News - Page 280

Pop-punk band Simple Plan has released its first studio album in five years, Taking One for the Team. David Desrosiers handles bass duties on the album, the band’s fifth, as he has since the beginning of the band’s recording career. How does the band sound after five years? Take a listen to the album’s opener, “Opinion Overload” in the video...

Gospel and soul legend Mavis Staples’ latest album, Livin’ on a High Note, sees Staples, now in her 70s, performing tunes written just for her, by a wide variety of contemporary songwriters. Songwriters include Nick Cave, Justin Vernon, tUnE-yArds, Neko Case, Aloe Blacc, Ben Harper, Benjamin Booker, Valerie June, and M. Ward, who also produced. Of course, Jeff Turmes is...

Fans of the late bassist Jimmy Bain, who passed away in January, can hear and see his final work on the deluxe edition of the band Last in Line’s album, Heavy Crown. Last in Line featured original Dio members Bain, Vinny Appice and Vivian Campbell, along with vocalist Andrew Freeman. Bain, who died on Jan. 23 of previously undiagnosed lung...

Prolific bass transcriptionist Aidan Hampson is back with a new slate of downloadable PDF transcriptions. This time out, the selections are Bob Dylan — Bass Transcriptions, Best of Elvis for Bass, Jeff Buckley — Grace, and Queen — Bass Transcriptions. Check out the song list for each book below. Bob Dylan — Bass Transcriptions: Subterranean Homesick Blues Like a Rolling...

Prong has released its 10th studio album, No Absolutes. Featuring Jason Christopher (Black President, Stone Sour, Sebastian Bach, Corey Taylor) on bass, the metal band’s latest album is one that bandleader/singer/guitarist Tommy Victor says exhibits ever greater technical proficiency and progress. “We feel the listener needs to be excited about every lyric, performance, sound, etc. for the duration of the...

If you’re a Rush fan and haven’t encountered this 1975 live recording of the band in Cleveland, Ohio, you’re in luck. It’s now available as an import as Beneath, Between and Behind: F.M. Broadcast 1975. According to the site, Rush Is A Band, the show by the Canadian trio with Geddy Lee on bass and vocals was recorded to air...

Fresh off of their Grammy wins for Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Alternative Music Album, the Alabama Shakes announced a string of new dates including international festivals and an expansive North American trek. Holding down the low end will be bassist Zac Cockrell, who helped to form the band with vocalist Brittany Howard in 2009. Get a...

Trumpeter Avishai Cohen (not to be confused with the bassist of the same name) has released Into the Silence, featuring Eric Revis (Betty Carter, Branford Marsalis) on bass. The album, dedicated to the memory of Cohen’s father, was recorded in July 2015 at Studios La Buissonne in the South of France and produced by Manfred Eicher founder/producer of the ECM...

The Distance is jazz double bassist/composer Michael Formanek’s latest, this time featuring his 19-musician big band, Ensemble Kolossus. “I wanted a large, rich, chewy sound with this music – and the ensemble’s rhythm section is particularly big, with piano, marimba, guitar, bass and drums,” Formanek said of the album, which was recorded in December in Brooklyn, New York. “I also...

Snarky Puppy joined with a host of vocalists and musicians in February 2015 in New Orleans to record an album in front of a live studio audience. Now, that album, and an accompanying video, documenting the performance is available to hear and watch as Family Dinner, Vol. 2. The project from Snarky Puppy, led by bassist/composer Michael League, aims to...

Mostly Other People Do the Killing’s leader, bassist and composer Matthew “Moppa” Elliott has released his solo bass album, Still, Up in the Air. The jazz album was recorded live in one day — Feb. 15, 2015 — at St. Stephen’s Pro Cathedral in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Elliott favors a non-linear approach to his work, using authors David Foster Wallace and...

The British band Suede, known as The London Suede in the United States, has released its 7th studio album, Night Thoughts. The Night Thoughts CD package features not only music, but also a feature film by photographer/video director Roger Sargent, which reflects the album’s themes related to familial anxiety — birth, decay, death, youth and parenthood, according to frontman Brett...