Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 832

Stu Hamm’s take on the Led Zeppelin classic, “Going to California.” [Editor’s note: check out our transcription of this performance.]

After coming off a tour with Chick Corea’s Freedom Band, bassist extraordinaire Christian McBride is once again hitting the road with Corea in a trio that is rounded out by drummer Brian Blade. The tour stretches from September to November and spans the U.S. and Canada before they head to Japan in December. The trio grew together as they were...

Sometimes it takes a tragedy to realize one’s true potential, and likely nobody knows it more than bassist Tony Grey, whose life took a turn at the age of 18 after a horrific car accident left him with a broken back. During his recovery, his father bought him a bass guitar and Grey really took to it, especially with the...

Here’s a clip of James Genus’ bass solo to open up the Randy Brecker tune, “Harpoon”. The performance comes from a date with the Brecker Brothers in Madrid, Spain in 1994.

A documentary on the creation of Rush’s 2112 and Moving Pictures albums has been released on DVD, as part of the Classic Albums series. Rush: 2112 & Moving Pictures chronicles the writing and recording process through demonstrations, archive videos, and interviews of band members Geddy Lee, Neil Peart, and Alex Lifeson, as well as producer Terry Brown. The two albums...

Ron Carter will be the first interview of the year for the Jazz Legacies series at the Graduate Center, CUNY in New York City. Hosted by critic and author Gary Giddins, the series offers listeners a chance to hear about the lives and careers of jazz legends from the musicians themselves, and Carter has a lot to say. He had...

On the tune “Metamorphos”, Dave Holland and his quintet show an unstoppable stream of ideas that eventually change styles by the end of the song. The clip is from the 2002 Newport Jazz Festival, and includes some commentary by Dave himself about midway through the piece.

Glenn Hughes has returned endorsing Laney amps, after originally using them with his band Trapeze in the early 70’s. Hughes will be using the Laney Nexus Tube heads with the company’s NX810 cabinets on his upcoming solo tour as well as with his new supergroup, Black Country Communion. “The crazy thing is, I’ve been looking around for the right bass...

FEA Labs has announced their latest creation, the FEA Dual Band Distortion pedal, which utilizes a variable crossover, two distortions, an overdrive, and a final mixer all in one package. First, the variable crossover to split your bass signal into two frequency bands: high and low. From there, the low frequency band is sent to an octave-up distortion circuit, which...

Tascam has updated their trainer series again with the unveiling of the new GB-10 Trainer/Recorder. The practice station allows you to load MP3s onto the 2GB SD card and then manipulate the track to suit your needs by looping, slowing down, and pitch shifting. The 1/4” input accepts both bass and guitar, and onboard effects like amp modeling and reverb...

Bass guru Stu Hamm has just released his latest instructional video, Fretboard Fitness, through Truefire TV. Aimed at intermediate players, Fretboard Fitness contains 40 video lessons on theory, fretboard navigation, and hand strength that are designed to avoid becoming tedious, as often happens in instructional methods. “These are the bass guitar lessons I wish I had when I was coming...

Larry Graham gets down and dirty in this performance with Graham Central Station in Germany from 1996, flipping between a nasty distorted solo style and a clean funky slap with some singing mixed in. Don’t let Armageddon catch y’all sleepin’.