Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 545

The Killers have announced that Mark Stoermer will be taking a break from touring with the band to work on his own projects. The bassist, who has been part of the lineup since 2002, will still be a part of the band and involved in recording the group’s new album. “Mark has decided to take a break from The Killers...

Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch and Arts Center has announced its lineup of bass workshops for 2016, and it’s bound to be a good year. Kaukonen’s Hot Tuna partner and regular FPR educator Jack Casady will return while bassists Kai Eckhardt and Bobby Vega will teach their own workshops this summer and fall. First up will be Eckhardt, who will...

Here’s a tour you won’t want to miss: Stuart Hamm will be hitting the road in June for his “Solo Bass Songs and Stories Tour”. The trek, which focuses on the Northeast and parts of Canada, will have the bass legend performing songs from his latest album, The Book of Lies, plus new music including his petite suite for solo...

Veteran bassist and educator Todd Coolman has worked with a who’s who of the jazz world. His resumé includes work with Horace Silver, Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz, Benny Golson, Art Farmer, Tommy Flanagan, Ahmad Jamal, Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman, and James Moody (with whom he won Grammy), among others. In working with these incredible bandleaders, he’s gathered what it takes...

If you’re addicted to that fretless “mwah”, then you’re going to want to sit down for this one. Alex Bershadsky teamed up with pianist Rostik Lerman and drummer Shay Sasson to record Lerman’s composition “Tango Traumatico” and it’s got tons of creamy bass tone. The trio gets into a great tango groove with solid foundation from the bassist before he...

Peterson Tuners has introduced the BodyBeat Pulse Solo, a clip-on device that allows players to feel the beat from a metronome through vibration. The Pulse Solo uses the output of any metronome that has a standard 3.5mm headphone output jack, including metronome apps on mobile devices. It also works with Peterson’s own BodyBeat Metronome App for iOS to deliver three...

Mike Frost stepped things up this year with a stellar collaboration with the Florence Symphony Orchestra. The bassist performed his work “Astral Dance” with his band plus the entire orchestra to create a huge and engrossing musical experience. Starting with the strings, the tune starts almost as a lullaby that Frost puts a melody on. It builds in intensity with...

Our friend Andrew Arnautov wrote in to share this gorgeous Pandora bass made by Ukrainian luthier Alex Kurdritsky. Arnautov calls the maker, who has over four decades of instrument building under his belt, one of the field’s best kept secrets. Kudritsky named the model Pandora after the Greek goddess because “the instrument explodes with plethora of sounds just like a...

Germany’s Rodenberg Custom Amplification has expanded their lineup of effects with the Commander distortion pedal. Apt for bass and guitar, the pedal is described as the logical development following the company’s GAS Overdrive series. “While the GAS-808 is designed for overdrive sounds, the Commander’s home is distortion,” Rodenberg writes on their website. “But you can also dial down to overdrive...

We may have lost Lemmy, but his music will live on. The remaining members of Motörhead are gearing up to release a live album called Clean Your Clock, featuring one of the band’s final performances together at the Zenith in Munich, Germany. This concert, which took place just over a month before Lemmy’s passing, is a testament to the bassist’s...

Radial Engineering has introduced the Headlight Pro, a direct box designed for use with multiple instruments on stage. The device has a standard 1/4” input for bass, guitar, mandolin, or fiddle and multiple, switch-able outputs for PA sends. A mute switch allows you to disconnect your bass, connect to your next instrument, and select a new output. “When you are...

Sonic Nuance has introduced the TDI Mk2, a direct box that combines tuner and DI functions. The new pedal retains the signal path from the Mk1 version but has a more accurate and stable tuning section, the company says. At the heart of the TDI is a passive Jensen JT-DBE transformer. The chromatic tuner is phantom powered and fully operational...