News - Page 284

Ben Hands, bassist for the British progressive metal band Endeavour and onetime No Treble Reader Spotlight subject, has released an e-book on bass playing. Beyond The Root: A guide on how to approach chord inversions for bass players is designed to help players extend their harmonic vocabulary and discover more options when creating bass lines. The books uses examples from...

Recordings from Neil Young’s 1987-88 live dates fronting the Bluenotes (his regular backing band Crazy Horse augmented by a horn section) comprise Bluenote Café, a new release from the Neil Young Archives Performance Series. Performances by bassists Billy Talbot and the late Rick Rosas are captured on the set, which features songs from shows performed leading up to and following...

Volbeat bassist and founding member Anders Kjolholm has announced that he’s left the band. The group, which is reportedly in the studio for their next album, posted a message on their website with the information. “In connection with the planning and preparation of Volbeat’s extensive future plans and wishes for 2016 and onwards, Volbeat and Anders Kjølholm part ways. All...

Much of the work of late bebop pioneer Oscar Pettiford is now available in one package: The Classic Albums 1953-1960. The five disc set includes recordings made after the jazz double bassist began using the cello in earnest as his secondary instrument following an arm injury. The late Pettiford, who was a composer and bandleader as well, is known for...

British heavy metal band Saxon has released its 21st studio album, Battering Ram. The record features bassist Nibbs Carter, who has been with the band since 1988. Known as one of the leading bands of the 1970’s New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Saxon evokes some of its early 80’s sound on the album. If you love classic metal, check...

Stuart Hamm is hitting the road again in support of his latest album, The Book of Lies. The winter tour will include four solo dates before bringing on the bassists’s band consisting of guitarist Alex Skolnick and drummer Joel Taylor. Hamm’s outing focuses on the West Coast and Midwest. The solo dates start November 27th in Spanish Fork, Utah and...

The Colin Trusedell Trio, led by bassist Colin Trusedell, has released It’s All About the Hustle, Trusedell’s third album as a bandleader. The record from Trusedell – who is adjunct Professor of Bass at Colorado State University – Pueblo and the Musical Director for the United States Air Force Academy Band’s Top 40 ensemble, Blue Steel – features all-original work...

Bass superstar Stanley Clarke is exploring his acoustic side on D-STRINGZ, his acoustic collaboration with violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and guitarist Biréli Lagrène. What’s notable is that all three are most well known for their work in electric jazz. The trio first played together at a 2012 Paris concert celebrating Ponty’s 50-year career. D-STRINGZ features the trio’s takes on classics like...

Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle) has released, Money Shot, his third full-length album with his heavy band Puscifer. The record features bass from Matt McJunkins (A Perfect Circle, Eagles of Death Metal tour) and multi-instrumentalist Mat Mitchell, according to blabbermouth.net. The album’s first single “Grand Canyon,” is about depth in more ways than one. “It’s a perfect metaphor...

Some of The Beatles’ most significant number one hits both sound and look better than ever in a remastered edition of the 1 collection on one CD and two DVD/Blu-Ray discs. The limited edition set, called 1+, not only features remastered music, but also painstakingly restored videos for each of the album’s 27 songs, as well as for 23 other...

ZZ Top guitarist/vocalist Billy Gibbons has released his first solo album, Perfectamundo, as Billy Gibbons and The BFG’s. Gibbons co-produced the record of Afro-Cuban tinged blues rock with Joe Hardy (who also contributes some bass). Houston, Texas vocalist/bassist Alex Garza also appears on the record inspired by an invitation to play the 2014 Havana Jazz Festival that Gibbons was unable...

As Yes fans continue to mourn the June death of bassist Chris Squire, his music lives on, in pristine condition, in packages like a limited edition CD/Blu-ray version of the progressive rock band’s classic 1971 album, Fragile. The Fragile release is the fourth in a series of remixed and expanded packages from Yes. Here, the album has been mixed for...