Buzz
Oz Noy, Will Lee and Keith Carlock: Steroids (Live)
One of my all-time favorite videos we’ve shared goes back to 2012: Oz Noy, Will Lee and Keith Carlock performing “Schizophrenic” live in Tokyo. Here’s the trio cooking on “Steroids” from that very performance.
1975 LA Forum Show Second in “From The Vault” Releases from The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones have issued the second DVD in the band’s From The Vault vintage live performance series. This time out, the Stones take viewers back to a July 12, 1975 concert at the L.A. Forum. The show, which lasted more than 2.5 hours, featured what for many is the classic band lineup — then-new guitarist Ron Wood, guitarist Keith...
Bass of the Week: UNICORNbass Ozellman Master
UNICORNbass is a boutique bass company out of Sweden that’s making some pretty slick instruments. The Ozellman Master is a flexible, performance-driven bass with the added touch of customizable looks. Built with either bolt-on or set-neck construction, the bass features a 7-ply neck of maple and purple heart matched to a bookmatched mahogany body topped with a choice of exotic...
Freelance Gigs: Five Tips for Bass Players
The last “Tips” column (on avoiding injury), was a popular one. So let’s continue this series with some tips on freelancing. 1. Be Musically Prepared If there is sheet music, review it. If there are recordings, listen to them. As much as possible, be familiar with all the parts. Be acquainted with the melodies, harmonies, key rhythmic devices, etc. inherent...
Nenad Vasilic: Vranjanka
Bassist Nenad Vasilic has a new album out this month called The Art of Balkan Bass, and this preview track has been stuck in my head for a week. “Vranjanka” is a traditional Balkan folk song that Vasilic tackles by himself with his upright. He perpetuates the groove with some perfectly laid ghost notes and light string slapping. Check out...
Bill Laswell Digs Into “The Process” with Chili Pepper Chad Smith
Eclectic bassist and producer Bill Laswell has teamed with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and New Orleans pianist/keyboardist Jon Batiste on the new album, . “The original idea was to film unfamiliar musicians playing together in a room with no preconceived direction. Over time it began to transform into making a record,” Laswell said. The movie was never...
Weekly Top 10: Jaco: The Film, Harmonic Substitutions, New Bass Gear, Top Bass Videos, A Lightbulb Moment and More
What a way to end the week… with the best from the world of bass! It is always a bonus with a top 10 list contains a top 10 list… and that’s happened this week with the top 10 bass videos of the month. Plus, all the other No Treble reader favorites for the week of November 8 – 14,...
Colin Trusedell’s Quartet of Jazz Death: The Escape
Colin Trusedell is an active duty Air Force bass player and Colorado State University bass professor. He shared this new video of a tune from his new funk/fusion electronic jazz album, Quartet of Jazz Death. The tune “The Escape” features some seriously beefy bass tone, lots of grooves and solos. Skip ahead to the 1:13 mark if you want to...
Job for a Cowboy Releases First Album with New Bassist
Job for a Cowboy’s fourth album, , featuring bassist Nick Schendzielos (also of Cephalic Carnage and the YouTube channel Bassfordays), has been released to critical acclaim. Alternative Press calls it one of the year’s best metal albums. Sun Eater marks the band’s departure from its earlier sound, in favor of “futuristic tones” and “slightly more ancestral song construction,” according to...
Karl Clews: Bass Cover of Stanley Clarke’s “Pop Virgil”
Back in 2012, bassist Karl Clews knocked us out with his solo bass performance of “Come Together”. We’re featuring him once again thanks to his impressive cover of the Stanley Clarke tune, “Pop Virgil”, which appeared on Clarke’s latest album, Up. Karl says he’s playing “a 2003 Status Kingbass Artist, direct into a Presonus Audiobox interface and Sonar X3, [with]...
Machine Head Debuts New Bassist on Bloodstone & Diamonds
Machine Head’s first album with new bassist Jared MacEachern (ex-Sanctity guitarist/singer) has been released. is the eighth studio album for the Bay Area-metal outfit. MacEachern replaced previous bassist Andy Duce in 2013. You can check out how he sounds, along with the rest of the band, via the album stream: Bloodstone & Diamonds is available on and as a digital...
The Lightbulb Moment: A Tale of Two Pickups
It was a humid, mid-summer night in 2010. Navigating to the venue seemed to take forever as the streets were bustling with 20-somethings heading to this restaurant and that, celebrating their two-day vacation from the confines of their offices. This particular club was familiar… I had played there once a month for almost a year and was confident in my...