Richard Davis Among NEA’s 2014 Jazz Masters
The National Endowment for the Arts has announced the 2014 NEA Jazz Masters, which is the nation’s highest honor in jazz. Among the four recipients this year is bassist Richard Davis, who they will be honoring for his “lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions to the advancement of jazz.” Born April 15th, 1930, Davis began singing with his family vocal trio...
Tapestry Audio Introduces Time Traveler Pedal
Tapestry Audio has introduced the Time Traveler, an auxiliary BPM synchronization pedal that syncs up a pedalboard’s time-based effects. The utility pedal sends out preprogrammed BPM presets to any pedal that has an external tap tempo jack, allowing for all of the external effects’ beats per minute to be unified. The Time Traveler has two outputs and offers up to...
Bass of the Week: Artisan Bass Works Classic Series
Artisan Bass Works looks at things from a different angle. The Ohio-based company licenses ANSIR Technology, which is a patented neck design that puts the fretboard into a more natural playing position. ABW puts the design to use on their Classic Series to add their own touch to common bass styles. The Artisan Bass Works Classic basses are available in...
Olivier Babaz: Bass & Kalimba Cover of “Message in a Bottle”
Olivier Babaz continues to amaze me with each video he puts out. His specialty is playing upright bass and kalimba simultaneously, and this time he’s putting the combo to use on The Police’s “Message in a Bottle.” Impressive!
Machine Head Announces New Bassist
Three months after beginning an open audition to fill the shoes of longtime member Adam Duce, Machine Head has announced their new bassist is Jared MacEachern. MacEachern has a history with the band, as his previous group Sanctity toured with Machine Head in 2007, during which time the bassist filled in harmony vocals after Duce was injured. His bass playing...
Radial Engineering Introduces StageDirect Muting Direct Box
Radial Engineering has announced StageDirect, an active direct box that adds a mute switch for silent tuning or switching instruments without having to turn down your PA or stage amp. When the footswitch is depressed, all outputs except the tuner output are muted. Other features on the StageDirect include a 180° polarity reverse switch, a -15dB pad, and a high-pass...
Steve Jenkins Debuts New Project with The Coaxial Flutter
After eight years since his debut effort as a leader, Steve Jenkins has returned with Steve Jenkins and the Coaxial Flutter, an album that blends the bassist’s progressive rock and jazz fusion influences with “strong undercurrents of metal and electronic music.” The eight-song collection features Jenkins on a multitude of instruments and has guest appearances by Vernon Reid, John Shannon,...
Providence Effects Announces the Dual Bass Station Preamp
Providence Effects has announced the new Dual Bass Station, a bass preamplifier in pedal form with dual inputs and EQ channels. The pedal’s channels have separate inputs and are toggled with a footswitch, allowing for switching between two basses. Plugging into only input A lets users switch between each of the channels setups on a single instrument. Each of the...
DR Strings Adds White Bass Strings to NEON Hi-Def Line
DR Strings has added to their NEON line of bass strings with the NEON Hi-Def White set. The strings, which are white in color, are black light active for a bright appearance and feature DR’s K3 coating for extended life. DR is offering the strings in Lite and Medium gauges for 4- and 5-string basses as well as a 6-string...
Kim Deal Quits The Pixies
Kim Deal has left the iconic alternative rock band The Pixies, according to a post on the band’s Facebook page. “We are sad to say that Kim Deal has decided to leave the Pixies. We are very proud to have worked with her on and off over the last 25 years. Despite her decision to move on, we will always...
Bass of the Week: Utrera Ellegance Single Cut Bass
Freddy Utrera is a Venezuelan luthier who has been producing some gorgeous basses, including his Ellegance singlecut. Available in 4-, 5- and 6-string versions, the bass is evidence of the luthier’s love of natural finishes and often ships that way, just to display the gorgeous cuts of wood he utilizes. The Ellegance comes in two flavors: standard and custom. The...
Carrying on the Mingus Dynasty: An Interview with Boris Kozlov
It’s not easy to fill the shoes of a legend, and Charles Mingus has some huge shoes to fill. The iconic jazz bassist and composer left behind a body of work so massive, so complex, and so uniquely his own that it takes an equally rare musician to convey its spirit. Mingus’ music lives on through the Mingus Big Band,...