Buzz
Talking Style: G-Funk
G-Funk is a sub-genre of Hip-Hop that came out of 1990’s West Coast Gangsta Rap. Some characteristics of G-Funk are Parliament-Funkadelic-inspired, with mid-tempo grooves, melodic synths (high pitched “Gangsta Leads”), deep bass, and male or female vocals on the hooks. G-funk often consists of fewer, unaltered samples per song as opposed to the altered samples that are more prominent in...
Ehud Ettun Trio: Funk
I like hearing funky upright bass, and Ehud Ettun brings a jazz flavor to it on this song aptly entitled “Funk”. Ettun is joined by Daniel Schwarzwald, who wrote the tune, on piano and Nathan Blankett on drums. Check the bass solo at 4:15.
King Crimson Releases Audio/Video From 2015 Tour
King Crimson’s Radical Action To Unseat The Hold Of Monkey Mind audio/video set is the band’s most fully realized version of its 2015 concert experience. The three-CD/one Blu-ray set from the band, with the inimitable Tony Levin on bass, has a “virtual studio album effect,” on the CDs, with no audience sound between songs. It also features a Blu-ray disc...
Bass of the Week: AMJ Guitars Fretless Bass
No Treble reader Deryl Gallant wrote in to us with a cool story on the creation of his AMJ Guitars fretless bass. Strangely enough, it started out as just a neck for his Fender Jazz and ended up with a body of reclaimed wood. Gallant tells the story: “In 2015 I visited Adam Marsh Johnston of AMJ Guitars to get...
My Double Bass Setup: Part 1 – The Bow
Usually in this column I talk about general double bass (upright bass) subjects, or answer specific questions that I think will be of benefit to the largest number of readers. Lately, however, I’ve been getting a great many questions about my personal bass setup. So, in the next few columns I’m going to go through some of the things that...
Marcus Miller Band: Tutu & Blast (Live)
Back in April, Marcus Miller and his band took the stage at Olympia Hall (L’Olympia) in Paris. Among the tunes they performed were “Tutu” and “Blast”. Thankfully, cameras were rolling.
Double-Bass Heavy What A Day EP Available
Minimalistic, experimental French jazz-pop lounge duo What a Day has released a new EP, Specimen. In keeping with the duo’s established style, the music is primarily defined by Jonathan Joly‘s double bass, singer Léah Gracie’s vocals and more quotidian sounds, like adding machine keys being depressed. Check out the whole EP at SoundCloud. Here’s the track, “Open Space”:
Weekly Top 10: Learning Lots of Songs, Tim Lefebvre Podcast, Lords of the Low End Contest, Talking Technique, Top Videos and More
Happy Sunday. Time to celebrate this week’s No Treble reader favorites. And this top 10 list is a great one. Thanks as always for reading, watching, commenting and sharing. 1. Learning Lots of Songs Quickly A reader has a “dep” gig in 5 days and needs to learn 23 songs. He reached out to Damian Erskine for advice – and...
Warwick Unveils Limited Edition Bass for 2016
Warwick has unveiled details on this year’s limited edition bass, which will be a take on their Corvette $$ model. The Warwick Masterbuilt Warwick Corvette $$ Ltd 2016 comes in four and five-string versions with the option for left-handed orientation. Its black korina body is topped with black walnut burl in a tinted natural transparent stain for a deep, rich...
Vahagn Stepanyan: One Day
I discovered Vahagn Stepanyan’s video on Facebook, and I really dig what he’s doing. This is Vahagn’s original tune, “One Day”, which features a nice groove, terrific musicianship and great tone.
Evan Marien Releases Five-Song EP
The genesis of bassist/multi-instrumentalist Evan Marien’s new EP comes from a slightly unusual place. The instrumental electronic hip hop record, simply titled EP1, is inspired by 8-bit Nintendo music, according to the website for Marien, whose work is regularly featured in No Treble. EP1 is available at Bandcamp. Preview EP1: EP1 by EMAR EP1 Track List: Knives Dungeon Lines Decode...
Robert Trujillo Says New Metallica Sounds Crushing
Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo has shared a little more insight into the band’s upcoming album Hardwired… to Self Destruct, due November 18th. The first single, entitled “Hardwired”, was released to fans and Trujillo says its a good indicator of what’s to come. “‘Hardwired’ is the perfect statement to lead into this body of music. I think this album sounds crushing,”...