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Alina Engibaryan with Michael League: The New You (Live at The Jazz Standard)
Back in June, Alina Engibaryan performed at the Jazz Standard in New York. The pianist/vocalist had quite a backing band too, including Michael League, who played bass and Moog and offered up some background vocals. This is their performance of “The New You” from Alina’s album .
John Benítez Releases Vol. 2 of Bass Method Books
Latin jazz bassist John Benítez has expanded his line of bass method instructional books with a second book. The John Benitez Bass Method, Vol. 2: El Sonero del Barrio – A Creative Approach to Salsa expands on book one’s rhythmic aspects by focusing on specific playing contexts from his recording career. “Vol. 2 concentrates on Benítez’s incredibly innovative approach to...
Darkglass Electronics Reveals Hyper Luminal Hybrid Compressor Pedal
Darkglass Electronics announced a new pedal to their lineup with the Hyper Luminal compressor, which they say features the first hybrid design with an analog VCA controlled by a digital side-chain. The setup allows for capturing the characters of some legendary compressors while keeping the signal path all analog. Another unique feature are a pair of touch sensors that control...
Percussive Techniques for Bass
For the next few weeks, we’ll be going over some more lesson oriented topics. I’m kicking off the series with a look at percussive techniques on the bass, specifically using your plucking hand. There are some easy techniques to approach as well as some more difficult ones. Work on these slowly with a metronome starting with the basic patterns before...
Marcelo Hormaechea: Dreamland
Marcelo Hormaechea sent us this video, saying “This is my little tribute to Jaco on one of my favorite tracks he recorded with Michael Colombier. This video is one of a series of demo videos from the music school where I teach.” We always loved this track, and Marcelo nails it.
Tank and the Bangas Announce Fall Tour
Tank and The Bangas took the internet by storm when they won the 2017 NPR Tiny Desk Concert contest. Their blend of R&B and hip-hop is brought to life by the band’s infectious energy with vocalist Tarriona “Tank” Ball leading the charge and bassist Jonathan Johnson leading the groove. The band has just announced a fall tour that will take...
Reader Spotlight: Jonathan Alvear
Meet Jonathan Alvear, a student of bass who also spends his time outside of school as a studio and solo bassist. Jonathan is this week’s No Treble reader in the spotlight. Here’s his story… Bio: I’m currently a bachelor bass performance student at Musicians Institute. I play mostly 6 string bass. My specialty is playing looped solo bass compositions as...
Tedeschi Trucks Band: I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)
Tedeschi Trucks Band paid tribute to Aretha Franklin with the first tune of their 2018 LOCKN’ Festival set. They nail a soulful performance of “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)” with Tim Lefebvre laying down the low end. RIP, Queen of Soul.
Death Cab For Cutie Releases “Thank You For Today”
Death Cab For Cutie has released their ninth studio album, Thank You For Today. The album is a shift for the band as it is the first not to feature guitarist Chris Walla while being the first to feature touring members Dave Depper and Zac Rae. Like every other album, it is anchored by bassist Nick Harmer, who weighed in...
Bass of the Week: Jerzy Drozd Orion
Jerzy Drozd creates some fantastic instruments. Alongside his regular line, he also goes out of his way to create some over-the-top beautiful basses. This week we’re checking out the Orion, a bass created from his Soul VI model that is decked out in moissanite gems. The bolt-on, six-string bass is built with a swamp ash body attached to a one-piece...
Bass Transcription: Noel Redding’s Bass Line on “Come On (Part One)” by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
With producer and mentor Chas Chandler in control, and holed up in Olympic Studios in London, the early sessions for the album had been relatively straightforward, and the band had recorded basic versions of “Crosstown Traffic” and “All Along the Watchtower” before setting off on their early ’68 North American tour. On a break from their schedule, a short recording...
Alex Bershadsky with Dennis Chambers and Shlomi Cohen: Babous
Alex Bershadsky recently shared this 2013 video on his Facebook page, and I was knocked out. Joined by drumming legend Dennis Chambers and soprano saxophonist Shlomi Cohen, here’s the trio’s performance of Bershadsky’s original tune, “Babous.”