In Memoriam: Juan Formell
Juan Formell, who played bass and led the popular Cuban band Los Van Van, has died of liver disease. He was 71. Formell was born in Havana in 1942 and started his professional music career at the age of 15. He worked in cabarets, radio and television and was bassist for the band Revolutionary Police by 1959. The bassist formed...
Skervesen Guitars Introduces Mondo and Prometheus Basses
Polish instrument company Skervesen Guitars has announced two new bass models to their lineup. The instruments are hand-crafted in Poland and can be built with range of options. Skervesen Guitars Mondo Bass The Mondo is a 5-string bass with an offset body designed with designer Dominika Pajdowska for a member of the Skervesen team. It was then chosen by Materia...
The Wailers Celebrate 30th Anniversary of “Legend” with Tour
Together with Bob Marley, The Wailers changed the face of popular music by fusing reggae with rock, pop, and soul elements. Marley’s death in 1981 rocked the music community, but the band kept playing under the leadership of bassist Aston “Family Man” Barrett. The group is now on tour in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Legend, a greatest hits...
Bass of the Week: MonoNeon’s Microtonal Bass
Most No Treble readers will recognize MonoNeon as a forward thinking bassist with a unique style that blends R&B with modern experimental music. He often plays with microtonality, meaning he uses quarter tones in addition to semi-tones that are created on fretted instruments. “My fascination with microtonality is ‘casual’, similar to my fascination with Dadaism, Color Field, and other visual...
Kala Brand Music Introduces USA Acoustic-Electric Exotic Wood U-Basses
Ukelele company Kala Brand Music made heads turn five years ago with the introduction of the U-Bass, a ukelele sized bass with proprietary polyurethane strings. The company is now celebrating the five year milestone by introducing the USA Acoustic-Electric Exotic wood U-Bass series. Built in Petaluma, California, the new models feature figured bodies of either Hawaiian Koa, Flame Maple, or...
Hugo Doyon-Karout: Playthrough of Brought By Pain’s “Guided by Fear”
Metal bassists don’t often get the credit they deserve. Here’s a video of Hugo Doyon-Karout playing through his bass line on “Guided by Fear” by Brought by Pain. The Montreal-based progressive death metal band delivers crushing riffs, which the bassist runs through with ease. Warning: Death metal vocals ahead.
Judith Owen and Leland Sklar Announce Free Tour
What’s better than seeing legendary bassist Leland Sklar perform with a super talented songwriter? How about seeing them for free? Sklar will be joining singer/songwriter Judith Owen on her upcoming “Ebb & Flow” tour across the United States. Each show on the duo’s tour will be free, with a suggestion that if you’d like to support the tour, you do...
Keeley Electronics Releases Neutrino Envelope Filter
Keeley Electronics is now shipping the Neutrino, an envelope filter that’s built for both bass and guitar. The hand-built pedal is a modern compact circuit of an opto-coupler based design that borrows concepts from their other stompboxes. “Our design team focused on building a tunable dual opto-coupler design that could be aligned for unit-to-unit perfection,” company founder Robert Keeley explains....
Joe Gallant & Mike Visceglia: Outvention
We love a good bass duo. Here’s Joe Gallant and Mike Visceglia playing their piece “Outvention.” Taken from the December Fretathon concert in New York City, the piece is a play on Bach’s Inventions, filled with cool counterpoint.
Dunlop Super Bright Bass Strings Now Available
Dunlop is now shipping their Super Bright Bass Strings, which the company designed with slap bass players in mind. The strings are defined by a lighter tension and provide clear highs balanced with a fat fundamental. The sets come in either stainless steel or nickel with options for 4- and 5-string basses with light and medium gauges. They’re available now...
Ron Carter Trio: Autumn Leaves
Ron Carter’s birthday is today, and we’re celebrating with this video of his trio performing the classic jazz standard “Autumn Leaves.” The video was filmed during Jazzwoche Burghausen in 2006, with Russell Malone on guitar and Jacky Terrasson on piano. Carter lays some masterful walking lines behind both of his bandmates before taking a walking solo at the 6:47 mark....
Rufus Philpot Trio: Jam Pt. 1
Gallien-Krueger has released their latest artist video with Rufus Philpot’s trio laying down a solid jam. Philpot, who is joined by drummer Raul Pineda and keyboardist Lao Tizer, floats some melodic lines overtop of a synth pad before kicking into the Latin-tinged groove.