Buzz
Mogwai Celebrates Its History with Compilation Set
Mogwai has released a compilation album, Central Belters, to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The three-CD or six-LP set from the Scottish band, featuring bassist and co-founder Dominic Aitchison (Crippled Black Phoenix and Stage Blood), includes highlights from every phase of its career — from the band’s 1997 debut album to through its 2014 album Rave Tapes. The set also includes...
Bass Players to Know: Willie Weeks
Time and time again, I must pay homage to the movie that sparked the flame of my musical obsession… the one that introduced me to a style with more passion and groove than I had ever experienced, with an eclectic history and diverse idioms, and with more influence than any other American genre: Blues Brothers… 2000. While some may say...
Joanna Dudkowska: The Beginning
Bassist Joanna Dudkowska sent us this video of the tune “The Beginning”. She told us she had just received her Marleaux Consat Custom and recorded this in celebration. Not only does she play that, but she puts down some nice fretless work as well.
Aidan Hampson’s Newest Transcriptions Include Pink Floyd, Lee Sklar and More
Bassist/bass transcriptionist Aidan Hampson is back at it with four new rock bass transcription books focusing on the music of Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, superstar bassist Leland “Lee” Sklar and the Best of Britpop. Hampson notes that the Pink Floyd book “includes all of ‘Echoes’ and 500 measures of ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-IX)’ which have never been...
Boulder Creek Introduces The Travel Bass
Boulder Creek’s Solitaire series of acoustic/electric bass guitars has gotten a little bigger with a smaller bass. The Travel Bass puts the company’s Suspended Bracing System into a four-string that features an overall length of 32.5 inches and a scale length of 21 inches. Built with a spruce top and mahogany back and sides, the model also has a Dual...
Marlon Penn & Fortheloveofbass: Forsake Me
Bassist Ivo Schot has released the second video from his “fortheloveofbass” series. This time, the bassist teams up with Marlon Penn for the singer’s own “Forsake Me.” Schot starts with a whispering bass line on a Höfner Club Bass to set the mood for Penn’s heartfelt vocals before switching to a Fender Jazz as things build up. The bass then...
Kneebody and Daedelus Explore on New Album
Kneebody’s latest album, Kneedelus, a collaboration with electronic musician Daedelus, explores the theory of technological singularity. According to the jazz band’s website, technological singularity is “the notion that humans and computer technology will increasingly blend together.” The group’s saxophonist, Ben Wendel, is a high school friend of Alfred Darlington (a.k.a. Daedelus and a onetime jazz/double bass student at the University...
Keeley Electronics Unveils the Multi-Echo ME-8 Pedal
The new Keeley Electronics Multi Echo ME-8 effects processor brings together eight of the company’s time-delay effects into a single unit for both guitar and bass. Made in the USA, the pedal offers chorus, echo, and reverb effects with an intuitive interface. “We paid attention to the details within the Multi Echo ME-8 as each sound is architected to be...
Funky Kung Fu: An Interview with Chris DeAngelis
As music progresses, genres have been blurring into wonderful collages of inspiration. One band that helps prove that point is Kung Fu, a band describes their songs as a “70’s funk-fusion meets modern dance party.” That party is anchored by monster bassist Chris DeAngelis. DeAngelis simultaneously draws from jazz, funk, hip-hop, and rock to create hypnotic bass lines. As a...
Selah Poitier: I’ve Learned To Love Me
Selah Poitier shared her latest video with us, and it is killer. In this clip, the bassist/vocalist performs her original, “I’ve Learned To Love Me,” live at Berklee. Love the old school vibe on this one. And dig that solo!
Dead Inspired: Fare Thee Well Interlude Music Released as an Album
The music that accompanied visuals shown during set breaks at The Grateful Dead’s summer Fare Thee Well 50th anniversary concerts has been released as a separate album. The songs were commissioned by Justin Kreutzmann (drummer Kreutzmann’s son) for biographical pieces he assembled for set interludes, according to NPR. Hence, the album’s title, Interludes for the Dead. Justin tapped guitarist Neal...
Where to Use Whole Tone and Other Scales
Q: So, do you play whole tone scales over the ?5, and altered scales over the dominant chords. Major chords – do use use whole tone? Minor scales – do use use dorian? or a jazz minor? A: Much of what goes into deciding what scale to use over any given chord is all about the context (what chords are...