Buzz
Reader Spotlight: Rachel Rhodes
Meet Rachel Rhodes, a musician who started life in Austin, Texas and now lives in France playing music and working on mobile games. While she started on other instruments, she credits her dad with showing her the way, with plenty of James Jamerson, Chuck Rainey, David Hood, and others in rotation. Rachel is this week’s No Treble reader in the...
De Gier Guitars Unveils The Lowlander Bass
De Gier Guitars is paying tribute to a classic bass design with their new model called the Lowlander. Luthier Sander De Gier studied several vintage T-Birds to create an updated version with tweaks to improve its shortcomings. “One of the most prominent features is, of course, the 9 ply neck-through. It is a rigid construction for a bass neck, it...
Mike Stern: Tipatina’s (Live, 2011)
Mike Stern and his band took the stage at Jazz à Vienne in 2011, along with guest Didier Lockwood on violin. Here they are performing “Tipatina’s,” which appeared on Stern’s 1999 album, Play. Bassist Tom Kennedy plays a fierce bass line throughout, with Dave Weckl on drums.
King Crimson Transcription Book Now Available
Through every lineup, the members of King Crimson created some of the most riveting music ever made. Now the first-ever transcription book of their music is available with THRAK – The Complete Scores. The book offers full-band transcriptions from the classic double-trio era that included six musicians: two guitarists, two bassists, and two drummers. The low end was held down...
Bass of the Week: Fodera Zebrawood AJ Contrabass Shape 12 Elite
This week we’re checking out a very unique Fodera. This Zebrawood AJ Contrabass Shape 12 Elite is a 12-string fretless built specially for bassist Steuart Liebig. Featuring the “AJ Contrabass” body shape, the instrument is built with a mahogany body with a Flame Maple tone block and zebrawood top. The neck is a five-piece laminate with maple and South American...
Bunzing: Dean as a Teen Town
No Treble reader Ruud sent us this video of a bassist who goes by Bunzing, who took Vulfpeck’s “Dean Town” and Weather Report’s “Teen Town,” and arranged it into a single tune. “I used the rhythm of Jaco’s part and wrote new notes for it to fit Dean Town’s chord progression. It turned out to be quite difficult to play,”...
Korn’s Fieldy Announces Solo Album Release Date
Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu’s long-awaited solo album, Bassically, is finally coming to fans this year. The Korn bassist has set a release date of November 17th for his seventeen-track solo debut. While Fieldy is known for the hard rock and nu-metal stylings of his band, this album is something completely different. “This is a bass album that encompasses the last nine...
Tedeschi Trucks Band Announces 2017-2018 Tour Dates
The Tedeschi Trucks Band will be back at it this winter with a newly announced set of tour dates to take them into 2018. Anchored by bass heavyweight Tim Lefebvre, the group will kick things off at the Keller Auditorium in Portland, Oregon on November 3rd, covering the West Coast before heading east to visit Boston, Nashville, and more. “I...
ProRockGear Introduces the Armourguard Lightweight Bass Case
ProRockGear has released a new set of instrument cases called the Armourguard Wood Series. The line is described as a lightweight hybrid with the weight of a gig bag and the durability of a hardshell case. It includes a rectangular bass case built with a form-fit wood shell covered with 600D nylon. Other features include a soft interior foam with...
Frank Zappa: Black Napkins (Live, 1977)
Frank Zappa’s 1977 performance at the Palladium Theater offered up some incredible concert footage. This remastered video of “Black Napkins” shows the band in top form. The line up included Patrick O’Hearn on bass, Terry Bozzio on drums, Adrian Belew on guitar, Ed Mann on percussion, and Tommy Mars and Peter Wolf on keys. Great googly moogly!
Eastwood To Reissue Airline Pocket Bass
Eastwood Custom Shop is reintroducing another vintage bass with a remake of the Airline Pocket Bass. The short-scale bass, which GE Smith described as one of the best recording basses around, was a widely requested reissue for the company. “This time around we will fix a few of the originals short-comings,” they explained. “We’ll give it a slightly longer scale...
Vvon Dogma I: Communion
Former Unexpect bassist ChaotH (aka Frederick Filiatrault) has a new band called Vvon Dogma I. He formed the group after his former group split up as a means to continue expressing his creativity. “Vvon Dogma I is an expression that I created that means to me the second incarnation of any entity, the evolution from one state of being to...