Buzz
Nathan East and David “Fingers” Haynes: NAMM Jam
Nathan East took the stage at the TC Electronic booth at the 2012 Winter NAMM show, teaming up with the phenomenal David “Fingers” Haynes. The duo proceeded to lay it down. If you look closely, you’ll see a cameo of the No Treble guys behind the stage. We were hanging out with Uriah Duffy and chatting, heard Nathan’s playing, and...
Tom Tom Club Releases “Downtown Rockers”
Tom Tom Club has returned with their first new material in 12 years, entitled Downtown Rockers. Founded by the husband-wife team of bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz, the Talking Heads shoot-off group’s latest offering stays true to their quirky, danceable style while paying homage to the music scene of downtown New York in the ’70s. “The reason why...
Gibson Unveils Midtown Standard Bass
Taking elements of their semi-acoustic EB basses and their Midtown guitar line, Gibson has unveiled the Midtown Standard Bass, a new semi-hollow design with a full 34? scale. The chambered body sports a pair of f-holes for a classic look, but the body is actually made of routed solid woods rather than a laminated top, back and sides. Gibson says...
Bass Players: Get Out of the Shed and Into the World
Q: I practice a lot, but I don’t get to play music with other people all that often. How important do you think it is that I play with other actual humans? A: The short answer? Extremely important. There is no shortage of reasons why this is important, but here are the most important in my book: Feedback! What you...
Adam Stevens: All Bass Cover of John Mayer’s “Slow Dancing In A Burning Room”
We first featured bassist Adam Stevens last month, with his incredible solo bass arrangement of the Chili Peppers tune, “Under the Bridge“. Adam has just shared his latest bass arrangement, this time tackling John Mayer’s “Slow Dancing In A Burning Room”. Adam covers it all, including the vocal line, and ends with a tasty solo.
Steve Harris Releases Solo Debut: British Lion
Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris has stepped out on his own with the release of British Lion, his solo debut. As we reported back in July, the 10-track album is the result of the music Harris has written and recorded in secret in between recording and touring with Iron Maiden over the past few years. “It’s taken years for this...
Reader Spotlight: Mai Jõgi
Meet Mai Jõgi, a bassist leaving in Sweden by way of Estonia who has an impressive resume and counts her experience on bass in days, not years (2,920 days at the time she shared her story with us). Mai is our player in the spotlight for the week of September 25, 2012. Bio: Estonian female bass player Mai Jõgi is...
Raise Up: An Interview with Larry Graham
It’s not often a musician can lay claim to changing the way their instrument is played, but Larry Graham is definitely one of those musicians. His story is the stuff of legends – Graham played guitar in his mother’s band. He also sang and played the bass pedals of an organ to fill the bottom end. The organ broke, so...
Marco Panascia with Dado Moroni and Peter Erskine: Body and Soul
Marco Panascia is one of those bassists you can’t help but be impressed with. He’s got an incredible command of the instrument and impeccable taste to match. Here he takes the lead on the classic jazz ballad “Body and Soul” with a little help from pianist Dado Moroni and drummer extraordinaire Peter Erskine. The clip comes from an outtake from...
No Doubt Returns With “Push and Shove”
After a lengthy hiatus, No Doubt has released Push and Shove, their first studio album since 2001. While still heavily influenced by Jamaican music, the band took a turn towards the synth-pop bands of the ’70s and ’80s. The writing process also proved to be a new direction, especially for bassist Tony Kanal, who took a page out of Peter...
Digitech Unveils JamMan Solo XT Looping Pedal
Digitech has announced the latest in their JamMan series of looping pedals with the JamMan Solo XT. Building on the JamMan Solo, the XT is a true stereo looping pedal with several new features including JamSync, which allows for multiple units to be linked together and record different length phrases while staying in sync. You can sync as many Solo...
Arpeggio Work for Bass Players: A Daily Practice Routine
I have mentioned previously that our daily scale practice should include arpeggio work. There are numerous ways to approach this, and most scale books devote some time to various approaches to arpeggios. I find the patterns below to be good solid foundational patterns for any bassist’s daily routine. The patterns below are presented in C major, but should be applied...