News - Page 278

The Pixies are back in full force. Besides announcing a new album with an accompanying world tour, the band stated that Paz Lenchantin is now a permanent member of the iconic outfit. The bassist has been the group’s touring fill-in since January 2014. Lenchantin followed Kim Shattuck, who had replaced founding bassist Kim Deal in 2013. “I was very nervous...

Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro has released its seventh studio album, Ellipsis. The album comes three years after the group’s previous high-water mark, 2013’s Opposites, a fairly epic album that the band wasn’t necessarily certain that it could pull off, according to a band interview in DIY magazine. “We’ve got a benchmark,” bassist/vocalist James Johnston said. “We have to be...

Weather Report founding bassist Miroslav Vitous is revisiting his old band’s work on his latest album, Music of Weather Report. Czech bassist Vitous assembled a sextet to play the music of the famed fusion band, which he left in 1973. (His replacement was Alfonso Johnson, who was in turn, replaced by Jaco Pastorius). The result is a set shimmering with...

Chevelle’s latest album, The North Corridor, marks a bit of a departure for the band. “I think this record was designed in a way to be more aggressive and more fun to play onstage, and that’s just going off the reactions we see from our perspective. You can tell when a crowd is into what you’re doing—I think that drove...

After 40 years holding down the low end for AC/DC, bassist Cliff Williams has announced he will retire after the band’s current tour. Williams, who replaced Mark Evans in mid-1977, cites the recent departure of other longtime members guitarist Malcolm Young, drummer Phil Rudd, and vocalist Brian Johnson as part of the reason for stepping down. “It’s been what I’ve...

Longstanding jazz-funk outfit Incognito — the band’s been around for 37 years — features not only the work of its bassist, Francis Hylton, on its 17th studio album, In Search of Better Days, but also original Jamiroquai bassist Stuart Zender. Zender guests on the album’s opening track, “Love Born in Flames” (you’ll see Hylton on keyboards in the video below)....

Distinctive and prolific jazz bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, known for his extensive solo and group work, including a long tenure in Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time band, is also part of a group that draws upon that Coleman band — Marc Ribot & The Young Philadelphians, which has released a live album recorded in 2014, The Young Philadelphians Live In Tokyo. The...

Bassist Chip Shearin suffered a devastating blow on when nearly all of his family’s possessions were destroyed on June 22nd. Shearin was in the process of moving his family to Los Angeles when the driver of his moving truck fell asleep at the wheel. The resulting accident ruined most of his children’s toys, his studio equipment, several of his basses,...

Fifty-eight never listed studio takes from legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker and his groups have been compiled on the set, Unheard Bird: The Unissued Takes. The set features a veritable who’s who of bebop bassists, including Teddy Kotick, Ray Brown, Tommy Potter and Curley Russell. Jazz historian Phil Schaap, currently Curator at Jazz At Lincoln Center, co-produced the compilation...

Fates Warning has released its twelfth studio album, Theories of Flight, the band’s followup to 2013’s Darkness in a Different Light. The progressive metal band features Joey Vera, also of Armored Saint, on bass. In an interview with MetalHeadRadio.com, Vera said for the album, each band member recorded their parts separately, often near or at their homes, based on demos...

Blink-182 had around 30 songs written before heading into the studio to record its latest effort, California. But, when the pop-punk band, now featuring guitarist/vocalist Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio, started working together on the group’s seventh studio album, all those songs went out the window. “We hit the ground running so hard that we just kept writing and writing,”...

You know Tony Levin for his extensive bass work with King Crimson, Peter Gabriel and innumerable sessions, but aside from being a music composer and lyricist, he’s also a writer who has kept an online “Road Diary” for two decades (its newest incarnation is here). He has now released a book of poetry, “Fragile as a Song.” Bill Bruford, who...