News - Page 391

Bassist Frank Russell’s second solo album, Circle Without End, is now available for download. For his follow-up to 2005’s Covering All Basses, the Chicago native recruited a cast of high caliber musicians including bassists Daryl Jones (Rolling Stones) and Richard Patterson (Miles Davis, David Sanborn), renowned trumpeter Wallace Roney, pianist Robert Irving III and others. The idea for the album...

Damian Erskine has released Live at Portland State University, a new album featuring a performance of his band, The Damian Erskine Project. The quartet, made up of Erskine on bass, Reinhardt Melz on drums, Ben Darwish on piano and John Nastos on tenor sax, performed the set for students of the university, in what they classify as “Weird Jazz”. “This...

Dr. Randall Kertz, DC has released an all-new, second edition of his popular book, The Bassist’s Guide to Injury Management, Prevention and Better Health. The second edition features expanded content and a new cover. The Bassist’s Guide is written specifically for bassists, dealing with the common, and not-so-common issues bass players encounter when practicing and performing, as well as every...

Medeski, Martin & Wood have just released their own documentary film on the band, Fly In A Bottle. The film, directed by the band’s drummer/percussionist Billy Martin, who worked for a year of personal 16mm film and camcorder footage of MMW on the road and in the studio during the Radiolarians recording sessions. The documentary offers a lot of insight...

Singer/songwriter Tom Waits has released his seventeenth studio album, Bad As Me, which is also his first compilation of all new material in seven years. The distinctive vocalist recruited a host of talented artists, including bassists Flea, Les Claypool, James Whiton, Larry Taylor, Marcus Shelby and Zack Sumner. Waits’ eclectic style is going strong as ever with his songwriting showing...

Ethan “Ebassman” Farmer, who has worked with artists like Christina Aguilera, Destiny’s Child and P Diddy, has released his own solo album, Wine & Strings. Though he has appeared on countless records and tours, the project is his first of his own work. The tone of the album overall is a heavy funk with gospel and soul thrown in for...

After splitting in 1996, the Stone Roses have announced that they have reformed with plans to release a new album and tour the world in 2012. Anchored by bassist Gary “Mani” Mounfield, the English alternative rock band confirmed rumors of the reunion in a press conference during which they confirmed two concerts in Manchester. Mani, who joined Primal Scream after...

Technical death metal supergroup Blotted Science recently released The Animation of Entomology, a 7-track EP follow-up to their full length debut The Machinations of Dementia. The trio consists of Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster, Watchtower guitarist Ron Jarzombek, and Obscura drummer Hannes Grossman, and their science/gore based music is written using a 12-tone system written in conjunction with “bug movies.”...

The Book of Triads, a new instructional e-book on triad exercises, is available for download for use with a Kindle, iOS device and desktop. The book contains 80 exercises covering all the diatonic triads available in the key of C. Each is written for two octaves in musical notation as well as tablature. “Triads get overlooked sometimes, especially in this...

After nearly two years of writing and with the help of three bassists, Jane’s Addiction have released The Great Escape Artist. The new record is their fourth studio album and their first since their 2008 reunion. After the departure of Eric Avery in 2010, Jane’s Addiction began writing the album, enlisting the help of former Guns ‘N Roses bassist Duff...

Meshell Ndegeocello has announced a string of tour dates to support her upcoming ninth album Weather, which is set for a November 8th release. The bassist/singer/songwriter will stop off for a few shows on the East Coast next month before covering the West Coast and Midwest in January. The album, which she describes as “strkingly organic” and “song-based,” is yet...

Hal Leonard’s Bass Play-Along Series has a new disco-era addition with the release of Disco – Bass Play-Along Volume 32. The 72-page book offers eight disco classics by A Taste of Honey, Chic, Rick James and more. Music is presented in tab notation, with an accompanying CD packaged with the book, providing the audio for the bass lines as well...