Articles by Ryan Madora - Page 16

Your phone lights up with a text message about a gig next Saturday night… score! You’re available, the money is decent, and your drummer friend recommended you. It’s an overall win! You accept the gig and receive a follow up text: “Let’s rehearse Tuesday night.” Thankfully, you’re free, but you realize that you only have 48 hours to learn all...

Diving into the deep end of the LA session pool, there are plenty of bassists (in addition to those in “The Wrecking Crew”) who have achieved successful and eclectic recording careers. Without a doubt, Red Callender is one of them. With an extensive background in jazz as both an upright bassist and tuba player, he can be heard on recordings...

Cauliflower, that kind-of-like-broccoli-but-perhaps-less-exciting vegetable, was completely absent from my childhood. I honestly didn’t know what it was, other than something my mother breezed over in the produce section of the super market. She was not a fan of the baby-tree-like vegetables and therefore, it was often excluded from the communal veggie tray at parties and officially barred from our refrigerator....

After the recent passing of Gregg Allman, it was only fitting to binge listen to some Allman Brothers records. Swept away by the lengthy jams, slide guitar solos, and beautifully in-sync double drummers, this band helped define Southern Rock and usher in a new era of blues. The man keeping it all together was Berry Oakley, whose bass lines to...

It is a lifelong goal of mine to understand the subtleties of music — the sound of records coming from particular eras and locals, the specific timbre of different instruments, and the nuances that reflect the personality of every player. There’s no better way to hone in these subtleties than by comparing and contrasting songs and catalogs that are of...

If you’re familiar with ‘The Wrecking Crew,” the group of session musicians that dominated the LA recording scene in the 1960s and ’70s, you’ve probably heard of Carol Kaye and our latest bassist to feature, Joe Osborn. These players jumped from session to session, providing the sonic backdrop to popular culture and racking up credits on top ten hits. Osborn...

There comes a time in every player’s life when we listen to a song and are able to identify a perfectly executed lift in tonal center. The energy heightens, the chorus takes on a slightly new character, and the band keeps grooving with a new sense of intention. This extraordinary moment can only be one thing: a key change. Take...

Like any aspiring bass player, I went through a “fusion phase” (otherwise known as college). I spent countless hours infatuated with complicated harmony, the wild and masterful displays of technical ability, and the jammiest of jams. It wasn’t long before I discovered the CAB albums featuring Tony MacAlpine, Dennis Chambers, Brian Auger, and bass player Bunny Brunel. This quickly sent...

Today’s column is brought to you by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. My usual route to and from downtown involves quite a bit of highway driving and every few days; the TDOT message boards provide a less-than-clever quote to inspire better driving habits. Apparently, plenty of drivers have been neglecting their turn signal, and the government has decided to do...

Austin, Texas, here we come! As the plane takes off, I think about everything that I want to experience on my short visit. Tacos, BBQ, and of course, blues. Austin has an incredible live music scene and, in addition to popular festivals such as SXSW and Austin City Limits, an equally impressive list of musicians who call the town home....

For those of you who haven’t noticed, I enjoy learning about food almost as much as I enjoy exploring the bass. Lucky for me, there are plenty of parallels between the world of food and the world of music. Both rely on unique combinations of ingredients in order to make a final product. Both can be traced back to a...

There’s a lot to be said for bass players who know how to play a song. While it may seem like a simple thing, it takes a mature attitude and a keen ear to do so. Sure, soloing is fun, and many of us want to showcase our slap technique, but exhibiting those skills doesn’t necessarily lead to being a...