Buzz
Gustavo Araújo: Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” for Solo Loop Bass
Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” is an obvious favorite among bassists who like to tackle tunes and arrange for solo bass. Bassist Gustavo Araújo shared his super arrangement for looped bass. I love how fluid the vocal lines are in this version.
“Queen Forever” Compilation Gets Vinyl Treatment
Vinyl-loving Queen fans can now get their hands on a 4-LP version of last year’s Queen Forever compilation, which included a “lost” ballad version of late singer Freddie Mercury’s “Love Kills.” Queen Forever focuses on the band’s love songs and includes work from its now-retired bassist John Deacon. Deacon’s work is not only present throughout the album, but it also...
Aquarium Rescue Unit, Featuring Oteil Burbridge, Announces 2015 Reunion Tour
The quirky jam legends of Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit have announced they will be reuniting this summer for a handful of tour dates presented by Relix Magazine. Originally formed in 1988, the band will hit the road with its classic lineup of Hampton, guitarist Jimmy Herring, drummer Jeff Sipe, and bassist Oteil Burbridge. The band will...
The Lightbulb Moment: Antici…pation
It’s 6:57pm. I made it — and with three minutes to spare! Sixty minutes ago, I was at work, way across town, biting my fingernails as I shut down my computer for the day and ran out of the office. Thankfully, the traffic gods smiled upon me and aside from a few inescapable red lights, I managed to weave my...
B.B. King, Featuring Reggie Richard: Let The Good Times Roll, Live 2009
The King is gone, but he’ll never be forgotten. We’re remembering the legacy of B.B. King today with a clip of “Let the Good Times Roll” from his performance at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2009. The song’s lyrics talk about living life to its fullest, and we can all agree that’s something the guitar legend did. King always...
Incubus Returns With First of Two Planned EPs for 2015
Incubus has released the first of two EPs slated for release this year. The rockers’ first EP of the year, Trust Fall (Side A) features four songs, including the title track “Trust Fall,” which bassist Ben Kenney calls “our seven-minute FM-radio opus… It’s our ‘Stairway.’” The last bit of that comment is a little tongue-in-cheek (see the first video, below)....
EBS Introduces Magni 500 Bass Combo Series
EBS has taken their Reidmar amp design and built it into a new series of combo amps. The Magni 500 bass combo series features 210 and 115 models that incorporate an all-analog preamp with a lightweight power amp section. Both the 210 and 115 configurations include a tweeter to fill out their range. Similar to the Reidmar head unit, the...
Unreleased Weather Report with Jaco Pastorius: “Scarlet Woman”, Live (1978)
We have another video from the 1978 performances by Weather Report in Pennsylvania, thanks to Rick Suchow. This is “Scarlet Woman”, which features one of the greatest lineups ever: Jaco Pastorius, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter and Peter Erskine. As we mentioned in the videos we’ve shared in the past from this show (“A Remark You Made” and “Birdland”), Dr. Fred...
Six Feet Under Releases 11th Album
Death metal band Six Feet Under, originally formed as a side project from Cannibal Corpse by frontman Chris Barnes, has released its 11th album, Crypt of the Devil. The record was recorded bassist/guitarist Phil Hall’s studio in Virginia, which is where Hall tracked its bass and guitar parts. The sound achieved is just what you’d expect. Check out “Open Coffin...
Elixir Revamps Bass Strings
After getting feedback from over a thousand bass players, Elixir Strings has announced they’ve revamped their Nanoweb coated bass strings. “We recently decided to broaden our range in both Nickel Plated and Stainless Steel Strings,” says application engineer Justin Fogelman. “New and refined gauges and single strings give bassists a tool to find what really works well for them.” The...
Increasing Concentration for Focused Practice and Performance
Q: I play at a semi-professional level. I work a regular 9-to 5-job and play in the evenings. I am lucky enough that I get a few hours every evening to just shed and work on my playing and lately I’ve been doing a lot of classical etudes to work on technique and maintain my reading chops. My question is...
Tom Tartarin: Dizzy Gillespie’s “Matrix” Play-Along
Reader Tom Tartarin sent this video to us of him playing along to the Dizzy Gillespie “Matrix”. (I believe Phil Upchurch was the bassist on the recording.) I wanted to feature this for two reasons: the bass line is killer, and Tom is feeling it!