Steve Lawson Archives - Page 3

Steve Lawson’s creative output stems from his in-the-moment style of playing. Instead of reshaping the music in the studio, he captures that energy for all of his albums by performing them live. That includes his latest, “The Way Home”, which features some soulful playing over a live loop. “A few people seem baffled by the idea that my latest two...

Here’s one to get you jamming. Divinity Roxx and Steve Lawson teamed up to teach a masterclass at Kidderminster College in the UK, resulting in some funky jams. The clip starts with Divinity beatboxing with a foundational bass groove and Lawson adding his signature thoughtful accompaniment and soloing. The duo connects on a deep level, allowing Roxx to freestyle rap...

The internet is a wonderful thing. Gregor Fris from BasstheWorld.com put together this epic bass jam with 29 bassists from all over the world for a stunning display of the instrument’s diversity. The bassists in order of appearance are Federico Malaman, Lars Lehmann, Trip Wamsley, Or Lubianiker, Hyunmo Kim (aka “hjfreaks”), Ralf Gauck, Zander Zon, Nathan Navarro, Miki Santamaria, Nik...

If we’re going to refer to the late/great John Entwistle as “The Ox,” we should probably start referring to Steve Lawson as “The Octopus.” When you listen to his music (and yes, this is music… not just someone playing the bass), it seems unreasonable that what comes out of his instrument is the work of two hands on a bass...

Steve Lawson is a master of looping and effects to create enormous soundscapes. He recently sent us this great clip of an improv session that turned out very musical. “[It] started out as a video test and ended up featuring some rather nice music, sort of by accident,” Lawson shares. “It starts out with an ambient loop using my toneprint...

Steve Lawson brought his solo bass talents to this fantastic rendition of REM’s “Orange Crush,” which features the bassist navigating the tune with a host of loops and fantastic effects. The result is six minutes of soaring ear candy that takes you for a ride.

Two basses are better than one, but an even better treat is when an electric bassist teams up with a double bassist for a duo album. Luckily for us, Steve Lawson and Jon Thorne have done just that. Diversion is a album comprised of two long duo pieces that the bassists performed live at the London Bass Guitar Show back...

Here’s a great jam between bassist Steve Lawson and drummer Andy Edwards. Steve uses his six-string bass and looping wizardry to get a nice, spacey groove going.

Steve Lawson shared this one with us on Twitter saying, “[I] think you might enjoy this solo bass cover…” Well Steve, your hunch was correct.

Steve Lawson isn’t one for sticking to the norm. Besides his ethereal solo work, the six-string bassist likes to experiment with other improvisors to create in-the-moment performances – often without having ever played with them before – and release the result directly to his fans. His latest collaboration with percussionist Daniel Berkman, entitled FingerPainting, collects nearly every note that the...

Steve Lawson has released a new duo album with saxophonist Andy Williamson entitled Nothing Can Prepare. The album is taken from performances captured on tour in church venues and features Lawson’s beautiful, ambient improvisation with Williamson joining in, starting from the back of the church for a gorgeous effect. While the title is taken from one of Lawson’s compositions, it...

Steve Lawson has released Invenzioni, the first of three albums with guitarist Mike Outram. Recorded in 2010, the album was the first time the duo had ever played together, though the music would suggest otherwise. “We’d never played together, we just set up our stuff and started playing,” said Outram. “What you hear is two people playing music together for...