News - Page 297

Although Roger Waters released Amused to Death in 1992, its look at an entertainment-obsessed society still rings true, which helps make the remastered version of the album even more powerful. The record, featuring a slew of bassists (Waters, John Patitucci, Guo Yi, Tim Pierce, John Pierce, Randy Jackson, and Jimmy Johnson) has been given a new 5.1 surround sound remix...

Latin jazz bassist John Benítez has launched a new set of instructional books focused on his own bass method. The John Benítez Bass Method Volume 1:- Freedom In The Clave: A Rhythmic Approach To Bass Playing focuses on strengthening your rhythmic confidence with a set of rhythmic independence exercises over a clave. Written with Ian Stewart, the book aims bolster...

Darren Michaels has released Seasons, a 10-song collection that delves into the bassist’s singer/songwriter style. The album, which is his first full-length solo project in seven years, showcases his lyrics and creative bass playing with thought-provoking lyrics, altered tunings, and a chordal approach to the the bass. Michaels utilized an arsenal of three basses to record the whole album, one...

Legendary funk/soul/R&B/rock band Sly & the Family Stone was energetic and on the rise in 1968, with two albums — Dance to the Music and Life — already behind them. Live At The Fillmore East October 4th & 5th, 1968, captures the sound of a great band with an incomparable electric bassist — Larry Graham, who went on to create...

The sound of reggae/rock band Sublime remains alive via its bassist, Eric Wilson, through the band Sublime With Rome. Wilson is the only Sublime member currently in the group, which has released its second album, Sirens. The album is being billed as a return to the band’s roots, with a rawer sound like that of the original band. See if...

Almost four hours of previously unreleased live music by legendary jazz trumpeter/composer Miles Davis and the musicians he chose to play with over the course of 20 years are featured on Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4. The four-CD collection includes performances by Davis and his bands from 1955, 1958, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973, and...

A new documentary film offers an inside perspective on The Police, from the stellar rock band’s formation, through its rise to fame, breakup and reunion. No — the up-close perspective doesn’t come from Sting, the band’s famed bassist and primary songwriter who went on to forge a highly successful solo career – but from guitarist Andy Summers. The movie, Can’t...

Between the Buried and Me’s seventh album, Coma Ecliptic, is a full-on rock opera, according to Dan Briggs, bassist and songwriter for the progressive metal group. As he told Metal Insider, “Roughly, it’s a story about a guy who’s in a self-induced coma and ends up traversing these different worlds that manifests themselves over the course of three different songs...

If you’re a rock fan, there is no doubt that The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” is one of the greatest singles of all time. It remains a defining song for the still-touring Stones and generations of music lovers. Now, the single is available in a limited, numbered vinyl 12-inch edition to celebrate the 1965 single’s 50th birthday....

As we continue to mourn the loss of Yes bassist Chris Squire, we can also take delight in one of his latter-day performances with the band he founded in the late 1960s. When the legendary progressive rock group played in Mesa, Arizona on Aug. 12, 2014, Squire, — who died June 27, 2015 of acute erythroid leukemia — was the...

Second-generation rockabilly band The Stray Cats brought some of the best sounds of the 1950s into the early 1980s. And a new CD and DVD offers insight into the experience of hearing the band live in its prime. The Live at Rockpalast audio and video packages, available for the first time, capture the band at two German concerts — one...

Sometimes you get the feeling that really great bass players might be aliens, and that may be the case with Adam Nitti. He’s just released Not of This World, an album that features jazz, funk, blues and rock songs tied together by the bassist’s astronomical playing. While his playing is consistently on point, his focus was on the overall songs....