Buzz
Jaco Pastorius: The Complete Shadows & Light Solo
For years, Jaco Pastorius‘s “Slang” solo on Joni Mitchell’s Shadows & Light DVD has been a wildly popular clip. Turns out, we’ve only heard part of it. Obviously, someone in the editing room decided to cut Jaco’s solo down for the DVD. Thankfully, we can now hear the complete solo, including parts of “Chromatic Fantasy”. The solo was recorded live...
Eddie Gómez announces 10-day tour in Mexico
Legendary bassist Eddie Gómez will be going on a brief 10-day tour in Mexico from November 25th through December 5th. Gómez will be touring with his trio including Stefan Karlsson on piano and Rodrigo Villanueva on drums. Eddie’s impressive resumé includes performances with jazz giants such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan, Benny Goodman, Buck Clayton, Marian...
Joe Martin: Not By Chance
New York City jazz bassist Joe Martin has released his second CD, Not By Chance, on Anzic records. Not By Chance features eight original compositions by Martin, and a Jaco Pastorius tribute, and includes Brad Mehldau on piano, saxophonist Chris Potter (also on bass clarinet) and Marcus Gilmore on drums. “Three of my favorite musicians. They not only possess powerful...
Reader Spotlight: Phil Wain
Meet bassist Phil Wain, our player in the spotlight for September 22nd, 2009. Bio: A fretless specialist who loves his Wal bass, Phil sees music as a spiritual exercise and strives for those moments when the music plays him. He can be seen in a variety of settings on the London gig scene. His heart is in jazz but he...
Esperanza Spalding performing Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed”
Bassist Esperanza Spalding performed at the White House for the Obama family in early 2009, celebrating the music of Stevie Wonder. This video clip includes her performance of “Overjoyed”. Spalding is currently on tour and will continue to be through December of 2009. A complete tour list is available from her web site.
“All You Need To Know About the Music Business” turns 7
Music lawyer Donald S. Passman has updated his “industry Bible” with an upcoming seventh edition of All You Need To Know About the Music Business, to be released November 17th 2009. If you’re a musician and are not familiar with this book it should be on your list. Passman gives extremely relevant and organized advice on how to navigate in...
Rufus Reid joins Roni Ben-Hur on “Fortuna”
Bassist Rufus Reid will be playing on guitarist Roni Ben-Hur’s upcoming release, Fortuna. Reid commented that “It is always a pleasure to make music with Roni Ben-Hur, anytime, anywhere!” Fortuna will be released on October 13th 2009, and is available for pre-order. You can check out some of Reid’s playing with this video of him performing “Come out and Play”:...
Lesson: By the Numbers
There are 2 elements that are helpful to gain fluency in all keys, making transposition much easier. The first is, learn fingerings avoiding open strings as much as possible, so that interval and visual mapping is consistent. The other is to learn to think by the numbers; think of each pitch not as its letter name, but as its numerical...
Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile: The Farmer & The Duck
Today’s featured video showcases a nice duet between bassist Edgar Meyer and Nickel Creek’s Chris Thile. The recording took place on October 24, 2008 at University of Chicago’s Mandel Hall.
Rewind: Bass lessons from Jon Burr, Evan Kepner and Learn the Low End, plus Damian Erskine, Ray Riendeau and Steve Uccello
Evan Kepner takes us through his first in a 2-parter lesson, Thinking in Minor. Don’t miss Jon Burr’s incredibly popular lesson on Learning Tunes Quickly. Ray Riendeau is raving about… NPR. Our Player in the Spotlight is Steve Uccello. Damian Erskine covers Target Notes in his latest installment of Ask Damian Erskine. Videos Linley Marthe: Solo at New Morning Marco...
Alexis Cuadrado: World Premiere of “Noneto Iberico”
Bassist and composer Alexis Cuadrado will be debuting “Noneto Iberico” on Friday and Saturday October 2nd and 3rd in at The Jazz Gallery in New York. “Noneto Iberico” is a nine movement composition to be performed with nine musicians which was commissioned by the Chamber Music America-Doris Duke Foundation “New Works” grant program. It blends both Spanish flamenco music with...
Mark Griffiths and Ryder team up for new retro-guitars, and to help a good cause
Bassist Mark Griffiths, who currently plays in the legendary UK group The Shadows, has developed a series of retro-guitars to be sold by Sue Ryder Care Charity. The name of the new instrument line is The Ryder. The Ryder has ten different models available: four solid bodied electric guitars, one semi-acoustic, two acoustic, two classical guitars and an electric bass...