Fretted or fretless? Make it a convertible
Our Facebook friend Kirk Dickison shared a video with us featuring this odd, “convertible” bass that allows fast switching between fretted and fretless modes. So we decided to dig around and find out some more. Mikhail Chtchetinine, inventor of the bass, shares the background for the instrument: “Having discovered the liberation of fretless guitar music, I went in search of...
Steve Uccello: Chiral
We covered bassist Steve Uccello‘s SYMMETRIA release back in August. Since then, Steve has posted a live looping instructional video of the eighth track on the album, “Chiral”. This video is also part of a lesson on our partner site, Learn the Low End, where Steve is a professor.
Colin Hodgkinson: 32-20 Blues
I bet Robert Johnson never imagined someone playing his “32-20 Blues” on bass. But it sure is cool that Colin Hodgkinson did.
Reader Spotlight: Russ Sargeant
Meet Russ Sargeant, our player in the spotlight for October 27th, 2009. Bio: I’m a bass player living near Birmingham, England – playing a fusion of Jazz and Ambient music. I write and record in my home studio and I have recently taken an outing into the wonderful world of live-looping! Location: Dudley, West Midlands, United Kingdom Day gig: I...
Stanley Clarke acoustic bass solo (1994)
In 1994, Stanley Clarke, Al DiMeola and Jean Luc Ponty performed in Montreux. A DVD of the live performance emerged more than 10 years later. This segment features Clarke’s extended solo break, including quotes from his Spanish Phases for Strings and Bass and self-titled albums.
Hank Jones, Ray Brown & Buddy Rich: Ad Lib
This video, recorded in 1950, is short but sweet, featuring Hank Jones on piano, Ray Brown on bass, and Buddy Rich on drums.
Rewind: our top features of the week plus new Facebook forum
In case you missed them, here are the most popular features on No Treble last week. Flemming started a new forum on our Facebook page… Introduce yourself! Columns & Features Damian Erskine discusses Odd Time Signatures in his latest column. Our player spotlight is on Dywane Thomas Jr.. Evan Kepner posted part 1 of his new lesson, The Zen of...
Miles Davis Quintet: All Blues live (1964)
Happy Sunday. Enjoy one from the archives: the Miles Davis Quintet performing “All Blues”, with Ron Carter on bass The group: Miles Davis – trumpet Wayne Shorter – tenor sax Herbie Hancock – piano Ron Carter – bass Tony Williams – drums
Arild Andersen and the Snétberger Trio
Today’s video features bassist Arild Andersen, performing with the Snétberger Trio. Ferenc Snétberger is on guitar and Paolo Vinaccia is on percussion, in this 2005 performance.
Bass, Bass, Bass, Bass, Bass and Bass
Our very own Donovan Stokes posted this video, featuring his bass studio at Shenandoah University. The group, performing “Bass, Bass, Bass, Bass, Bass and Bass” by Christian Gentet from L’orchestre de Contrebasses (France), includes Dr. Stokes, Allegra Hale, Eric Price, Kevin Johnson, Robin Rhodes and Maya Jones. The performance gets the big No Treble stamp of approval.
Michael Manring: My Three Moons
Michael Manring held a bass workshop in Sligo, Ireland on October 2, 2009, and performed his first-ever concert in Ireland that night. Event organizer Eddie Lee shares this video with us, saying “Hi guys, thought of you when I managed to capture this gem from last week’s workshop with Michael Manring. What a wonderful musician, a great teacher, and true...
Bruno Migliari Trio: Three Views of a Secret
Today, we start something a little new… spotlighting videos posted by our friends on No Treble’s Facebook page. The first one is from bassist Bruno Migliari and his Trio, performing the Jaco Pastorius composition, Three Views of a Secret. The performance took place live at Rio Carioca jazz club in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nice stuff, Bruno. If you’re interested...