Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 714

I recently picked up Milt Hinton’s book Bass Line, and it just reinforced what a wonderful life he led. Known for his incredible slap technique, “The Judge” was also known for his great sense of humor, and here’s a great clip that shows off his personality and playing. The recording comes from the 1992 Mid-America Jazz Festival in St. Louis,...

Kevin Ayers, who co-founded the 1960s British psychedelic band The Soft Machine, has passed away at the age of 68. The cause of death has not be released. Ayers formed The Soft Machine in 1966, naming the group after the classic novel by William S. Burroughs. The group became an influential force as part of the “Canterbury scene” and was...

After a limited release for their Premier Dealer Network, Ernie Ball has reissued the Music Man Sabre as a standard model. The original Sabre, first introduced in 1978, was Music Man’s first dual humbucking bass. The new Classic Sabre is the first production of the instrument in twenty years and brings back the vintage design with updated electronics, classic mini...

John Patitucci has teamed up with David Gage String Instruments to release Episode 1 of the bassist’s new Kindle book, Melodic Arpeggios and Triad Combining for Bass. The book, which is made of exercises that Patitucci developed over 10 years, is the first of a six part series designed to take the tedium out of practicing valuable skills. “It is...

While perusing Facebook, I stumbled upon this uber-sleek, uber-unique instrument: The Stash Stainless Bass Guitar. Designed and built by Stanislaw Potyrala in Mississauga, Ontario, the bass is made entirely of stainless steel, which the company says improves stiffness, mechanical and environmental stability, sound quality and tunability. “The only disadvantage is that rock stars will not be able to destroy this...

Grip Studios has expanded their hand-shaped Guitar Grips with the GS Ladies series. Made in Detroit, the guitar hangers are shaped like female hands and mount to the wall to hang your instrument. Like the rest of their models, the Ladies series hangers are built from durable resin with felt on their “wrists” to protect your wall and TAH3 cushioned...

Extreme death metal bassist Sean Martinez does a play-through of the song “Shards of Scorched Flesh” by his band Rings of Saturn. Hold on to your hats. Things are going to get heavy.

Les Claypool’s acoustic outfit, Duo De Twang, will be hitting the road in March and April. Starting in California, the tour will head East in mid-April with dates in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington, DC and New York City. Claypool and guitarist Marc “Mirv” Haggard make up the duo, playing acoustic versions of the bassist’s tunes as well as...

Here’s an awesome rendition of the classic John Coltrane tune “Countdown,” performed by Petros Klampanis. The bassist gets creative with harmonics, insane rhythms, and a shaker attached to his ankle.

Radial Engineering has introduced the StageBug SB-2 Passive DI, which they say suits well to electric bass, acoustic guitar, and keyboards. The new, compact direct box was designed in response to the trend of reducing gear size for traveling purposes and measures at 2? wide and 3.5? deep. The SB-2 revolves around a custom made Eclipse ET-DB3 transformer, which performs...

Eden Electronics introduced their new E-Series of combo bass amps at NAMM this year. Ranging from 20 watts to 180 watts, the six new models are aimed at beginners and up with features to aid practice and performance. Each of the amps is built with Eden’s proprietary enhance EQ control, a custom Eden designed speaker enclosure, heavy duty carpet covering,...

Check out this great clip of bassist Amanda Ruzza getting down on Rique Pantoja’s “Melancia”. The performance was filmed during Cornelia St. Cafè’s Brazilian Jazz Festival in New York City.