Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 448

Neil Young’s “Ditch” era after the success of 1972’s Harvest produced some of the most emotionally heavy and raw music of his career. Central to the set of albums referred to as the “Ditch Trilogy” is 1975’s Tonight’s the Night, a reflection on drug abuse and the loss of his friends. Guitarist Danny Whitten and roadie Bruce Berry had both...

This week we’re checking out a bass from the dark side. The Devil’s Choice EvilOak is a unique bass that brings together several aspects of their existing instruments. “The EvilOak is a custom project [based on] our Manticore model, and the term “EvilOak” was initially a fun name for that particular bass,” Bernd Steuer of Devil’s Choice explains. “[We] put...

Piano prodigy Joey Alexander has spent the past few years blowing everyone’s minds with his off the charts playing. Now the fourteen-year-old has returned with Eclipse, an eleven-song album that mixes his original compositions with jazz standards and gospel. The album is pinned together by bassist Reuben Rogers, who creates a solid rhythm section alongside drummer Elrick Harland. Check out...

Colombia’s Waggi Pedalboards has launched their business with a new line of pedalboards. Available in three sizes, the boards feature an integrated tidy cable system and a two-tier design for laying out your pedals. Each pedalboard is built with 14-gauge lightweight aluminum with one-inch rubber feet. They also have a built-in storage area for power supplies, patch boxes, and fixed-setting...

EBS is celebrating their 30th anniversary this year with a special bass built by Hungarian luthier Csaba Boldogh. The instrument is fitted with an EBS logo on the headstock as well as a custom EBS 30th Anniversary inlay at the twelfth fret. The seal is also found on the rear of the bass. Boldogh built the bass with a Hungarian...

Jazz master Ron Carter’s biography, Finding The Right Notes, is now available as an audiobook. Written by Dan Ouellette, the aural version is read by Carter himself and include musical intros to each chapter. Its total running time is over twelve hours. Finding The Right Notes chronicles Carter’s life from his beginnings in Michigan to his rise in the jazz...

Jimi Hendrix inspired countless musicians to pick up their instruments and become better at their craft. One of those musicians was Dug Pinnick, who has just released a new tribute album to the legendary guitarist. Tribute to Jimi: (Often Imitated but Never Duplicated) covers eight of Hendrix’s most iconic songs including “Fire”, “Purple Haze”, “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”, and more....

DC Pedals has announced the 5-Channel Bluetooth Looper, an innovative new effects looper that allows for programming and control from your smartphone. “Focused on the working musician, the 5-Channel Bluetooth Looper is a true-bypass switching system with five loops, 100 direct accessible presets, 100 MIDI accessible presets, MIDI input and MIDI output, and our patented Bluetooth wireless programming and control,”...

Phish has announced their touring plans with a fourteen-show outing that will bounce around the United States. Anchored by bassist Mike Gordon, the iconic jam band will kick things off in Albany, New York before heading to Virginia, Tennessee, Illinois, and Nevada. Each location will have at least two nights of music. The news expands upon their existing summer dates...

Jazz bassist Dave Holland has returned with a new album with a very appropriate title. Uncharted Territories is an exploratory album that reunites the band leader with longtime friend and saxophonist Evan Parker. Pianist Craig Taborn and percussionist Ches Smith round out the album. “In addition to quartet improvisations, they also broke off into every possible subset of duo and...

Alexander Pedals has expanded their Neo Series with the Defender, a pedal that packs multiple digital drives into a single pedal. The effects are controlled with a full panel of secondary effects. “The Defender is capable of anything from a transparent overdrive with slapback delay to a wall of synth fuzz made even more bodacious with octaves included,” the company...

45 years after his debut album as a leader, Stanley Clarke has announced his next release. The Message will feature the bass master alongside his longtime touring band of young innovators – Cameron Graves, Beka Gochiashvili, and Mike Mitchell – as well as several special guests like rapper Doug E. Fresh and trumpeter Mark Isham. Clarke collaborated with each of...