Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 250

In what seems to be a prog lover’s dream tour, King Crimson has unveiled the “Music Is Our Friend” tour. The outing will see the band accompanied by the California Guitar Trio for the first half of the tour and The Zappa Band for the second half.

Forty-seven years ago, Charles Mingus performed with his band at Carnegie Hall. A live album, “Mingus At Carnegie Hall”, was issued but excluded much of the 2-hour performance. Now the full concert has been released as a deluxe edition.

G&L Guitars is showing some love for lefty bassists with a new southpaw version of their Tribute Fallout Bass. Originally launched in 2019, the Fallout Bass is a short-scale model loaded with the company’s Magnetic Field Design humbucker.

At long last, Wolfgang Van Halen’s solo project Mammoth WVH has released its debut album. Van Halen wrote, performed, and recorded all the parts. Although his family name looms large, Wolfgang finds his own sound to live up to that legacy.

Matthew Garrison has just launched a fantastic new app for learning from the bassist. The app is described as a “living and evolving archive of the creative works of Matthew Garrison.”

Bass great Juan Nelson has passed away at the age of 62. A cause of death has not been announced. Nelson is best known for his unrelenting grooves with Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals. Harper posted about his passing on social media.

Spaceman Effects has launched the Aurora, an analog BBD-style flanger packed with features. That includes two LFO types, two tape emulations, and a static comb filtering option.

Jazz bassist and educator Orlando le Fleming has been releasing books on time and technique for the past few years. Now, he’s teaching how to expand on one of the most prevalent chord progressions in jazz: Rhythm Changes.

Ariane Cap’s and Wolf Wein’s new book “The Pattern System for the Bass Player” is now available. The 330-page book is packed with diagrams and exercises to teach fretboard proficiency as well as improvisation and mental practice.

Last year, the Foo Fighters were set to celebrate their 25th anniversary with a world tour. Obviously, that was canceled. Instead, they’re celebrating their 26th anniversary this year starting with a tour in July and August.

D’Addario has launched a new line of straps called the Eco-Comfort line, which features models made from sustainable materials. The company says that 90 percent of each strap is made from recycled materials.

The Omnific is a killer prog-metal band consisting of two bassists – Matthew Fackrell and Toby Peterson-Stewart – with drummer Jerome Lematua. Their latest song, “Wax & Wane”, distills their melodic yet aggressive sound.