between bassist Viaceslav Svedov and drummer Valentin Tarasov. The duo record remotely, with Viaceslav in Cologne, Germany and Valentin from Moscow. Here again are the guys, this time with their bass and drum cover of the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s “Under the Bridge”. Nice and groovy.