Buzz

This year’s Summer NAMM show in Nashville will include the first ever “Wanna Play Sunday,” which will be open to the public. The event takes place on Sunday June 20th (the last day of NAMM), and will include music education sessions on how to get endorsed, how to set up a home studio, and more. Also on the itinerary are...

This clip of fretless bass master Percy Jones comes from his instructional video, “Bass Exploration of Percy Jones”. Jones is joined by Van Manakas on guitar, Marc Wagnon on MIDI vibes and Jonathan Mover on drums.

Muse has cancelled two shows and rescheduled two others for the North American tour in the late fall of this year. The changes are being made to accommodate bassist Chris Wolstenholme so he can be present for the birth of his fifth child. Muse has made refunds available for the changed shows and has assured fans they “haven’t forgotten them.”...

Here’s a great live performance of Avishai Cohen and his trio performing “Gently Disturbed” at the Leverkusen Jazztage in 2007. Shai Maestro is on piano and Mark Guiliana is on drums.

Bassist, vocalist and composer Esperanza Spalding is releasing her second album on the Heads Up label, Chamber Music Society, on August 17th. Chamber Music Society is Spalding’s follow up to the 2008 release, Esperanza, which sat atop Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz chart for over 70 weeks. Backed by drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and pianist Leo Genovese, Spalding draws from her classical...

Pro Tone Pedals has teamed up with metal bassist Blasko to produce the Blasko Bass Overdrive Pedal. The pedal is designed to be tonally versatile, which is “something Blasko needs as he rips through rock anthems as well as ballads onstage with Ozzy Osbourne.” The Blasko pedal, which is hand made in the USA, has a Baxandall EQ, and features...

Black Sabbath bassist Terry “Geezer” Butler released a statement Tuesday remembering his friend and band mate Ronnie James Dio. A brief excerpt from his latest entry: “It’s impossible to express in mere words the relationship Ronnie and I, Wendy and my wife Gloria had. He was much more than a friend, fellow musician, band mate. If I have a soul,...

Here’s a great way to take a 10 minute break on a Friday: Watch this live performance of Alain Caron and his band at Cabaret de Montreal, performing “Sam The Clown”. Wait for the bass solo!

Carrie Brownstein, former guitarist for Sleater-Kinney, has announced a bass solo contest on her NPR Blog, Monitor Mix. After receiving bass solos on her voicemail from her friend, she thought “If one bass solo could make my day, how would I feel after hearing 10 bass solos, or 20? More importantly, how would you feel? I bet you would feel...

After taking his tour of “Tutu Revisited” through Europe and Japan, bassist Marcus Miller will be bringing his show to the US this summer. Miller will be hitting up the east and west coasts in nine dates, beginning in Georgia at the Atlanta Jazz Festival on May 29th. “Tutu Revisited” refers to Miles Davis’ 1986 album, Tutu, which Miller played...

Trey Gunn has teamed up with drummer Marco Minnemann for a new album, Modulator. The recording of Modulator has a twist: the entire album was composed and produced over top of a live, 51 minute drum solo by Minnemann. “This was the hardest recording I have ever taken on,” says Gunn. “The challenges of this process prove the old adage...

This Chilean trio features Antonio Restucci on acoustic guitar, Emilio Garcia on mandolin and Marcelo Cordova on electric bass. They’re performing the tune “Evocacion” live in a Chilean jazz club.