Buzz
PBS History Detectives to Trace History of Ampeg Amp Marked with James Jamerson’s Name
In 2009, Los Angeles bassist Steve Fishman discovered a vintage Ampeg amp that may just be the find of the century. Stenciled on the back of the amp was the name of the Motown bass legend, James Jamerson. Fishman, who has recorded with Paul McCartney, decided to try to get this story investigated, to see if this amp is indeed...
The Who Announce “Quadrophenia” Tour – First North American Tour in Four Years
The Who have announced a major North American tour celebrating their 1973 double album Quadrophenia, which they will play in its entirety each night in addition to a selection of their greatest songs. Founding members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend have tapped bassist Pino Palladino to fill the enormous shoes of John Entwistle, who passed away ten years ago. The...
Vincenzo Maurogiovanni Solo Bass Concert: Blue in Green
It has been a while since we featured a video by Vincenzo Maurogiovanni, so lets fix that right now. Here’s Vincenzo’s stunning solo bass performance of the Bill Evans / Miles Davis tune “Blue in Green”, from Miles’ Kind of Blue. Perfect for a relaxing Sunday afternoon. Or any time.
Avishai Cohen Releases “Duende”
Avishai Cohen has teamed up with Nitai Hershkovits to release Duende, the bassist’s 13th album and one that offers quite a unique blend of classical, jazz and folk music. The album includes nine duets, written by the duo, except for a few reinterpretations of standards by John Coltrane, Cole Porter and Thelonius Monk. One thing is for sure on this...
Korg Releases TM-50 Combo Tuner Metronome
Korg has introduced the TM-50 combo tuner/metronome. The latest edition of the their TM series allows for using both the tuning and metronome functions simultaneously while including a newly designed LCD needle-type meter. The TM-50’s pitch detection ranges from C1 to C8 with a tempo range of 30 to 252 beats per minute. Other features include reference tone generation, 15...
Felix Pastorius with the Yellowjackets: Live Bass Solo
Back in January, we broke the news that Felix Pastorius, the son of the late great Jaco Pastorius, was joining the Yellowjackets as a temporary replacement for Jimmy Haslip. Now we get to see some of the magic of that combination with this live bass solo by Felix, filmed by a member of the audience at a May 2012 concert...
Donny Hathaway’s Live and In Performance Reissued
Shout! Factory has brought back two albums by soul artist Donny Hathaway with the release of Live + In Performance, a two-disc set out this week. While the two albums in this combined set were big hits at the time they were released, they’d fallen out of print in the U.S. Both albums feature Willie Weeks on bass, including Weeks’...
Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris Announces Debut Solo Album
Steve Harris and EMI Music have announced the longtime Iron Maiden bassist is releasing his debut solo album next month. Entitled British Lion, the 10-track album is the result of the music he’s written and recorded in between recording and touring with Iron Maiden over the past few years. According to a statement from the label, the album is “decidedly...
Getting to Know Your Bass: How Many Strings Does It Take to Screw In A Lightbulb?
Ok, this column’s title is a bad joke (feel free to come up with you own punch line). In the past few columns of this “Getting To Know” series, we’ve examined a number of topics that relate to what your instrument can do, why you prefer it, and how that impacts your playing ability on the instrument. After discussing tone...
The Beatles’ Lovely Rita: Paul McCartney’s Isolated Bass
“Lovely Rita”, the Paul McCartney-penned tune from the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s album featured a terrific, bouncy bass line. The story goes that the tune was on a 4-track recorder with Harrison’s and Lennon’s guitars on tracks 1 and 2, Starr’s drums on track 3 and McCartney’s piano on track 4. Once those tracks were “bounced”, the McCartney’s lead vocal and...
Flea Releases Debut Solo EP, “Helen Burns”
Flea has released his debut solo album entitled Helen Burns on a pay-what-you-will basis and serving as a fundraiser for the Silverlake Conservatory of Music. Recorded over a couple of days after the Red Hot Chili Peppers finished touring Stadium Arcadium, the bassist explains the mostly instrumental EP is not what most fans will expect. “Warning! It is not a...
Bass of the Week: Hofner 500/1 Vintage 1963 Violin Bass
In 1955, Walter Hofner came up with the idea to make a short scale bass guitar with a violin-shaped hollow body. The idea came to life the next year at the Frankfurt trade show and made its rounds, eventually landing in the hands of Beatles member Paul McCartney, who had to switch from guitar to bass following the departure of...