Buzz
Asia Release Live CD/DVD Set Featuring the Late John Wetton
Asia has released a 2-CD/DVD live set called Symfonia – Live In Bulgaria 2013. The release captures the band in a concert at a second-century Roman theater in Plovdiv, Bulgaria with the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra. It also features the lineup of original Asia members John Wetton, Carl Palmer and Geoff Downes with guitarist Sam Coulson. After Wetton passed away two...
Bass of the Week: Ernie Ball Music Man Bongo 4 HH
This week we’re checking out the Ernie Ball Music Man Bongo 4 HH, a bass they describe as “well balanced, comfortable, resonant and expressive with effortless playability.” The Bongo was introduced in 2003 with a modern double cutaway body design that complements the flagship StingRay model. It’s built with a basswood body in six color options: Black, Tangerine Pearl, Sky...
How to Practice Double Stops (with the Bow)
Double stops can present a major challenge for double bassists just being introduced to them, specifically in the arena of intonation. Finger spacing, shifting, and dropping and lifting of multiple fingers are all areas that can trip someone up. Below, using a famous passage from Edouard Nanny’s Concerto attributed to Dragonetti, are a few ways to approach double stops which...
Mark Lettieri: Slant
Wes Stephenson is a favorite around here, thanks in part to his work with the Funky Knuckles. Here’s Wes laying down the low end with Mark Lettieri’s band, on the tune “Slant.” The track is from the band’s album, .
Ibanez Celebrates 30th Anniversary of SR Bass with Limited Edition Models
Three decades ago, Ibanez first introduced the SR bass. This year they’re celebrating their flagship bass model with four new instruments. “Throughout the past 30 years, Ibanez has been improving and developing the SR series by closely following market requirements and opinions from various artists and valued customers,” they write. “SR is now one of the most popular and distinctive...
Naked Giants: Twist
KEXP is a constant source of musical discovery for us, and we just checked out Naked Giants for the first time on their channel. Here’s the band, anchored by bassist Gianni Aiello, performing their tune, “Twist.” We’re really digging this.
King Crimson Announces Summer 2017 Tour Dates
After teasing that they would be going on a North American tour this year, King Crimson has finally revealed the tour schedule for 2017. The trek kicks off on June 13th in Seattle, Washington and will make its way across the U.S. and Canada before ending with a pair of to-be-confirmed dates in Mexico City. “We can finally satisfy all...
Powafunk: Lost In Your Eyes (Bass & Drum Play-Along)
Powafunk bassist Charlie Moreno sent me this video play-along video to their track, “Lost In Your Eyes.” “It’s the trickiest song on our record, so I decided to make a video of just Jeffe Otto and me playing it,” Moreno shared.
Miles Mosley Announces Uprising World Tour
Hot off the release of his killer solo album, Uprising, upright bassist Miles Mosley has announced an extensive world tour that will cover North America and Europe from April to July. As usual, his band The West Coast Get Down will be by his side. The tour kicks off April 1st at Sage Gates Head in Newcastle, UK and circles...
Ashdown Engineering Celebrates 20th Anniversary with Limited Edition Amps
Ashdown Engineering first launched in 1997, so this year they’re celebrating 20 years in the business with two limited edition rigs. Each of the sets will be handmade-to-order in England. First up is the pairing of the Limited Edition 20th Anniversary ABM-600 EVO-IV and ABM 410T EVO-IV. The models are takes on Ashdown’s flagship ABM amplifier with some cosmetic and...
Ewan Cunningham: Echoes
Today’s video doesn’t feature a complicated bass line, but it more than makes up for that. Ewan Cunningham is an 18-year-old multi-instrumentalist who started out on drums at the age of 4. “…Now I’m branching out into other instruments such as guitar, bass, keyboards, and vocals. I’ve been teaching myself to mix, record and film music since I was 10...
Thundercat Releases “Drunk”
Thundercat’s long awaited full-length followup to 2015 EP The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam is finally out. Drunk is a 23-track exploration of the bassist/vocalist’s dark humor marked by shorter, more intense musical vignettes. As always, his unique six-string chordal playing creates a dream-like sonic playground punctuated by funky licks and quirky lyrics. Thudercat, aka Stephen Bruner, enlisted a...