News - Page 374

Late next month, the Brecker Brothers’ entire Arista Records catalog will be released in a new box set format. The Brecker Brothers: The Complete Arista Albums Collection collects the group’s six albums released on Arista between 1975 and 1981. None of the albums have ever been released on CD in the US. During the span of those albums, the Brecker...

In 2009, Los Angeles bassist Steve Fishman discovered a vintage Ampeg amp that may just be the find of the century. Stenciled on the back of the amp was the name of the Motown bass legend, James Jamerson. Fishman, who has recorded with Paul McCartney, decided to try to get this story investigated, to see if this amp is indeed...

The Who have announced a major North American tour celebrating their 1973 double album Quadrophenia, which they will play in its entirety each night in addition to a selection of their greatest songs. Founding members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend have tapped bassist Pino Palladino to fill the enormous shoes of John Entwistle, who passed away ten years ago. The...

Avishai Cohen has teamed up with Nitai Hershkovits to release Duende, the bassist’s 13th album and one that offers quite a unique blend of classical, jazz and folk music. The album includes nine duets, written by the duo, except for a few reinterpretations of standards by John Coltrane, Cole Porter and Thelonius Monk. One thing is for sure on this...

Shout! Factory has brought back two albums by soul artist Donny Hathaway with the release of Live + In Performance, a two-disc set out this week. While the two albums in this combined set were big hits at the time they were released, they’d fallen out of print in the U.S. Both albums feature Willie Weeks on bass, including Weeks’...

Flea has released his debut solo album entitled Helen Burns on a pay-what-you-will basis and serving as a fundraiser for the Silverlake Conservatory of Music. Recorded over a couple of days after the Red Hot Chili Peppers finished touring Stadium Arcadium, the bassist explains the mostly instrumental EP is not what most fans will expect. “Warning! It is not a...

Earlier this year, Jack Bruce took his Big Blues Band on the road in the UK to tear through new arrangements of classic Cream tunes as well as his solo work. Luckily for us, the March 19th performance at The Stables in Milton Keynes was recorded. The resulting Jack Bruce & His Big Blues Band: Live 2012 album is now...

Hot on the heels of his new album Compared to That, bassist Brian Bromberg is paying homage to two of his musical heroes with Bromberg Plays Hendrix and In the Spirit of Jobim. The albums were originally recorded for Japan’s King Records, but are now available in the U.S. via Artistry Music. “Even though people know me as a jazz...

Reggae icons Steel Pulse will be hitting the road for a U.S. tour kicking off July 20th in Boston, Massachusetts and wrapping up September 9th at the Doheny Days Festival in California. The trek will be partly in support of a new album due out later this year, though details are sparse. Formed in 1975, the band has gone through...

Back in April, we shared the news that the Rolling Stones were re-uniting with Bill Wyman, in celebration of the group’s 50th anniversary, which they celebrated last week. Wyman held down the low end for the group from 1962 until 1993, when he left to form his own band, Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings. Guitarist Ronnie Wood said Wyman is returning...

In 1976, a relatively unknown bassist by the name of Jaco Pastorius joined Weather Report as a full-time member – an event that brought unprecedented commercial success to the six year old band. Jaco’s impact wasn’t limited to Weather Report either. It was during this same year his solo album debuted – an album which redefined the electric bass in...

Berklee bass professor Anthony Vitti has released his latest method book, this time focusing on funk bass. Funk Bass Fills offers up bass fills spanning funk, soul, R&B and hip-hop styles, playing fills in different positions and keys, funk rhythms and rhythmic patterns and more. The 72-page book comes with a companion play-along CD, including the recorded bass lines –...