Buzz
Bass of the Week: Wood & Tronics Chronos
Hand made in Italy, the Wood & Tronics Chronos is the company’s take on the single cut design, and a great one at that. Wood and Tronics was founded by Enrico Pasini and luthier Erik Furlan after Pasini, who was a frequent visitor and admirer of the Fodera Guitars shop, decided to follow his dream of making his own custom...
Custom Shop: An Interview with Grant Freifeld of Grant Bass
Armed with passion and determination, Ontario-based bassist Grant Freifeld got his start building instruments after becoming disgusted with “cheap painted plywood guitars” and basses that are “someone else’s idea of custom.” After apprenticing with Joe Kovacic of Lado Guitars, Freifeld created his own brand, Grant Bass. His humility allows him to be more open to ideas, citing that expanding his...
Terri Lynne Carrington’s Mosaic Project Featuring Esperanza Spalding: “Unconditional Love”, Live
Last year saw the release of drummer Terri Lynne Carrington’s Mosaic Project, featuring a star-studded cast of all female musicians including one of our favorites, Esperanza Spalding. Carrington recently released this official video for her song “Unconditional Love,” taken from a live performance at the Red Sea Festival in Eilat. Spalding pulls double duty, laying down a soulful bass line...
Andres Rotmistrovsky Releases Debut Album, “Upbeat”
Andres Rotmistrovsky, who has gained popularity for his solo bass arrangements, has released his first solo album, entitled Upbeat. The record includes the bassist’s original compositions written while studying at Berklee College of Music, as well as arrangements of standards. “This album is [named] after several years of studying the powerful effects that can be created with rhythm, when accenting...
Lehle Releases DC Filter
Lehle has released the DC Filter, a stereo filter for removing unwanted DC voltage from audio signals. The filter handles both mono and stereo signals and sports a passive design, so it doesn’t require a power supply. Lehle explains that audio signals with a DC offset can cause an “unpleasant” switching noise. While offsets can occur in various places in...
On Improvising: Modal vs. Chordal Approaches
Q: I’ve been playing for a little bit now and would consider myself a solid player, but I’m looking to really up my level of expression. There seems to be a dichotomy on modal vs. chordal approaches to theory, I figured I’d ask you where the break is. Both seem necessary, but some seem to think the modal stuff is...
Fender Announces “Select” Series, Including New Precision and Jazz Bass Models
Fender is kicking off 2012 with the introduction of the Fender Select Series, which they describe as it’s “new top-of-the-production-line best” instruments. The series, which includes new Precision and Jazz Bass models, presents the company’s classic designs with marked upgrades like choice tone woods, quartersawn maple necks with compound-radius fretboards, and specially voiced Select pickups. The Fender Select Precision Bass...
Remembering Mick Karn – JBK: Plaster The Magic Tongue, Live
On January 4th, 2011, the world lost bass legend Mick Karn. Today, we honor the bassist with a video from JPK, performing “Plaster The Magic Tongue”. JPK is the name that former Japan members Karn, Steve Jansen, and Richard Barbieri recorded under. RIP, Mick. You are missed.
The Ultimate Bass Songbook: The Complete Resource for Every Bass Player
Hal Leonard has published a whopper of a bass transcription book. The Ultimate Bass Songbook: The Complete Resource for Every Bass Player includes note-for-note transcriptions for 70 songs, spanning bass lines, bass melodies and solo bass arrangements. The book is designed to allow you to pick the arrangement you prefer to many top hits. The Ultimate Bass Songbook Complete Song...
Reader Spotlight: Dave Kurtiak
Meet Dave Kurtiak, a 27 year veteran of bass who has a gigs with several bands and music projects around the Seattle area – and nearly all-improv. (Very cool). Dave is our player in the spotlight for January 3, 2012. Bio: Born in Bayonne, NJ to a musical family, it was no surprise when Dave picked up the bass at...
Practical Theory: Improvising over a Minor Key Progression
In my last lesson, we covered the topic of improvising over a minor 7 chord. This time around, we’re going to focus on improvising over a minor key progression. For this lesson, we’ll use this progression: | Am7 | G7 | FMaj7 | FMaj7 Bm7b5 | For this particular progression, you can play the A minor Aeolian/A minor pentatonic scale,...
Charles Fambrough: Blues for Bu, Live
A year ago Sunday, bass great Charles Fambrough passed away after a long illness. In honor of his memory, here’s a fantastic live performance of “Blues for Bu”, from Blues at Bradley’s. RIP, Mr. Fambrough.