Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 362

It’s time for one of our favorite holiday traditions again. Steve Bailey and the Berklee Bass Department have once again sent us a video for the season, and it’s another great one. This year’s track is a mashup entitled “Deck the Hanukkah” that features Bailey, Victor Wooten, John Patitucci, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, and Aaron Hanson on some blazing rap...

Tony Levin and his brother Pete have followed up their debut album with a new live release, entitled Special Delivery. Produced three years after the Levin Brothers’ self-titled debut, the new album captures the duo along with saxophonist Erik Lawrence and drummer Jeff Siegel during their 2017 tour. The quartet tackles mostly original tunes penned by the Levins and Erik...

Here’s a gorgeous solo bass song written and performed by Björn Meyer. Born in Sweden and based in Switzerland, the bassist’s “Trails Crossing” comes from his latest album, Provenance, which is the first ECM record devoted to solo electric bass.

Fodera is gearing up for 2018 by announcing the 35th Anniversary Monarch 4 Deluxe. Celebrating the company’s flagship design, the new bass is described as combining classic Fodera tone and looks with modern electronics and playability. “For this bass, we’ve adopted an early Fodera wood combination of a Mahogany body, Quilted Maple top, and a Pau Ferro fingerboard. In the...

Sad news to report today: Trickfish Amplification founder Richard Ruse has passed away. The company announced his death on social media. “It is with great sadness and loss that we announce the passing of our founder and visionary, Richard Ruse,” they wrote on Facebook. “Richard passed away from complications due to an infection he was battling for several weeks. Richard...

Electro-Harmonix reached into their past to reissue the Op-Amp Big Muff Pi from the late ’70s. The new pedal is faithful to the original 1978 design with a few new features including a compact, die-cast chassis, and true bypass switching. “The pedal relies on op-amps rather than transistors and three gain stages rather than four, to create its signature sound,”...

British double bass luthier Neal Heppleston sent us photos of his Panormo model to check out, and I’ve been obsessing over it. Each piece of wood is jaw-dropping, but moreover, it seems every little detail is a work of art in itself. Hand-built in his Sheffield shop, the bass is designed after the work of a famous 18th-century luthier with...

Cheikh Ndoye is back with another incredible performance on the bass ngoni, a traditional West African instrument that has similarities to a three-string fretless bass. This time he plays through the song “Jolie” from his recent album . Ndoye’s rhythmic and melodic bass lines support a melody sung by Woz Kaly to create an incredible groove.

London’s Fredric Effects has expanded their tonal palette with the BugCrusher, an analog sample rate reducer that produces an aliasing effect. Although its name makes it sound like it is a BitCrusher, Fredric writes that’s not the case. “Despite the name, the BugCrusher is not an actual BitCrusher. Most BitCrusher effects will have sample rate (x-axis quantization) and bit depth...

After people find out I’m a bass player, they always ask who my favorite bassist is and the answer is always the same: Ray Brown. The jazz bassist’s sense of melody and harmony always blow me away, but it’s the time and groove that keep me coming back. Here’s a fantastic take on “Bag’s Groove” with the Oscar Peterson Trio....

Ashdown has expanded their lineup of signature gear with the Norman Watt-Roy Special Edition OriginAL Pre-Di. Watt-Roy, who is best known as the bassist for Ian Dury and the Blockheads, helped create the unit. “Strictly limited to a run of 50 special units, the special edition Norman Watt-Roy OriginAL Preamp Pedal has been tweaked to Norman’s specification,” Ashdown writes. “As...

Christian McBride may be best known for his killer upright playing, but as we’ve shown before, he can also tear it up on electric. Here’s a fine piece of evidence with a live video of the bassist laying the foundation on fretless for the song “Galaxy 32 Star 4” with Chick Corea & The Vigil. McBride keeps the groove interesting...