News - Page 319

After filling in for bassist Paul DiLeo for several months, bassist Jeff Rouse is now a permanent member of Fozzy. The rock band, fronted by WWE star Chris Jericho, announced the news in a press release. “Jeff is an incredible musician and singer who has spent the last decade playing in Duff McKagan’s Loaded and is also the lead singer...

Wow. Flying Colors kicks into the second song of its second album, , with a big ol’ blast of bass, courtesy of Dave LaRue. Just check out “Mask Machine” in the video we featured yesterday. Flying Colors is the creation of former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, LaRue and guitarist Steve Morse (both known for their work in the Dixie...

We lost legendary jazz double bassist Charlie Haden this summer, but he lives on through his music – that includes music that few people have had a chance to hear, until now. The Impulse! label has issued a previously unreleased performance of Haden and jazz guitarist Jim Hall (Hall died in December 2013, just a little more than 6 months...

Toronto electric bassist Rich Brown, known for his widely varied studio work as well as his playing in the group Gamak and the modern jazz band he leads, rinsethealgorithm, has released a solo bass record, . The album, which features solo and multi-tracked bass compositions, includes a wide range of textures from his cover of Little Dragon’s “Twice” to the...

Dream Theater experienced a homecoming when it played the Boston Opera House earlier this year and The Berklee College of Music Orchestra and Choir made a guest appearance. The band has a deep association with Berklee. Guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung are Berklee alumni. Drummer Mike Mangini was a professor at the school before joining Dream Theater. The...

Jazz instrumentalists have the luxury of playing music all over the emotional scale, says superstar jazz bassist Stanley Clarke. That might mean pieces that are way up, way down, or esoteric. You would be right if you guessed that his latest album with The Stanley Clarke Band, , is on the cheerier end of that scale. Why did he go...

Feel the need to hear some new music from Billy Sheehan and Mr. Big? Consider that need sated. Sheehan and the rest of the original lineup of Mr. Big (including vocalist Eric Martin, guitarist Paul Gilbert and drummer Pat Torpey) reformed in 2009, and is the second release (2011’s What If… was the first) from the revitalized rockers. The opening...

It looks like Black Sabbath will be returning to the studio again in 2015, according to Metal Hammer’s interview with Ozzy Osbourne. The band, anchored by bass wizard Geezer Butler, will reportedly record one more album with a final tour cycle. “The whole Sabbath experience this time around was great,” Ozzy told Metal Hammer. “We all made friends, we didn’t...

Question: What would rockabilly be without the bass? Answer: Nothing. Al Gare, who holds down the low end in Imelda May’s band perfectly proves the point with a swinging sound that underpins the Irish rockabilly singer’s latest album, . Gare’s playing is an absolutely essential part of May’s sound, as you can easily hear in “It’s Good to Be Alive,”...

Top jazz bassist Steve Swallow and Austrian composer/trombonist and pianist Christian Muthspiel have teamed up for an album of duets. While the pair have played together in the Christian Muthspiel 4, is their first as a duo. The pair eschew electronic effects on the record and let the songs develop in their own simple, yet refined way. Muthispiel composed all...

Bassist and educator Andrew Ford wants to help you find your groove with his latest video course, . Ford has taught at the Musician’s Institute and colleges and played with a wealth of R&B artists including Al Jarreau, James Ingram, Whitney Houston, and Chaka Khan. He’s also the man behind the Blues Bass Survival Guide video course. His career began...

A performance from the last tour featuring the classic Yes lineup of bassist Chris Squire, singer Jon Anderson, guitarist Steve Howe, keyboardist Rick Wakeman, and drummer Alan White, has been released in a special edition on CD, DVD and Blu-ray. The Songs From Tsongas special edition DVD and Blu-ray packages not only capture a previously released show at the Tsongas...