Buzz
Lynn Seaton and Donovan Stokes: Patrician Commission
Hold onto your hats, because this isn’t your typical jazz duo. The Bass Coalition Summer Workshop wrapped up this year with a stunning recital by guest artist and jazz legend Lynn Seaton. For the finale, he invited Donovan Stokes to join him for a special version of his song “Patrician Commission”. Both double bassists got gnarly with distortion pedals to...
St. Paul & The Broken Bones Stay Soulful on Second Album
Alabama’s St. Paul & The Broken Bones is back with a sophomore slab of retro-soul on Sea of Noise. The eight-piece band says the album is more reflective of its tastes than its debut, Half the City, and depends less on belting from lead singer Paul Janeway and more on incorporating his voice into the arrangements, according to a Wall...
Ryan Martinie’s Soften The Glare Announce Mission Possible Tour
Soften The Glare, featuring former Mudvayne bassist Ryan Martinie, are ramping up for a new album and a new tour. The instrumental/prog/jazz/rock band revealed they are currently working on their debut album. “[We] have started sessions for their debut album with Jamie King (Between The Buried And Me) at The Basement Recording NC studio,” they wrote. They’ll be hitting the...
Bass Players to Know: Tommy Cogbill
For those of you keeping tabs, it’s safe to say that I’m a soul music junkie. Motown, Philly Soul, R&B from Memphis and Muscle Shoals, you name it — I can’t get enough. I’m a sucker for listening to old records, reading books about the development of record labels such as Stax and Atlantic, and seeking out the musicians who...
Jason Raso: Brooklyn
Jason Raso sent us this video of him performing a tune he wrote and performed using three basses, a guitar and a drum track. “Last week I was fortunate enough to visit the Fodera shop in Brooklyn. What a treat meeting all of the amazing people who build these beautiful instruments. I thank them all for such a warm welcome!...
ZZ Top Releases First Official Live Album
ZZ Top has the longest-lasting original lineup of any major rock band – the Texas trio of Billy Gibbons (guitar), Dusty Hill (bass) and Frank Beard (drums) have remained together for more than 45 years. But until now, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers have gone without releasing a live album. More than four decades on, they’ve assembled LIVE...
Victor Wooten Shares on His Role in Octavision
A week after it was unveiled, Victor Wooten has weighed in on his role in the new prog-metal project Octavision. The group, which is the brainchild of guitarist Hovak Alaverdyan, has garnered loads of attention since releasing a single song, “Three Lives“. “Although I enjoyed playing on this song, please know that Octavision is not my band,” Wooten wrote on...
The Second: An Interview with Derrick Hodge
As musicians, our main goal is to express ourselves as freely and truly as possible. One listen to Derrick Hodge’s and you’ll know he achieved that, but it goes deeper. Each song has an openness that seems to touch on the listener’s own emotions, like tapping into a social consciousness. The Second is, in fact, the bassist’s second solo album,...
Kinga Glyk Band: Hope
A few month’s ago we featued Kinga Glyk’s excellent solo bass performance of “Tears In Heaven”. Here’s Kinga with her band performing “Hope” in promotion of her new album, Happy Birthday – Live. Once again, we’re blown away.
Wilco’s Newest Is Joyously Negative
Wilco’s 10th studio album, Schmilco, (the title a nod to Harry Nilsson’s 1971 Nilsson Schmilsson) is garnering praise for its relaxed feel and its self-described joyous negativity. Featuring the work of founding bassist John Stirratt, the album from the Chicago band is “sad in a lot of ways but not in any that reach a conclusion of doom or hopelessness,”...
Phish and Mike Gordon Announce Fall Tours
Phish is gearing up for several multi-night performances this Fall that will focus on the South. The 13-date trek includes a string of dates in South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas. It will wrap up with a four-night residency at the Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. While Phish prepares for the outing, bassist Mike Gordon and his...
Thinking Fast When Improvising
Q: I have been practicing with some jazz musicians who are more experienced than I am. For the most part, everything is fine, but I’m having trouble keeping up with the more up tempo numbers – walking and especially soloing. I just feel like my brain and fingers can’t keep up with the music. How can I think faster in...