Trevor Dunn Anchors New John Zorn Album
Composer John Zorn has released the sixth album with his 21st-century ensemble Simulacrum, called The Garden of Earthly Delights. The powerhouse band is comprised of bassist Trevor Dunn, keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Kenny Grohowski, guitarist Matt Hollenberg, and vocalist Sara Serpa. The exploratory album celebrates the 500th anniversary of the death of renowned painter Hieronymus Bosch. “A visionary of unparalleled...
Steve Lawson: Vertigo
Steve Lawson’s recent album Referendum is filled with powerful music inspired by the political events in the UK last year. Each song is a stream of consciousness as the bassist reflects on Brexit, starting with the track “Vertigo.” “This is entirely live and improvised,” Lawson wrote. “Looped and layered exactly as you see it. Some pretty heavy Kaoss Pad abuse...
Forever Funk: An Interview with Lige Curry
George Clinton has been spreading the gospel of funk around the world with Parliament Funkadelic for nearly 50 years, and bassist Lige Curry has been the group’s anchor for nearly four of those decades. Born in Flint, Michigan and raised in the Cleveland, Ohio area, Curry first caught the attention of the P-Funk crew along with his cousin, guitarist Michael...
Erik Arkö: The 12 Types of Metal Bass Players
Our friend Erik Arkö knows his metal, and that means he knows his metal bass players. He decided to have a little fun by making a parody video of the “12 types of metal bass players”, plus a follow-up to finish the ones he missed. “Being one myself, I hope that this is considered somewhat funny,” he writes. “Hope that...
DOD Introduces Rubberneck Analog Delay Pedal
DOD has announced the Rubberneck Analog Delay, a stompbox that features four bucket brigade chips that allow it to provide over one second of delay. It has a tap tempo footswitch and knobs for modulation, gain, and tone, but the pedal gets its name from its unique Rubberneck feature that lets users pitch shift from one time setting to another...
Ashdown Engineering Announce the B-Social Lite Desktop Bass Amp
One of the biggest hits of NAMM 2015 was the B-Social desktop bass amp. This year Ashdown expanded the range with the B-Social Lite, which they describe as the best aspects of the original in a smaller package. “It makes the amp more affordable,” says Ashdown’s Lee Alexander. “It doesn’t have wireless feature for the instrument, but you still have...
Stevie Wonder: Live on Musikladen/Beat Club, 1974
I watched this awesome Stevie Wonder performance a couple of times trying to figure out which song to feature. Finally, I realized you should watch the whole thing. Taken from a 1974 show for Musikladen (formerly The Beat Club), the clip has the great Reggie McBride laying it down on some of Wonder’s greatest hits with some especially stretched out...
In Memoriam: Lyle Ritz
Lyle Ritz, who worked as a session bassist during L.A.’s golden era of recording, passed away on March 3rd. He was 77 years old. Ritz began his musical career working at the Southern California Music Company, where he worked in the small goods department. It was here that he picked up the ukulele, which he also became famous for. He...
Warwick Unveils 2017 Limited Edition Thumb NT Models
Warwick unveiled their annual limited edition bass this year and this year is a landmark. The Thumb NT 2017, which comes in four and five-string versions, also marks the company’s 35th anniversary. The master-built instruments are built in Germany and limited to fifty units of each the four and five-string versions. Taking its cues from the standard Thumb NT model,...
Asia Release Live CD/DVD Set Featuring the Late John Wetton
Asia has released a 2-CD/DVD live set called Symfonia – Live In Bulgaria 2013. The release captures the band in a concert at a second-century Roman theater in Plovdiv, Bulgaria with the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra. It also features the lineup of original Asia members John Wetton, Carl Palmer and Geoff Downes with guitarist Sam Coulson. After Wetton passed away two...
Bass of the Week: Ernie Ball Music Man Bongo 4 HH
This week we’re checking out the Ernie Ball Music Man Bongo 4 HH, a bass they describe as “well balanced, comfortable, resonant and expressive with effortless playability.” The Bongo was introduced in 2003 with a modern double cutaway body design that complements the flagship StingRay model. It’s built with a basswood body in six color options: Black, Tangerine Pearl, Sky...
Ibanez Celebrates 30th Anniversary of SR Bass with Limited Edition Models
Three decades ago, Ibanez first introduced the SR bass. This year they’re celebrating their flagship bass model with four new instruments. “Throughout the past 30 years, Ibanez has been improving and developing the SR series by closely following market requirements and opinions from various artists and valued customers,” they write. “SR is now one of the most popular and distinctive...