Buzz

String manufacturer Rotosound has announced a line-up of bassists who will be making appearances at their booth at NAMM 2010 on Saturday, the 16th of January. Five guests are scheduled for that day, including Duff McKagan of Guns & Roses/Velvet Revolver, James Lomenzo of Megadeth, Eva Gardener, who has been touring with Pink, Robbie Crane from Ratt, and the formidable...

Phil Lesh has teamed up once again with former Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir to create a new band, Furthur. The band also features members of their other projects. The group came together earlier this year, and debuted in September at the Fox Theatre in Oakland, California, and now they have announced a nationwide tour. Here are the upcoming dates:...

Oppositional Structures in Melodic Construction: Imaginary Chords

Bass players need to become familiar with the principles of melodic construction for the creation of bass lines as well as solo lines. One such principle is “oppositionality,” which we’ve talked about in previous columns. Oppositionality is the usage of non-harmonic tones to create tension and release against the underlying harmonic environment, contrasting against specific harmonic tones (targets). Some devices...

SMV: Live at Vitoria Gasteiz Jazz Fest

Here’s a great video of SMV (Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten) live at the Vitoria Gasteiz Jazz Festival, earlier this year. Or in the words of Marcus Miller: “We have a lot of bass for you. We hope you like bass.”

Here are the most popular stories from last week on No Treble. Columns & Features Jon Burr’s latest lesson focuses on Dynamics and accents: Walking Ask Damian Erskine: Career in Music AND stability? Our player in the spotlight is Larry Lee Evan Kepner covers Transcriptions in 6 Steps Christian McBride talks about his music Unreleased Victor Wooten: Flip Flop (free...

Ever watch a concert and wonder what the band was doing earlier that day? Ever wonder what the band talks about when they get back on the road? Well now you can read stories from Police drummer, Stewart Copeland in his new book Strange Things Happen: A Life With the Police, Polo and Pygmies. The book describes different times and...

The Bazantar

What do you get when you mix an upright bass with a sitar? The Bazantar, of course. Here, Mark Deutsch plays his instrument and explains the creation of it.

Social music service company WaTunes has introduced a new service to allow artists to see how their music is selling on iTunes, and provide projections on future sales. “Traditionally, artists would have to pay a fee to receive this kind of information per report. As apart of the VIP service, we wanted to incorporate a system to where artists will...

Bassist Gary Peacock and pianist Marc Copland released their latest CD, Insight, on October 6th. The duo have been performing and recording together for almost 20 years, even though Peacock is typically known for his work with pianist Keith Jarrett. The 13-track release features both original compositions and covers. Preview and download Insight Amazon.com Widgets Insight Track List: 1. All...

Here we go… a little Alphonso Johnson to start off the weekend. This performance, filmed on July 6, 1976 in Montreux, Switzerland, is the Bill Cobham / George Duke Band playing “Red Baron”. The band includes Billy Cobham on drums, George Duke on keyboards, John Scofield on guitar and Johnson on bass. Holy smokes!

Former Deep Purple bassist and vocalist Glenn Hughes has announced he is releasing a new autobiography in 2010, which is yet to be titled. The book will be co-written by Joe McIver, and an introduction is to be written by Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. “My autobiography is going to be a literary event,” says Hughes. “ I’ve been working on...

Hamilton Sterling and bassist Jimmy Haslip have released Migration, hailed as a “programmatic jazz composition formed in six movements.” The album was produced, composed, arranged, performed, and programmed by both musicians. Sterling’s previous work films, The Dark Knight, War of the Worlds, and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Haslip is founding member of the Yellowjackets and...