Unreleased Live Red Garland Trio Recording Released, Featuring Leroy Vinnegar
Good things can be found on dusty old cassette tapes — like live music made by three jazz legends playing as a trio. Swingin on the Korner: Live at Keystone Korner by the Red Garland Trio with Philly Joe Jones and Leroy Vinnegar offers more than 150 minutes of previously unreleased Garland music. The tracks for the album were pulled...
Steve Swallow Releases “Singular Curves”
Jazz bassist Steve Swallow has released his latest album, , in a trio with tenor sax player Ohad Talmor and drummer Adam Nussbaum. The record was recorded back in June 2012. Swallow (known for his work as a composer and band leader and with Carla Bley, Gary Burton and the John Scofield Trio) has three compositions on the album, one...
Flecktones’ “Flight of the Cosmic Hippo” is Remastered and Reissued in Vinyl Edition
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones’ second album, Flight of the Cosmic Hippo, has been . The 1991 instrumental album, which hit the top spot on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Albums chart, features the always amazing Victor Wooten on bass in the band led by banjo virtuoso Fleck. The vinyl reissue also includes a free MP3 download of the record. Unfamiliar with...
The Aristocrats Release Live CD/DVD Set from Culture Clash Tour
The Aristocrats one-upped itself with the release of its latest album package, The album, which documents world tour performances supporting the progressive rock band’s 2013 album Culture Clash, showcases not just one date, but performances from six different stops in five countries on three continents. The trio includes bassist Bryan Beller, guitarist Guthrie Govan on guitar and Marco Minnemann on...
Norway’s Terje Gewelt Releases “Steppingstone”
Norwegian jazz bassist Terje Gewelt has released his latest album, Steppingstone. Gewelt, who took private lessons with the late bass legend Jaco Pastorius and is known for his upright acoustic and electric playing, is the leader of a trio on Steppingstone, his eighth album as a bandleader on his own label, Resonant Music. The album, recorded in February 2013 during...
David Hungate Returns to Toto for its First Studio Album Since 2006
Toto’s first studio album in around a decade also marks the return on record of founding bassist David Hungate. Toto XIV, slated for a March 24 North American release, is band’s first record of new music since 2006’s Falling In Between. Hungate is the guy so many people have learned from and copied over the years, guitarist Steve Lukather said,...
Bass Book Series is a ‘Goldmine’ of Tutorials for All Players
A new series of bass tutorial books from Hal Leonard aims to provide players of all styles with 100 essential lessons. The books in the Bass Lesson Goldmine Series — , , , and — offer detailed information in print and via streaming/downloadable audio. Audio CDs of performance demos are also available with the books. Duos author each book, with...
This Boat’s Big on Bass: ShipRocked Prepares for 6th Annual Voyage
A boatload of rock and metal bass awaits anyone taking the 6th annual ShipRocked cruise in February. The cruise features a host of bass heavyweights performing as part of the Metal Allegiance supergroup: Rex Brown (Kill Devil Hill/ex-Pantera), Frank Bello (Anthrax), David Ellefson (Megadeth), and Troy Sanders (Mastodon). Bands performing during the Feb. 2-6 cruise between Port Miami and Great...
Metal Supergroup Teenage Time Killers Reportedly Ready for a 2015 Album Release
Teenage Time Killers may be the heaviest of the heavy, when it comes to supergroup projects. Corrosion of Conformity’s bassist Mike Dean and drummer/vocalist Reed Mullin and Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe came up with the idea for the metal supergroup, which started coalescing back in 2013. The band, which includes Dave Grohl (what doesn’t?) and a host of...
Anthrax Bassist Admits Playing Improved Courtesy of a Stint with Helmet
You can still learn something new or grow as a bassist, even if you’ve developed a certain style over the course of a couple of decades with one band. At least that’s the lesson one can take from a recent admission by Anthrax bassist Frank Bello. Back in 2004, Bello left Anthrax after 20 years to play in another metal...
Jon von Boehm Releases Solo Debut
Prolific Nashville-based jazz fusion/progressive bassist Jon von Boehm has released his self-titled debut as a band leader. The eponymous album came together over the course of two years and features a slew of players with whom he feels comfortable. As he says on his website: “The musicians playing on the album are cats that I enjoy working with and really...
Chip Shearin Releases “How I Live”
Chip Shearin, best known for the bass line he played on The Sugarhill Gang’s rap classic, “Rapper’s Delight,” has released his debut solo album How I Live. Shearin has made a name as a session player in the years since “Rapper’s Delight” made a splash in 1979/80. He’s worked with artists like jazz players Donald Byrd, Dizzy Gillespie, Warren Hill...