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John Mayer with Pino Palladino & David Labruyere: I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)
Our Twitter friend @kevcooke shared this video recommendation with us, saying “You MUST feature this video… Pino Palladino AND David Labruyere playing on this tune = DESPICABLE groove!!!” We agree, Kevin!
New Release: BLK JKS “After Robots”
South African psychedelic rock dub group BLK JKS (pronounced “Black Jacks”) have released a new album After Robots on the Secretly Canadian record label. The BLK JKS have been sharing performances with both Dirty Projectors and Afro-pop icon Femi Kuti. After Robots lives up BLK JKS description, you’ll hear raw township sounds mixed with reggae and blasts alternative rock. BLK...
Jacofest: A Tribute to Jaco Pastorius at Iridium
New York’s Iridium Jazz Club has announced Jacofest, a four-night concert event honoring the late, great Jaco Pastorius. Bassists Victor Bailey and T.M. Stevens will be performing with many of Jaco’s former bandmates and colleagues, including trumpeters Miles Evans and Lew Soloff, saxophonists Alex Foster and Butch Thomas, trombonist David Bargeron, keyboardists Gil Goldstein and Delmar Brown, guitarist Billy “Spaceman”...
To click or not to click? Or, what’s in a metronome?
All musicians benefit from practice with a metronome, yet many, if not most, musicians tend to avoid it some or all the time. The metronome can feel like a scolding tyrant reminding us of our incompetence, or maybe we want to get through our work quickly without the discipline of methodical practice, or maybe we believe that the metronome is...
Christian McBride: Live Electric Bass Solo
We frequently see bassist Christian McBride playing the upright, but can he ever play on the bass guitar. Check out this video of McBride taking a solo during a live performance of the Jaco Pastorius tune “Havona”, with the Christan McBride Band. McBride has three bass guitars that he currently uses: first a Pensa 4-string fretless maple neck, an Atelier...
Rewind: Lots of lessons, Lowdown with Dr. D., Ask Damian Erskine, videos, gear and more
In case you missed it, here are the No Treble highlights from the week of September 27th, 2009. We added a new Lessons section! Jon Burr‘s latest lesson focuses on the Stance on the Upright Bass. Donovan Stokes latest Lowdown with Dr. D. column, Making the Switch from Electric to Upright, Part 2, focuses on the right hand. Damian Erskine...
Upcoming Dave Holland performances
Jazz bassist Dave Holland is currently performing with his Overtone Quartet featuring saxophonist Chris Potter, pianist Jason Moran and drummer Eric Harland. Throughout Holland’s four-and-a-half decade career he’s also played with Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Jack DeJonhette. Holland says he came to the bass by circumstance, “I was in my first band when...
Richard Bona with Ferenc Snétberger and Paolo Vinaccia: Tavaszi Utazás
Bassist Richard Bona joined guitarist Ferenc Snétberger and drummer/percussionist Paolo Vinaccia in May 2009 for a performance at the Palace of Arts, in Budapest, Hungary. This song, “Tavaszi Utazás”, was written by Snétberger.
Report: Mike Starr arrested on drug charges
Radar Online is reporting that founding member and former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr was arrested Monday on drug charges. The arrest occurred in Los Angeles and was a felony narcotics charge. Currently he is being held at the Bauchet Street Jail with bail set at $100,000. He is schedule for arraignment on October 14th at the Pasadena Superior...
New release from Robin Duhe: Life
Bassist Robin Duhe has a new album out, Life released on his own Blaise Two record label. Duhe was an original member in the band Maze, starting with them in 1974 and playing on almost all their albums. It’s his licks that open the tracks “Joy and Pain,” “Happy Feelin’s,” and “Golden Time of Day.” In 2004 Duhe stopped working...
Tony Levin: “Sleepless” video and tour update
We received this great video of bassist Tony Levin performing with King Crimson in Japan. Check out that thumb! The performers included Levin on bass and vocals, Adrian Belew on guitar and vocals, Robert Fripp on guitar and Bill Bruford on drums. Levin has a few different projects cooking this fall, he just finished a 3 day tour with L’Image...
Gear Watch: Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0
Genz Benz is celebrating their 25th anniversary this year and has announced the release of their latest bass amp, the Shuttle 9.0. The Shuttle 9.0 is built on the foundation of the Shuttle 6.0 and delivers 900W at 4 ohms (or 500W at 8 ohms) weighing in at a mere 4 pounds. The Shuttle 9.0 features a tube preamp and...