News - Page 248

Veteran metal band Armored Saint describes their new studio album, Win Hands Down, as “a vintage crush of classic power propelled by a cathartic blast of life.” Bassist Joey Vera holds down the low end with a gritty tone, but he also co-wrote the majority of the music with singer John Bush. “John and I wrote the majority of the...

The Darkness is back with Last of Our Kind, a stripped-down album that hearkens back to the original spirit of rock. Anchored by bassist Frankie Poullain, the band’s fourth studio effort was written in Ireland and thematically centers around defiance. It’s also the first and only of their albums to featured drummer Emily Dolan Davies, who replaced original drummer Ed...

Dr. Randy Kertz has reissued his seminal work, The Bassist’s Guide to Injury Management, as a downloadable eBook. The book covers a wide range of common and uncommon physical issues that bass players may face. Dr. Kertz explains injuries and conditions that may occur as well as prevention and treatment options for each. A symptom guide helps players to pinpoint...

Early 1970s Yes is in all of its glory on the 14-CD box set Progeny — Seven Shows from Seventy-Two. The set features recently unearthed recordings from seven full concerts performed in North America between Oct. 31 and Nov. 20, 1972, back when Close to the Edge was a new album. Live material from that year’s tour is also well-known...

Graham Parker and the Rumour has continued to build on its 2011 reunion with the release of Mystery Glue. The band, in its original lineup, includes bassist Andrew Bodnar, known for his years of work with Parker and on recordings like Elvis Costello’s “Watching the Detectives.” What is the mystery glue of the title? Parker explains: “When Swiss astrophysicist Fritz...

Top jazz double bassist Gary Peacock (Keith Jarrett, Paul Bley, Bill Evans) has released Now This with his Gary Peacock Trio, which includes Marc Copland on piano and Joey Baron on drums. The album isn’t just a new record, though, its release also celebrates Peacock’s 80th birthday, which occurred on May 12. For Peacock fans, the record also features new...

Jazz/metal band Mörglbl has released its latest album, Tea Time for Punks. It’s the sixth full-length studio album for the French band featuring Ivan Rougny on bass, Christope Godin on guitar and Aurelian Ouzoulias on drums. The group’s sound merges metal chords, jazz, and humor to arrive at something that evokes artists as disparate as Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth, and...

Snarky Puppy’s latest album, Sylva, is unlike anything it has produced before — this time out, the groundbreaking band has created music with The Netherlands’ Metropole Orkest, which the band and orchestra then recorded live. “The last thing I wanted to do with this opportunity was turn it into a Snarky Puppy With Strings situation,” said Snarky Puppy leader/bassist Michael...

Faith No More’s first studio album since 1997’s Album of the Year was recorded with the band’s bassist, Bill Gould, at the helm. Gould, one of the founders of the group known for hits like “Epic” and “We Care A Lot,” produced the new record, Sol Invictus. “We’ve always shared a chemistry between ourselves that’s unique to this band, but...

John Patitucci isn’t just a famed jazz double bassist and jazz bass teacher. He’s also an electric bassist, and his latest album, Brooklyn, features him playing electric exclusively. Credited to the John Patitucci Electric Guitar Quartet, the album also features Brian Blade (drums) and electric guitarists Adam Rogers and Steve Cardenas. By the way, a documentary about Patitucci, called, fittingly...

Not many bands can release a live greatest hits record as its debut. But not many bands have a personnel roster like Sammy Hagar and The Circle. At Your Service features Hagar’s onetime Van Halen bandmate Michael Anthony on bass, and late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham’s son Jason on drums, as well as Vic Johnson, Hagar’s longtime guitarist. The...

Stuart Hamm, a bassist known for his bass instruction, as well as his work with virtuoso guitarists like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, has released an instrumental record, The Book of Lies. The album features not only a seven-piece suite for solo bass, but also four songs featuring a full band. Other players on the record include John Mader, Chester...