No Treble Archive for April 26th

Swedish prog metal legends Opeth will return to North America this October for a tour. The band, anchored by the mighty Martin Méndez, will start in Wisconsin before crossing into Canada, then down the East Coast and across the South to wind up on the West Coast.

Today, Ryan Madora keeps it groovy by learning triads, following a chord progression, and applying a walking bass line by taking a page from Paul McCartney’s book and “Eight Days A Week.”

Charles Berthoud teamed up with Bernth, and the results are incredible. Here they are performing “Bloodstream.”

Lake Street Dive bassist Bridget Kearney has just released a new album. “Snakes of Paradise” features some of her most personal music yet.

Vulfpeck fans with keen eyes may have noticed that Joe Dart was sporting a new bass in the latest Fearless Flyers videos. Now Ernie Ball Music Man has revealed the instrument to be the Joe Dart II, which adds to the company’s line of artist basses.

My fellow leftist, MonoNeon, dropped a new vid today appropriately titled, “Stank In New York.” Joined by legends Victor Wooten, Marcus Miller, and Derrick Hodge, MonoNeon goes off, as expected.

Sadist has unveiled their ninth studio album, “Firescorched”, which will drop on May 20th. Tommy Talamanca and Trevor Sadist are joined by new drummer Romain Goulon as well as fretless bass wizard Jeroen Paul Thesseling.

Joe Long, who played bass for the Four Seasons, has passed away from COVID-19. He was 88 years old. Four Seasons vocalist Frankie Valli shared the news on Facebook.

This week we’re taking a look at the Spectra model by Köllner Bass Instruments. Handmade by luthier Stefan Köllner, this particular Spectra is crafted with a roasted alder body topped with Black Limba and a wenge fingerboard.

Wayman Tisdale was definitely something special. He had a very unique style and tone. In this clip, we catch Wayman with the 5th Quarter Band, performing live in 1992.

It’s been five and a half years since Lemmy Kilmister’s passing, but we’re still being gifted with music from the rock god. A 2012 Motörhead has now been released as a new album called “Louder Than Noise… Live in Berlin”.

Kovaluu has just released its first smartphone app called Beats and Loops, which combines a drum machine with a looper. Most interesting is its “virtual pedal” feature, which allows you to trigger the drum machine and loops with your foot.

Antonio D’Amato sent us this fun video of him with a few friends covering the Fearless Flyers tune, “Introducing the Fearless Flyers.” The bassist nails Joe Dart’s part, right down to the sunglasses.

The Strokes have returned with their sixth album that, given the current situation, is aptly entitled “The New Abnormal”. The group’s first new album in seven years is firmly in the band’s style though with a more laid back feel.

After unveiling the pedal at the 2019 Winter NAMM Show, Rocket Surgeon is now shipping the Starlifter Bass Preamp and DI. The box offers a three-band EQ with sweepable mids as well as a voicing contour switch with modern, flat, and vintage settings.

Here’s 20 minutes of greatness from Led Zeppelin’s 1970 performance at Royal Albert Hall. John Paul Jones comes through loud and clear on “How Many More Times.” Epic.

Mai Leisz has been keeping busy for the past few years playing with David Crosby in his Sky Trails band. Prior to her incredible journey to the U.S., she was releasing music with her own band, MaiGroup. Now she’s culminated her recent experiences into a new album, aptly entitled “Metamorphosis.”

Playing a lot of bass can lead to some serious issues with your hands and wrists. Ryan Sollee and Gabe Castro are combatting those issues with WristGrips, a one-size-fits-all compression wrap that aims at preventing health problems. “WristGrips help prevent and heal tendonitis, arthritis, and carpal tunnel issues, by compressing and supporting the wrist, increasing oxygen and blood flow to...

New Orleans is a city steeped in tradition, but a big part of their culture is constant evolution. That may be why James Singleton is one of the busiest bassists in town. He’s been a mainstay of the scene for over four decades by playing a myriad of styles with tons of music legends: John Scofield, Ellis Marsalis, Stanton Moore,...

We love it when these two get together to record a new video. Here’s bassist Evan Marien and drummer Dana Hawkins doing their thing at Man Made Music Studios in New York. The tune is “Glacier.” If you’re in Europe, you’re in luck. The duo is going on tour in May. Evan has the dates on his website.

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones are celebrating 30 years of music this summer with a handful of North American tour dates. The band will feature the original lineup of Fleck, Roy “Future Man” Wooten, Howard Levy, and Victor Wooten. The outing revolves mostly around festivals in late June, kicking off with the Rochester Jazz Festival on June 26th followed by...

