News - Page 259

The annual Bass Bash will be returning this year, and it’s going to be a doozy. Scheduled in the evenings after the NAMM Show, the Bass Bash is held at JT Schmid’s in Anaheim, California on January 22nd and 23rd from 7pm to midnight. This year’s performers include some of the world’s finest bassists. The first night will feature Alain...

Norwegian jazz bassist Terje Gewelt has released his latest album, Steppingstone. Gewelt, who took private lessons with the late bass legend Jaco Pastorius and is known for his upright acoustic and electric playing, is the leader of a trio on Steppingstone, his eighth album as a bandleader on his own label, Resonant Music. The album, recorded in February 2013 during...

Bass whiz Bobby Vega will be touring the Northeast with guitarist Steve Kimock as part of a tribute to Jerry Garcia in March. The tour kicks off on March 10th at New York City’s Highline Ballroom before heading down to Gypsy Sally’s in Washington, D.C. to snake up and down the East Coast. The trek wraps up at the Ardmore...

Toto’s first studio album in around a decade also marks the return on record of founding bassist David Hungate. Toto XIV, slated for a March 24 North American release, is band’s first record of new music since 2006’s Falling In Between. Hungate is the guy so many people have learned from and copied over the years, guitarist Steve Lukather said,...

A new series of bass tutorial books from Hal Leonard aims to provide players of all styles with 100 essential lessons. The books in the Bass Lesson Goldmine Series — , , , and — offer detailed information in print and via streaming/downloadable audio. Audio CDs of performance demos are also available with the books. Duos author each book, with...

Janek Gwizdala has released his sixth album as a leader, entitled . The instrumental album features a core trio of Gwizdala, guitarist Nir Felder, and drummer Gary Husband with guest keyboardist Jeff Babko appearing on four songs. Each of the members contribute incredible performances to create an engrossing sonic atmosphere that swings from introspective meditations to all out jams. Gwizdala...

A boatload of rock and metal bass awaits anyone taking the 6th annual ShipRocked cruise in February. The cruise features a host of bass heavyweights performing as part of the Metal Allegiance supergroup: Rex Brown (Kill Devil Hill/ex-Pantera), Frank Bello (Anthrax), David Ellefson (Megadeth), and Troy Sanders (Mastodon). Bands performing during the Feb. 2-6 cruise between Port Miami and Great...

Teenage Time Killers may be the heaviest of the heavy, when it comes to supergroup projects. Corrosion of Conformity’s bassist Mike Dean and drummer/vocalist Reed Mullin and Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe came up with the idea for the metal supergroup, which started coalescing back in 2013. The band, which includes Dave Grohl (what doesn’t?) and a host of...

Three months after announcing his exit from The Faceless, bassist Evan Brewer has reunited with three members from his Animosity days to form a new band called Entheos. Though the band features former Animosity drummer Navene Koperweis and guitarist Frank Costa, the members say this isn’t an Animosity reunion but rather “a completely new band with new material.” “It’s definitely...

You can still learn something new or grow as a bassist, even if you’ve developed a certain style over the course of a couple of decades with one band. At least that’s the lesson one can take from a recent admission by Anthrax bassist Frank Bello. Back in 2004, Bello left Anthrax after 20 years to play in another metal...

Prolific Nashville-based jazz fusion/progressive bassist Jon von Boehm has released his self-titled debut as a band leader. The eponymous album came together over the course of two years and features a slew of players with whom he feels comfortable. As he says on his website: “The musicians playing on the album are cats that I enjoy working with and really...

Chip Shearin, best known for the bass line he played on The Sugarhill Gang’s rap classic, “Rapper’s Delight,” has released his debut solo album How I Live. Shearin has made a name as a session player in the years since “Rapper’s Delight” made a splash in 1979/80. He’s worked with artists like jazz players Donald Byrd, Dizzy Gillespie, Warren Hill...