Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 356

Paul Simon shocked the world on February 5th when he released a statement that he’s retiring from touring. That led me to watch a ton of his videos, including this clip for his recent song “Wristband.” Simon is joined by longtime collaborator Bakithi Kumalo, who many know for his incredible bass lines on the Graceland album. “Wristband” comes from 2016’s...

Bass wizard Mark Egan has teamed up with tabla player and percussionist Arjun Bruggeman to release an instrumental album called Dreaming Spirits. Featuring guest guitarist Shane Theriot, the project has been in the making for a decade. “This audiophile recording features 14 original instrumental compositions for a total of 70 plus minutes exploring multi-dimensional ambient grooves and masterful improvisations from...

Ernie Ball Music Man’s StingRay has been a time-tested model for decades, but both the four and five-string versions will be getting an update for 2018. The company made the announcement at the Winter NAMM Show. “For 2018, the StingRay4 and StingRay5 have been reimagined with new features and appointments that provide a new level of playing comfort while retaining...

Many know Olivier Babaz for playing kalimba at the same time as bass, but he’s also incredible at jazz bowing. Here’s a great clip of him performing “Boplicity.” “It’s a follow up of [my] Swing feel & Baroque bow grip series with a classic Miles Davis & Gil Evans composition,” he writes.

Dywane “MonoNeon” Thomas, Jr. has just dropped a new album called I Don’t Care Today (Angels & Demons in Lo-Fi). The former Prince collaborator utilizes his genre-bending style to create what he calls his most intimate work yet. “‘I Don’t Care Today’ is a push and pull between the flesh and the spirit. MonoNeon creates a soundtrack about his existential...

Last year, Darkglass Electronics wowed NAMM-goers with the Alpha Omega. Now they’ve built upon the model with Alpha Omega Ultra, which they describe as “the most versatile bass preamplifier we’ve designed.” Just like its predecessor, the Ultra has two distinct distortion circuits that can be selected or mixed as well as a dry blend knob to retain your original signal....

This week we’re checking out a slick four-stringer by R. Low. Vaughn. Built by luthier Rob Vaughn, the bass is one of his newer models. “This particular bass is the 3rd one of that style I’ve made,” Vaughn says. “It started out as a concept for a bassist over in Britain named Alysha Moore who got the first one last...

Clutch is hitting the road again for a headlining tour with some stellar support. The band, anchored by bassist Dan Maines, will be kicking off their spring outing on April 27th in Chattanooga, Tennessee with following dates sticking to the South. Joining them will be Red Fang (bassist Aaron Beam), The Bronx (bassist Brad Majers), and Fireball Ministry (bassist Scott...

Rickenbacker announced the return of the 4003S/5 bass at the 2018 Winter NAMM Show. The five-string bass, which has not been offered for over a decade, has been updated with a slightly wider string spacing, a Schaller 3D-5 bridge, and a new single coil pickup design. The pickup was re-engineered with two blade magnets that angle further out towards the...

Armin Metz is back with another incredible solo bass video for his song “Back in the Jungle.” Filmed at night in the forest, the track has a hypnotic flow. The song is an incredible feat in itself, but it’s even more impressive that he can perform it as he walks the path at night.

Ampeg launched two new pedals at the Winter NAMM Show this year: the Liquifier Analog Chorus and Opto Comp Analog Optical Compressor. The new pedals add to their existing preamp and overdrive pedals. The Liquifier features a dual chorus circuit, which Ampeg says offers deep potential. “This isn’t your typical chorus pedal,” Ampeg Product Manager Ryan Cassady says. “The dual...

Victor Wooten’s appearances at the NAMM Show are always special. This year he gave a performance and talk at the Reverb booth. Starting with an awesome solo piece, Wooten talks about his summer camp before diving into music theory in a relatable way. He’s then joined by saxophonist Bob Franceschini for a pair of tunes.