News - Page 275

Snarky Puppy keyboardist Bill Laurance has released his third solo album, Aftersun. Laurance’s bandmate in the fusion group Snarky Puppy, bassist Michael League, plays on the album which he also co-arranged and co-produced with Laurance and Snarky Puppy drummer Robert “Sput” Searight. Aftersun was recorded in New Orleans in August and September 2015. Aftersun is available on and as a...

The Kenny Barron Trio’s Book of Intuition was recorded in just two days in June 2015. The jazz trio features pianist Barron, drummer Johnathan Blake, and bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa. Both Blake and Kitagawa are longtime Barron bandmates. Blake has worked with the pianist for a decade, and Kitagawa, who is also known for his solo compositions as well as his...

Canadian progressive metal band Voivod has released a five-track EP, Post Society. The recording is the band’s first with bassist Dominic “Rocky” Laroche, who stepped in after bassist Jean-Yves “Blacky” Thériault stepped away from his second stint with the band in 2014. The EP features two previously vinyl-only songs from the Voivod’s split 7″ EP’s with their Century Media label-mates...

Bassist and Grammy winner Esperanza Spalding’s newest album, Emily’s D+Evolution has arrived. The album’s title refers to Spalding’s middle name, Emily. “. . . I’m using this fresh persona as my inner navigator. This project is about going back and reclaiming un-cultivated curiosity, and using it as a compass to move forward and expand. My hope for this group is...

The Rocky Mountains will be shaking once again at the 9th Annual Rocky Mountain Bass Slam on May 15th, 2016. This year the Slam, held in Denver, will be headlined by bass legend Chuck Rainey and funkmeister Doug Johns along with local performers. “The Bass Slam will showcase the Colorado Bass Talent via several different formats: There will be solo...

British art-pop band The 1975’s second album’s title is a mouthful: I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it. The group, which formed when its members were teenagers, features Ross MacDonald on bass, and has sold more than 1 million singles in the United States and 1 million albums worldwide. The band’s...

Anthrax, one of the “Big Four” of thrash metal with Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer, has released its 11th studio album, For All Kings. Featuring longtime bassist Frank Bello, the album is also the band’s first studio release with guitarist Jonathan Donais, who joined the band in 2013. “For anybody who’s ever liked Anthrax, and maybe the people who haven’t caught...

Tough news to report today: Former Alien Ant Farm bassist Tye Zamora is battling Stage 1 Seminoma Cancer. Zamora, who left the band in 2014, was diagnosed last month. The news came via a GoFundMe campaign. “Last week Tye went into the hospital for what we were hoping was just a standard mass removal,” his wife Ramona shared. “Rogue cells...

Michael Jackson’s hit 1979 album Off the Wall has been reissued in a deluxe edition that features not only the album, but also the Spike Lee-directed documentary “Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall.” Off the Wall was a juggernaut, selling 30 million copies worldwide and producing four Top 10 singles, including the Number One singles “Don’t Stop...

Alt-rock band Sister Hazel has shifted musical gears a bit, to country, with its ninth album, Lighter in the Dark. The band, which formed in Gainesville, Florida, includes Jett Beres on bass. Beres also has a co-production credit on Lighter in the Dark album closer, “Ten Candle Days,” which he also sang. Nashville producer Chip Matthews produced the album as...

Bassist Alissia Benveniste, who The Huffington Post called “the future face of funk music” and leader of a 14-piece funk project called Alissia & The Funketeers, has released her debut EP, Back to the Funkture. “My vision for my music is to inspire people and spread positivity by pairing authentic funk music with a twist of modern pop,” Alissia said...

Extreme metal band After The Burial’s fifth album, Dig Deep, is getting high marks from metal fans. Metal Injection magazine says the album is its favorite since the band’s 2008 offering, Rareform. “The adjectives pummeling and relentless come to mind when listening to the album,” the magazine says. Lee Foral continues to handle bass on the album, just as he...