Buzz
Bass Transcription: Gheorghe Postoronca’s “Crazy Train”
“Crazy Train” by bassist Gheorghe Postoronca was right at the top of my list of pieces to transcribe this month. In fact, regular readers of my column might have noticed an absence of transcriptions recently, and this is purely because this piece took so long to get written down! It’s a solo bass piece that is heavy on technique, but...
Tal Wilkenfeld: Under the Sun
Back in March, Tal Wilkenfeld visited Paste Studios in New York and recorded this live performance of “Under the Sun”. Like the Tal’s solo performance of “Chelsea Hotel”, we once again get to experience not only her bass playing, but also her vocals.
ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill Fractures Shoulder, Dates Rescheduled
ZZ Top has been forced to cancel a string of tour dates after Dusty Hill injured his shoulder. The bearded bassist was preparing to take stage in Lubbock, Texas when he was tripped by an unlit step-up backstage. The band’s website explains that Hill has subsequently undergone treatment for a fractured shoulder. “My physicians told me that this type of...
Bass Mute Clamp Now Available
Bassists looking for that old school thump have a new option with the Bass Mute Clamp. The aptly named device clamps to your bass strings and can be adjusted to vary the amount of muting. It works with four, five, and six-string basses and over a variety of string spacings. Application takes seconds and the mute only weighs six grams....
Overcoming Learning Disabilities in Music
Q: What advice do you have for someone who has problems with playing 16th notes and has learning disability in math? I have goals to play music in my own gigs and play at a couple venues, but I’m doubting whether it’s even possible to play on one’s own. A: I don’t think that a learning disability should hinder you...
Rae Forrest with Mike Flynn: Full Blown Love
Mike Flynn sent me this video of a new project he’s involved in, and I ended up watching the video a handful of times (and counting). “I’ve just started a new project, Rae Forrest, with a British singer Paula Rae Gibson – it’s kind of electronica meets singer songwriter stuff – into Massive Attack, deep jazz house, Goldfrapp/Porishead – but...
Simon Fitzpatrick Releases Bass Take on Holst’s “The Planets”
London-based bass guitar and Chapman Stick player Simon Fitzpatrick has released his bass version of Gustav Holst’s classical work, The Planets Suite. The album features multilayered basses, with support from the Chapman Stick and Minitaur synthesizer. Check out Fitzpatrick, currently a regular member of Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy band, as he plays multiple basses on “Mercury, the Winged Messenger”: If...
Reader Spotlight: Remy Gail
Meet Remy Gail, a bassist who grew up in a musical environment, but didn’t take up bass until later in life. She keeps busy in a gigging band that plays around the tri-state area around her home town of Franklin Lakes, NJ. Remy is No Treble’s reader in the spotlight this week, and here’s her story… Bio: From the day...
Advanced Bass: Stitt & Trane Blues
The Blues is one of the major building blocks for jazz and improvised music, making it a logical starting point for applying your improvisational concepts. The problem exists when people learn some concepts and then attempt to jam along with no specific goals in mind. This is a big mistake! In this lesson, we’ll cover just one of the stepping...
Federico Malaman and Mohini Dey: Maladey
Federico Malaman is flat out a wizard of the bass. And he may have met his match with bassist Mohini Dey. In this clip, the bass duo shows off their skills in this tune, “Maladey”.
The Yellowjackets Release Album with New Bassist
The Yellowjackets have released their first album with Australian virtuoso bassist Dane Alderson. The album, Cohearence, features jazz fusion, a rendition of the folk song “Shenandoah,” and a closing track with a chamber-jazz feel. The band, which released its debut album under the Yellowjackets name in 1981 after forming in 1977 as the Robben Ford Group, introduced the music on...
Bass of the Week: Tom Clement Basses Angel Bass
This week we’re checking out the Tom Clement Basses Angel bass, an instrument that the luthier describes as borrowing ideas from the Gibson Thunderbird to combine retro vibe with custom features. The bass was designed alongside long-time customer Jon-Inge Paulsen. “The name Angel reflects on the people we love, the people who mean the world to us, the people we...