Buzz
Twelfth Spock’s Beard Album Different, But In a Familiar Way
Progressive rockers Spock’s Beard are back with the band’s twelfth studio album, The Oblivion Particle. “I think the opening track ‘Tides of Time’ is classic Spock’s in terms of arrangement and style, but everything else is fairly different,” said bassist Dave Meros. “That said, the whole album is still within the parameters of what people expect to hear from us.”...
Darkglass Electronics Introduces Super Symmetry Compressor Pedal
Darkglass Electronics has expanded their pedal lineup with the Super Symmetry, a compressor they describe as state of the art with a classic feel. “It sounds modern in the way that it doesn’t color your tone while compressing, but the way it reacts to your playing is simply natural and seamless,” they write. Designed and built in Helsinki, Finland, the...
Steps Ahead with Darryl Jones: Live in Japan
Years before he landed the gig with The Rolling Stones, Darryl Jones was blowing people’s minds in the jazz and fusion scenes with the likes of Miles Davis and Steps Ahead. Here’s a killer clip of Jones taking the audience on a ride with Steps Ahead, live in Japan on their 1986 concert. Jones builds the five-minute solo by starting...
Lee Ritenour Teams With Two Bassists on Latest Album
Fourplay founding member Lee Ritenour’s guitar work is all over popular music — he’s played more than 3,000 sessions, with everyone from Pink Floyd to Dizzy Gillespie, earned a Grammy for his 1986 collaboration with Dave Grusin, and netted 17 more Grammy nominations besides. The jazz player’s latest album, A Twist of Rit, sees him join with an all-star band...
The Lightbulb Moment: It Takes One To Know One
How do I play that bass line? Why do I have to use my pinky? Can’t we skip all the theory stuff? These are just some of the questions raised by a student in a recent lesson. Some of these are easy to answer… like the usefulness of the pinky finger (two heads are better than one, four fingers are...
Bruno Tauzin: 30 Best Motown Bass Riffs
Without a doubt, Motown’s prolific output yielded some of the best in-the-pocket bass lines in history. Songs from the label often had deceptively complex grooves, often provided by the late great James Jamerson. Bruno Tauzin decided to string together 30 of his favorite Motown bass riffs into one awesome clip as part of his new “Best Bass Riffs” series. “I...
Gary Willis Releases “Gets Larger Than Life”
Famed bassist Gary Willis, well known for his work with the band Tribal Tech, has released his fifth solo record, Larger Than Life. The fusion-funk record pairs Willis with drummer Gergo Borlai, Tribal Tech band mate Scott Kinsey (keyboards), Steve Tavaglione (saxes and EWI), Claudia Bardagí (voice) and Llibert Fortuny (tenor sax and voice). Willis, Borlai and Kinsey form the...
Godlyke, Inc. Unveils Pivot-All 180-Degree Rotating Audio Plug
Godlyke, Inc. has introduced the Pivot-All 180-degree rotating audio plug. The 1/4-inch audio connector’s shaft can be continuously rotated over a 180-degree arc for making connections in tight spaces and awkward angles. The Pivot-All plugs are sold individually or pre-wired with Mogami cabling with silver soldering. Each plug features gold-plated audio connections for transparent signal transmission. “Pivot-All plugs also help...
Bass Transcription: Joe Dart’s Bass Line on Vulfpeck’s “Beastly”
“Beastly” is the opening track from Vulfpeck’s first EP Mit Peck. I’ve loved this piece since I first heard it and it’s been on my “transcribe list” for a while now. Fortunately, the isolated bass track cropped a while back, making the task of transcribing it a little easier.
Elin Sandberg and Tracy Robertson: Spain
Bassist Elin Sandberg and vocalist Tracy Robertson took Chick Corea’s “Spain” (with lyrics by Al Jarreau), and turned it into this impressive bass and vocals duet. The intro is from Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez”. Wow!
Stevie Wonder Announces Final “Songs in the Key of Life” Tour Dates
If you missed Nate Watts laying it down on Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life tour, you’ve got one more chance. The R&B legend has announced 20 new North American dates to the tour, which celebrates the ground-breaking album by performing it in its entirety. The trek continues on September 30th at Montreal’s Bell Centre and focuses on...
Playing Over Long Lasting Chords
Q: I’ve been messing around with playing over the changes, but I always stumble upon an issue: chords lasting 2, 4, 8 or even 16 bars! I know there’s a ton of different ways to approach this, but I have problems with approaching chord tones. Things like enclosures, double chromatics, diatonic and chromatic approach notes. How can I practice these...