Legoland Empire Releases EP Featuring Trip Wamsley
Bassist Trip Wamsley shared on his Facebook page that Legoland Empire has released Guard the Point, a new 4-track EP on Bandcamp. Wamsley, whose playing on the album ranges from funky grooves to gnarly distorted riffs, describes the album as masterminded by former Wild Cherry bassist Allen Wentz. The group also includes Neil Alexander on keys and guitarist Rob Michael....
Warwick Announces WA Bass Amps and WCA Cabinets
Warwick has unveiled the WA bass amp series, a line based on their Hellborg series but at a lower price point. Available as rack mountable or in sleeves, the WA300 and WA600 amp heads pump out 300 and 600 watts respectively and feature 10-band EQs with additional Bass and Treble controls. A one-knob adjustable compressor is built-in for dynamic control....
Ben Allison Releases Action-Refraction
Bassist/composer Ben Allison has released his tenth album as a bandleader, entitled Action-Refraction. The disc features Allison’s takes on songs by his favorite artists, including PJ Harvey, Donny Hathaway, Thelonious Monk, Neil Young, Samuel Barber and Roger Nichols. This is a new approach for the composer as only one of the tracks, Broken, is an original. The idea for the...
Kala Announces Solid Body U-Bass
Kala Brand Music Co. has released a solid body version of their U-Bass. Though the original model was a bass-version of a ukulele, the Solid Body U-Bass takes a step to more closely resemble a bass guitar. Featuring a 21” scale, the bass is available in 4 and 5-string versions and fretted or fretless. It utilizes Kala’s proprietary polyurethane strings,...
The Gap Band: Live At Sinbad’s Summer Jam Music Festival
I was thinking about the late great Robert Wilson the other day and found this video of the Gap Band in 1999 at Sinbad’s Summer Jam. The audio could be a little better, but the Robert and the band are smokin’ through their hits, starting with “Burn Rubber on Me.” Make sure to check out the end of the set,...
Squier Releases Matt Freeman Precision Bass
Rancid bassist Matt Freeman now has his own Squier signature Precision Bass, modeled after his favorite personal bass. Freeman explains that “[it] is a ’77 P Bass that I picked up in 1987 for, like, $400 when I was in Operation Ivy. I went all over the world with that bass. And I still have it and I actually play...
Rare Live Cliff Burton Solo (1986)
The Metal Den has just posted a Youtube clip including audio of Cliff Burton’s bass solo from a Metallica concert at the Coliseum Ballroom in Davenport, Iowa on May 30, 1986. The solo is part improv, with Burton adding the themes from the track, “(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth.” Hailed as one of the greatest bassists of all time, Burton died in...
Rufus Reid Releases “Hues of a Different Blue”
Jazz bassist Rufus Reid has teamed up once again with pianist Steve Allee and drummer Duduka Da Fonseca for Hues of a Different Blue, a 14-track album that also features the talents of saxophonists JD Allen and Bobby Watson, trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, and Brazilian guitarist Toninho Horta. The songs are a nice combination of Reid’s originals with standards mixed in,...
VOX Announces AC1 RhythmVOX Mini Bass Amp
The amp makers at Vox have translated their mini guitar amp to the bass world with the introduction of the AC1 RhythmVOX Bass, a portable practice combo that weighs in at only 19.4 ounces. Similar to its predecessor, the new model includes 66 built-in rhythm/song patterns including 8-beat, blues, funk, reggae, irregular patterns, and more. The tempo and level for...
Custom Shop: JC Basses
Meet Jared Carpenter, the sole proprietor of California-based custom shop JC Basses. We first discovered his work after watching Seth Horan, whose custom bass features fanned frets and an eye-catching red finish. After picking up bass, Carpenter quickly realized he couldn’t get what he wanted from a production instrument and boldly decided to make his own, even without much woodworking...
Nikki Sixx Releases “This Is Gonna Hurt,” with Book Signing Tour
Motley Crue/Sixx A.M. bassist Nikki Sixx has just released his second book, entitled This Is Gonna Hurt: Music, Photography and Life Through the Distorted Lens of Nikki Sixx. The 224-page book is a mixture of his photography and a journal that dives into his inner thoughts. “It’s definitely not an autobiography,” he told Billboard.com. “I don’t write with an editor...
Marcus Miller Featured on Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band’s “That’s How We Roll”
Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band has released their fifth album, That’s How We Roll, on Telarc International. The collection has the 18-piece band showcasing 9 new original tracks from band leader Goodwin, as well as his arrangement of the classic Gershwin tune, “Rhapsody in Blue.” Bassist Rick Shaw holds down the low end throughout the album with the exception of...