Buzz
Flea Joins Former Mars Volta Members to Form Antemasque
Music lovers all over were heartbroken last year at the dissolution of Mars Volta. The group, which in the end was anchored by bassist Juan Alderete, split after a dispute between founders Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Now, the duo has apparently made amends to form a new band called Antemasque. The quartet is rounded out by drummer Dave Elitch...
Weekly Top 10: The Best in Bass for the Week of April 6th
You know we love these top 10 lists. Sometimes they’re even better, when one of the items is another top 10 list. And that’s what happened this week. Check out the most watched videos and most read stories on No Treble for the week of April 6-12, 2014. Thanks for reading, watching, commenting and sharing. 1. Jim Bennett: “Thrift Shop”...
Shredneck Introduces Z-Series Travel Basses
Shredneck, a company that specializes in practice and travel instruments, has introduced the Z-Series of travel basses. At a total body length of 36.25″, the Z-Series bass is approximately 5/8ths the size of a standard bass guitar. The instrument’s 2-piece nato body is loaded with a PJ pickup configuration with volume and tone controls. The maple neck is topped with...
Boisse: Flor
Bass and voice duets can be so powerful. Here’s a gorgeous song by the Mexican duo Boisse, comprised of bassist Hector Baños and vocalist Majo Saenz performing “Flor.”
Or Lubianiker and Steroid Puppets: Muddy Bright
Or Lubianiker shared this video of his group Steroid Puppets’ new video for the song “Muddy Bright.” “[It’s a] very bass heavy tune of course, like all tunes should be,” he explained. And we agree. Starting out with some ambience, the song develops into a huge groove before morphing through various styles. The pocket is held down by Lubianiker and...
Fleetwood Mac Reunite with Christine McVie, Announce Tour
The Mac is back — and that’s the full, classic version of Fleetwood Mac — and it’s going to tour North America this fall. The “On With the Show” tour begins Sept. 30 in Minneapolis at the Target Center. Keyboardist/vocalist/songwriter Christine McVie will tour with the band for the first time in 16 years, and her ex-husband, bassist John McVie,...
Kicking Off a New Series: Bass Players You Need To Know
Over the past year, I’ve dug deep into the nether-regions of my brain, week after week, to figure out all of those things I wish I knew. Lucky for me, the crazy turmoil that is life as a professional musician has been inspiration enough. My goal in writing this series was to highlight those things I’ve learned the hard way…...
Aimee Mann and Ted Leo: The Both Tiny Desk Concert
Aimee Mann and Ted Leo stopped by NPR for their Tiny Desk concert series in February, performing four tunes. NPR’s Bob Boilen said the members of duo “are often at opposite ends of the volume knob. But what started as separate sets during a mutual tour, then a few walk-ons during Leo’s solo set, is now an adventure in collaboration...
George Mraz & David Hazeltine Trio Release “Your Story”
George Mraz, the Czech native and master of jazz acoustic bass, has joined up with pianist David Hazeltine and drummer Jason Brown to create the George Mraz/David Hazeltine Trio album, . The record features the players’ interpretations of classics like Rogers & Hart’s “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” and Cole Porter’s “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” alongside Mraz’s...
Bass of the Week: Murray Kuun Elemental
Murray Kuun is a South African luthier who admits he came to the profession relatively late in life, but his passion is in creating fresh designs. “I am not keen on making copies of instruments that have been copied ad nauseam,” he shared. “All my instruments are original designs.” His first bass model is the Elemental, a neck-thru bass with...
Gear Review: Ibanez SRF700 Portamento Fretless Bass
Up for a review is the Ibanez SRF700 Portamento, a 4-string fretless from the company’s new Bass Workshop series. The bass is fitted with some nice features for a bass under a thousand bucks, namely piezo pickups imbedded in the bridge and integrated with Bartolini active pickups. The bonus here is that the piezos actually sound great and not harsh....
Anthony Crawford: Bass Solo on Virgil Donati’s “Eleven”
Anthony Crawford sent us this video of a rehearsal with drummer Virgil Donati for their upcoming European tour. This is his bass solo from Donati’s tune, “Eleven.” Good luck keeping up with it!