Christian McBride Trio Releases Live Set from Legendary Club
Virtuoso bassist Christian McBride is well known for his residencies at New York City’s The Village Vanguard jazz club, where he has played as a bandleader since 1995. The club is a legendary one, and McBride acknowledges its history. “You feel Coltrane hovering in the vortex. You feel Monk hovering in the vortex. Miles Davis, Mingus… you feel all of...
Bassists Converge on Metal Allegiance Album
Metal Allegiance’s self-titled debut album, featuring some prominent metal bassists, has arrived. The core group includes Megadeth bassist David Ellefson and songwriter/bassist Mark Menghi, drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, The Winery Dogs) and guitarist Alex Skolnick (Testament). The metal supergroup pulled in some bass heavyweights for a little extra thunder. Rex Brown (Pantera/Kill Devil Hill) appears on the bass-heavy track...
Rush’s “Exit… Stage Left” Released in Vinyl Reissue Series
The year of Rush vinyl reissues from the trio’s Mercury Records era continues with the two-LP live album from 1981, Exit… Stage Left. The album, recorded during the Moving Pictures tour, is an impressive live package from bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee, drummer/lyricist Neil Peart, and guitarist Alex Lifeson, featuring “The Spirit of Radio,” “Closer to the Heart,” “The Trees,” “Freewill,” “Tom...
John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension Release “Black Light”
Guitarist John McLaughlin and his band the 4th Dimension, featuring Etienne Mbappe (solo, Ultramarine, Zawinul Syndicate) on bass. has released Black Light, an album of eight original tunes. According to McLaughlin, the album “has opened a portal that is neither jazz nor rock, nor Indian nor blues, and yet all of these: it’s an open door. ” Here’s a little...
David Gilmour Releases Solo Album, Plays Bass on Several Tracks
David Gilmour, best known as guitarist/vocalist for legendary rock band Pink Floyd, has released his fourth solo album, Rattle That Lock, which he co-produced with Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera. Gilmour handles bass on four tracks, while Guy Pratt (session bassist and son-in-law of late Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright) plays on two and double bassist Chris Laurence on one....
Duran Duran Works with More Collaborators Than Ever on “Paper Gods”
Duran Duran, famed for its 80s pop stardom, 90s resurgence, and love of art rock and Chic, has released its 14th studio album, Paper Gods. Bassist John Taylor told San Francisco’s Radio Alice that the album’s title refers to the “temporary obsessions” most people are guilty of indulging. He also said that work on the record began two years ago,...
New Bass Transcriptions of Classic Tunes Available for Download
Bassist and bass transcriptionist Aidan Hampson has assembled quite a series of bass transcription books, many of which include some of the most notable, but sometimes un-transcribed, bass lines in popular music. The downloadable, PDF titles, released by Guitar Music Publishing, focus on a wide range of artists, including Stevie Wonder, ABBA, Foo Fighters, and Michael Jackson, with the bass...
Mastodon Adds Tour Dates
If you were hoping to see one of the shows Mastodon cancelled earlier this year due to an undisclosed family matter, you’re in luck. The progressive metal band has added some dates to its The Missing Link tour schedule, which sees the band, featuring bassist/singer Troy Sanders, playing dates with Clutch and Corrosion of Conformity. Mastodon will also open dates...
Slayer Releases “Repentless”
Legendary thrash metal band Slayer has released its eleventh studio album, Repentless. According to bassist and vocalist Tom Araya some material for the album was written prior to the May 2013 death of band co-founder and co-guitarist Jeff Hanneman. Gary Holt (Exodus) started playing with Slayer back in 2011 and handled guitar parts on Repentless. With the loss of Hanneman,...
Legendary Shack Shakers Release New Album, Tour
Punk/rockabilly/blues band The Legendary Shack Shakers has returned with The Southern Surreal, the band’s first album since 2010’s AgriDustrial. Co-produced by the group’s double bassist and co-founder Mark Robertson, the record with a Southern gothic theme features contributions from actor Billy Bob Thornton (who pens a song) and Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison. Check out “Mud” from The Southern Surreal:...
Homage to the Great Eberhard Weber Features Scott Colley on Bass
Music from two concerts held in early 2015 in Germany to honor jazz bassist Eberhard Weber (Jan Garbarek, Colours, Kate Bush) – featuring Scott Colley (once a private student of the late Charlie Haden) on double bass and onetime Weber collaborator Pat Metheny on guitar – has been captured on the live recording, Hommage à Eberhard Weber. Each concert revolved...
Christian McBride on Latest Orrin Evans Album
Jazz pianist/composer Orrin Evans has teamed with Grammy-winning virtuoso bassist Christian McBride on his latest record, The Evolution of Oneself. Evans says the album, recorded live in the studio, directly acknowledges things and people that opened his eyes and made him evolve as a person and artist. It also includes surprising elements, such as three versions of the jazz standard...