Buzz

Everyone has their own personal method to holding the bass guitar. Some people prefer a more extreme angle, others only use a slight tilt and still others flip it completely around. Ansir Music, a small start up company, is now creating fully customized basses to fit that perfect playing angle. They have a patented measuring system to produce your personal...

Q: I was listening to one of your YouTube videos and thought I heard similar lines that I’ve heard Jaco play (like a run in “Havona”). Regardless, I would like to tackle some of these parts. Do you just have a great ear or did you start out with charts to learn such fast lines? A: Thanks man! It’s interesting...

Our good friend Joseph Patrick Moore has just signed an endorsement deal with Analysis-Plus Cables, and shares this demo video with us. (check out the cool t-shirt!)

You may remember when we posted about bassist Freddie Washington releasing In the Moment. You can now download the track “When You Get Right Down To It” for free. Washington is currently on tour with Steely Dan, you can catch him with the band at the following venues: Nov 7 – Merrillville, IN – Star Plaza Nov 8 – Minneapolis,...

Reader Spotlight: Derrick Lee Murdock

Meet Derrick Lee Murdock, our player in the spotlight for November 3, 2009. Bio: Derrick Lee Murdock (aka DOCK) A Native of Philadelphia began playing the Bass at the age of seventeen. While most musicians consider this a late start, Derrick was able to overcome this by intensive practice and study of his favorite bassist. Among his early influences were...

Many things come to mind with the upright bass. I guarantee that Donovan Stokes will prove to you that this instrument is more than what you think it is. Gadaha is an acoustic solo bass album – and it’s awesome. That’s right young travelers, there is an acoustic no-overdub upright bass album that that will drop your jaw both for...

Check out Trip Wamsley and his extended range bass, in this live performance of “Huevos Con Dios”. The tune is also on Trip’s CD, Curve.

In October we reported on Strokes bassist Nikolai Fraiture training to run the New York Marathon and simultaneously doing a fundraiser for New York Road Runners Foundation’s Team For Kids charity. The great news is that Fraiture met is $5,000 goal and completed the marathon in 4 hours 23 minutes and 35 seconds. He had trained for two and half...

Stanley Clarke is continuing with the Corea, Clarke and White reunion tour through December. If you have not gotten the chance to see them live yet they are well worth checking out. From first hand experience the show is unbelievable. The upcoming dates for November and December include: 11/02/2009 Wiener Konzerthaus-Vienna AUSTRIA 11/03/2009 Fabrik – Hamburg GERMANY 11/04/2009 Tonhalle-Dusseldorf GERMANY...

This is the second part of the Melodic Construction: Extensions on Dominant Chords series. Click here for Part 1 A fundamental problem with the “chordal scale” approach to improvising is that it tends to produce mechanical-sounding performance; all scale tones tend to be given equal weight as to whether or not they “work.” Frequently we hear players running out patterns...

Today’s video features bassist Todd Johnson and his Trio, performing “Don’t Shoot the Messenger” live in November, 2008. Nice!

In case you missed them, here are the most popular features from last week. Lessons Jon Burr: Melodic Construction: Extensions on Dominant Chords, Part 1 Evan Kepner: The Zen of Ear Training – Part 2 Columns and Features Phil Wain reviews Wayne Krantz – Krantz Carlock Lefebvre Damian Erskine covers Shortcuts in his latest Ask Damian column. Ray Riendeau is...