News - Page 312

Prolific Nashville-based jazz fusion/progressive bassist Jon von Boehm has released his self-titled debut as a band leader. The eponymous album came together over the course of two years and features a slew of players with whom he feels comfortable. As he says on his website: “The musicians playing on the album are cats that I enjoy working with and really...

Chip Shearin, best known for the bass line he played on The Sugarhill Gang’s rap classic, “Rapper’s Delight,” has released his debut solo album How I Live. Shearin has made a name as a session player in the years since “Rapper’s Delight” made a splash in 1979/80. He’s worked with artists like jazz players Donald Byrd, Dizzy Gillespie, Warren Hill...

Any player who loves the blues, Texas-based music, Texas blues, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, or just plain great blues bass playing, may want to check out the biography, . The biography, written by Detlef Schmidt, a German bassist, college instructor and author of Fender Precision Basses 1951-1954, details the life and influence of Ferguson, who died in 1997 at age 50....

Israeli bassist and bandleader Omer Avital continues to delve into the linkages between jazz and Middle Eastern music on his latest album, New Song. New Song is a follow-up record to 2012’s Suite of the East, and features his longtime band of Avishai Cohen on trumpet, Joel Frahm on tenor saxophone, Yonathan Avishai on piano, and Daniel Freedman on drums....

Bruno Tauzin, a bass teacher known for video lessons and his work, The Art of Solo Bass, has continued to explore his creativity outside the teaching realm and come up with an album. The new release, 12 Miniatures features original music without bass instruction. Tauzin’s solo six-string bass is the star of 12 Miniatures. Here’s a taste of what you’ll...

Funkadelic has released an album of new music after a 33-year hiatus. is the first album the legendary funk group led by George Clinton has released since 1981’s The Electric Spanking of War Babies. The new record, which combines classic funk with hip-hop sounds, features several bassists, including Rodney ‘Skeet’ Curtis, Lige Curry, Jeff ‘Cherokee’ Bunn, and Michael B. Patterson....

Charlie Haden had an incredible life full of triumph, tragedy, and – most of all – beautiful music that he shared with the world. His passing earlier this year rocked the jazz community, who remembered his legacy with an outpouring of anecdotes on his impact on their lives. Now everyone is invited to honor Haden’s memory with a special concert...

Indie band Bastille has reappeared with a new mixtape, with a title reminiscent of its first two. This time out, the “tape” — actually a CD — is . However, the album marks the fist time the “mixtape” has featured exclusively original content, rather than a combination of originals and cover versions of songs. The album does feature extensive collaboration...

Romanian artist, Bass Battle (also known as one person, Bogdan Diaconeasa), has released an EP’s worth of ambient solo bass songs called Play. Recorded over the course of three years, just for fun, the album features only Diaconeasa’s bass and a looper. “I will say that this album is the declaration of my love for this beautiful instrument – the...

You may already be aware of many ways to use an iPad for making music. However, Hal Leonard Corp. has put together an book — — that covers the device’s “connectivity to the professional, project, and home music studios.” Written by music technology authors Vincent Leonard and Thomas Rudolph, the book in the Hal Leonard Quick Pro Guides series, the...

2014 has been a good year for sneak albums, but R&B master D’Angelo may have taken the cake by releasing over the course of a weekend. The album, which is his first in fourteen years, is a tremendous return that pushes his art forward while keeping true to his voice. D’Angelo took a more serious approach for Black Messiah with...

Looking for a book that teaches you how to play some classic and new rock hits? Hal Leonard’s latest, could help. The paperback in the “Tab +” series not only includes tab for some bass classics, it also offers info on the gear you need to have, recording techniques, historical info, and playing tips (including right-and-left hand technique). Songs featured...