Buzz

For his first solo album in 10 years, Lenny White stated his intention of putting the rock back into jazz-rock. “We need to restart a revolution to take back the music and stop the fluff”, he says. And Anomaly is some heavy stuff: powerhouse backbeats, grinding organ and shredding guitars. There is some excellent music on this record but some...

There seems to be something in the water in Cameroon that makes the country produce great bass players. This video features a live solo from Cameroonian bass player Guy Nsaunge, who plays with French virtuosic violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.

Hot Tuna, the band formed by bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen as a side project from Jefferson Airplane, has released Live at the New Orleans House Berkeley CA Sept 69. The album is compiled from a multi-night engagement at the New Orleans House in 1969, mere months after they formed the group. Recordings from the same performances were...

Rock supergroup Chickenfoot, featuring ex-Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, have announced that they have begun work on their second album, with plans to finish it up early next year for a Spring 2011 release. This comes only a couple weeks after the release of their concert DVD, Get Your Buzz on Live. The quartet had a productive recording session before...

The Cross-Genre Bassist

How do your musical tastes influence your playing? Do you have a wide or narrow frame of reference when it comes to what you allow to impact and inspire you? I think having as diverse as possible a range of styles and influences at your disposal is of prime importance to your growth and sustainability as a bass player. Influential...

Buddy Hankerson (of Steve Arrington’s Hall Of Fame) was a man ahead of his time. Check out this performance, filmed 26 years ago.

1. Player News: Billy Corgan Selects New Smashing Pumpkins Bassist After holding an open audition for a bassist, Billy Corgan has announced the band’s new keeper of the low end for the Smashing Pumpkins. 2. Video: James Jamerson Isolated Bass Track: I Can’t Get Next to You James Jamerson’s isolated bass track from the Temptations’ “I Can’t Get Next to...

Warwick has released the Just-A-Nut III Brass model to their line of bass hardware. It’s a nut which builds on the Just-A-Nut series by using high quality bell brass to improve stability and minimize long-term wear. As with the others in the line, the Brass model allows for precise adjustments to the nut’s height. The Just-A-Nut III Brass model will...

Today’s featured video comes by recommendation from Ingrid Pastorius. The Bad Plus is a jazz trio including bassist Reid Anderson, drummer David King and pianist Ethan Iverson. Enjoy!

Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament is joining up with the Montana Meth Project’s 2010 Paint the State art contest. The project was started to create community action programs designed to reduce the use of methamphetamine in Montana. Ament grew up in Big Sandy, Montana, where his father was mayor for 15 years and attended the University of Montana, where he...

Double Bass: The Ultimate Challenge, Jeff Bradetich’s long anticipated book on Pedagogy and Performance for the double bass, has been released. This 12 chapter books covers a wide scope including specific focus on the right and left hands, intonation, bow strokes, pizzicato techniques, standing vs. sitting, fingering concepts, harmonics, vibrato and practice methods. Bradetich has a very distinguished career, including...

Ran Levi (aka Bassran): Bass Solo

Here’s Israeli bassist Ran Levi doing a cool bass solo on his 6-string Ken Smith bass. I like his phrasing a lot.