News - Page 423

Medeski, Martin, and Wood have announced Camp MMW 2011, where attendees will have the opportunity to live and study with the progressive jazz trio, which includes the talents of bassist Chris Wood. The 6-day event includes master classes, workshops, ensembles, and performances all led by MMW. Though players will get the opportunity to learn from Wood, students are encouraged to...

Carl Fischer Music has released a new chamber music collection for string ensemble. Progressive Trios for Strings – String Bass (with additional books for violin, viola and cello), includes 26 trios that can be played by any combination of stringed instruments. The arrangements and compositions included in the book were produced by prominent string pedagogue Doris Gazda, and covers a...

WesFest 6 has been announced, set to take place February 27, 2011 at the Roxy in West Hollywood, California. The event is a celebration of the life of bassist Wes Wehmiller, who passed away after a battle with thyroid cancer in 2005. It is also a fundraiser for the Wes Wehmiller Memorial Endowed Scholarship at Berklee College of Music, which...

The Wood Brothers, featuring bassist Chris Wood with brother Oliver, will be touring North America through December and the beginning of the 2011. The brothers, joined by drummer Tyler Greenwell, will be releasing a new album entitled Smoke Ring Halo in February. A new music video for the single “Shoofly Pie,” was unveiled last week (see below). The Wood Brothers...

Bassists looking to jazz up Christmas this year will want to check out Hal Leonard’s bass edition of the The Real Christmas Book. The 216 page “fake” book includes 150 custom arrangements of carols and contemporary holiday tunes with sophisticated jazz chord changes. The book is presented in standard notation (no TAB). Other editions are available, covering all instruments. Here...

Solo bassist Grant Stinnett has released his first solo CD, Aspiration. Stinnett has captured the attention of several of the bassists he credits as inspiration, including Michael Manring, Matt Garrison, Steve Bailey and Rob Gourlay. “Grant draws many colors out of the bass to make pleasing and engaging music,” Manring shares. “I think he has a bright future!” After taking...

Slipknot will be making their return to the stage in 2011 as they headline UK’s Sonisphere Festival. The band announced that the show, which is scheduled for July 8th through July 10th, 2011 at Knebworth, will pay homage to the late Paul Gray, who died in May. A statement on the official band site stated, “Expect the band to bring...

Alfred Music Publishing, who owns the exclusive rights to the print publishing for Led Zeppelin, has pulled together over 30 years of documentation, interviews, and recorded footage to produce a 2-book series of songbooks exclusively for bassists looking to play in the style of John Paul Jones. The books are designed to allow bassists to play along to many Led...

Legendary session bassist Willie Weeks will be hitting the road with Eric Clapton on a string of tour dates in support of guitarist’s latest CD, appropriately titled Clapton. The touring band will also feature Steve Gadd on drums, Chris Stainton on keys and Michelle John and Sharon White singing background vocals. The group will be kicking things off in Vancouver,...

Last week, we reported that Rush was expanding their Time Machine Tour to Europe, with rumors of more North American dates. Thankfully the rumors were true, and trio will be gracing the U.S. and Canada through March and April, 2011. Starting in Florida, the tour works its way up the East coast, including a stop at New York City’s Madison...

Spanish Flamenco bassist Antonio Ramos ‘Maca’ has released a new solo album, Mira Que Te Diga, which translates to “Let Me Tell You.” The 10-track LP is his first solo release, though he has worked with the top Spanish names in Flamenco, from Vicente Amigo to Raimundo Amador. Antonio is also adept at funk and jazz, as evidenced by his...

System of a Down has announced new tour dates, which will be the group’s first performances since August 2006. The shows will be scattered through Europe in June with more dates in the works. An official statement from the band’s website explains “We have no master plan of sorts — we are playing these shows simply because we want to...