Buzz
Tony Levin Releases “Crimson Chronicles: The 80’s” Photo Book for iPad
Tony Levin has released an iPad app version of his book Crimson Chronicles: The 80’s, which documents his time with the legendary prog rock band King Crimson through pictures. Levin, who is also an avid photographer, includes hundreds of photos from his collection to show what life in the band and on the road was like. Beyond the photos from...
MarloweDK Releases “Beginning Slap Bass” DVD
Bassist/educator and Youtube bass phenom Thomas “MarloweDK” Risell has taken his excellent how-to approach to DVD with the release of Beginning Slap Bass DVD with MarloweDK. (MarloweDK is also a No Treble contributor). The DVD includes 25 slap bass licks and exercises, complete with onscreen notation and tab, close ups and slow motion video. Each lesson starts at full tempo,...
Groove Spoon: Barney Miller Theme Bass Jam
I spent some time working out the bass line to Vulpeck’s awesome “It Gets Funkier”, which of course was recorded by the excellent Joe Dart. Which led me to search for more stuff by Joe. Which brought me to this awesomeness: a bass duet of the Barney Miller theme. Joe is joined by Jack Stratton, who stepped away from the...
Steve Lawson and Mike Outram Release “Invenzioni”
Steve Lawson has released Invenzioni, the first of three albums with guitarist Mike Outram. Recorded in 2010, the album was the first time the duo had ever played together, though the music would suggest otherwise. “We’d never played together, we just set up our stuff and started playing,” said Outram. “What you hear is two people playing music together for...
Play Other Instruments! Such as… Piano
Like many other bass players, I’ve traveled a long and winding road before discovering my passion for the instrument. A few years of piano lessons, three months of playing the flute, and a handful of years in the school band’s percussion section were just a few of my “trial and error” experiences before making the right connection with the bass....
Serino Gianni: Fuga Occulta
Here’s another mind-blowing video by Italian bassist Serino Gianni, who takes a stab at Bach’s world of counterpoint with a composition for two basses. Gianni plays each part on separate sides of the screen with incredible precision and musicality. This one takes a few views, because you’ll be looking back and forth at the different parts as they go by.
Wolfgang Van Halen to Tour with Mark Tremonti
While Van Halen’s tour is on hold, due to Eddie Van Halen’s emergency surgery, Wolfgang Van Halen is going to be staying busy. The bassist is joining Creed and Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti on tour. Tremonti is touring in support of his solo effort, All I Was, and had planned to tour with bassist Brian Marshall. Marshall plays with...
Bass of the Week: Citron AE4 and AE5 Swallow Acoustic/Electric Bass
This week we take a look at the Citron AE4 and AE5 Swallow Basses built by luthier Harvey Citron in collaboration with jazz legend Steve Swallow. Citron first presented Swallow with one of his acoustic/electric basses, and their work went from there. It was Steve’s perfectionism that pushed the bass builder to invent a new bridge. “Working with Steve has...
Stories Behind the Songs: Nathan East
Nathan East’s prolific playing has graced so many albums, it would probably be easier to list who he hasn’t work with rather than who he has. The Philadelphia-born, San Diego-raised bassist picked up his first 4-string at 14 after studying cello in school and went on to be one of the world’s most in-demand session players. He’s been called on...
Tribal Tech: Face First, Live
Holy smokes, I never get tired of Gary Willis‘ bass playing, even with the stuff he recorded almost 20 years ago. Here’s Willis laying it down with Tribal Tech, with Scott Henderson on guitar, Scott Kinsey on keyboards and Kirk Covington on drums. The quartet is playing “Face First,” the title track from Tribal Tech’s sixth album of the same...
Matthew Davidson Releases “Step Up” EP, Featuring Joe Osborn
Backed by legendary session bassist Joe Osborn, 14-year old guitar wunderkind Matthew Davidson has released his first EP entitled Step Up. The four song collection was produced by Osborn, who also adds low end to the mix with his Fender Jazz. The bass legend took Davidson under his wing several years ago after hearing him perform at the Shreveport, Louisiana...
Ibanez Introduces ATK Premium Basses
Ibanez has given its Premium treatment to their ATK model, resulting in the ATK800E and the ATK805E. Beyond being built at their Premium Factory to premium quality standards, the company’s bass designers spent a lot of time researching and developing the pickup configuration, which includes a CAP double humbucker in the bridge position and an Ibanez proprietary CAP Sonic Arch...