Walrus Audio is now shipping the Monument tremolo. Named after and inspired by the Monument Valley, the pedal is described as “both a harmonic, and standard tremolo that produces a rich, luscious, warm pulsating modulation capable of peaks and valleys as smooth or as jagged as the real ones that our dear mother nature created long ago.” Its controls include...

Q: I’d like some advice on a sensitive issue. I find myself working with a band whose musical ambitions seem quite often to outstrip their technical abilities. While it is always a good thing to stretch yourself, I can’t help but feel that a grasp of some the fundamentals might be something worth considering. How do I broach this subject...

Bassist Huw Foster shared his latest project with us, and we’re digging it big time. “This track is called ‘Get Up’. It’s quite bass-heavy (I co-wrote it with the singer Danny Sharples so that’s to be expected!), and people have been comparing it to the likes of Chic, Jamiroquai and Earth, Wind & Fire,” Huw shared. The track is available...

Longtime Temptations bassist Kerry Turman passed away April 23rd from what are believed to be natural causes. He was 59 years old. The classic soul band announced the news on their Facebook page. “The Temptations lost a dear member of our family, as bass player Kerry Turman has passed away,” they wrote. “Rest In Peace, much love, much respect.” Hailing...

Meet Remy Gail, a bassist who grew up in a musical environment, but didn’t take up bass until later in life. She keeps busy in a gigging band that plays around the tri-state area around her home town of Franklin Lakes, NJ. Remy is No Treble’s reader in the spotlight this week, and here’s her story… Bio: From the day...

The Blues is one of the major building blocks for jazz and improvised music, making it a logical starting point for applying your improvisational concepts. The problem exists when people learn some concepts and then attempt to jam along with no specific goals in mind. This is a big mistake! In this lesson, we’ll cover just one of the stepping...

Federico Malaman is flat out a wizard of the bass. And he may have met his match with bassist Mohini Dey. In this clip, the bass duo shows off their skills in this tune, “Maladey”.

The Yellowjackets have released their first album with Australian virtuoso bassist Dane Alderson. The album, Cohearence, features jazz fusion, a rendition of the folk song “Shenandoah,” and a closing track with a chamber-jazz feel. The band, which released its debut album under the Yellowjackets name in 1981 after forming in 1977 as the Robben Ford Group, introduced the music on...

Another great week in the books from the land of the low end. This week, readers enjoyed several of the videos we shared (enough to make 50% of this list). Damian’s column on improving time was another reader favorite, which means people are keeping busy in the shed. Add to that some new gear, our Bass of the Week and...

Steve Lawson is a master of looping and effects to create enormous soundscapes. He recently sent us this great clip of an improv session that turned out very musical. “[It] started out as a video test and ended up featuring some rather nice music, sort of by accident,” Lawson shares. “It starts out with an ambient loop using my toneprint...

The Alabama Shakes’ second album, Sound & Color, is being deemed kind of far out by the band itself. Founding member and bassist Zac Cockrell described in Rolling Stone the reaction he’d get when playing the moody, long piece “Gemini” for his friends. ”They’re like, ‘Uhhh…?OK.’ I don’t think they liked it. I finally quit sharing with people.” Here’s what...

Big Tone Music Brewery has released the Quadboost, a pedal that combines four of the most popular boost circuits into a single stompbox. Building upon the company’s Triboost, the Quadboost has germanium, silicon, MOSFET, and JFET boosts with a 2-band EQ to create sculpted boosts. The germanium boost is based on the Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster and features a new-old-stock...

Doug Johns is one of the funkiest bassists alive. The Terra State Video Club caught some of the funk with this 45-minute look into his style, his outlook, and his personality. “I’m proud to announce… The Dougumentary!” Johns shared on Facebook. “Filmed at Terra State Community College/Terra Video Club/ Brandon Beining, Mark Grine, Chris Cavera. These are all talented cats!...

Neon Trees’ third studio album, , is hitting retailers just a few months after bassist Branden Campbell underwent open heart surgery to repair a mutated aortic valve. Campbell’s surgery was in December 2013, according to Fender.com, and he’s feeling better than ever. The bassist for the pop/rock outfit also revealed a bit about the album in the interview with Fender....

It’s 6pm… time to get the gear in the car, enter the club’s address into the GPS, and get on the road. It takes exactly five minutes and three trips to pack: one trip for each cabinet (the two fit side by side in the trunk), and one trip for the amp head, bag o’ stuff, and bass (all of...

When Joachim Mahoudeaux shared this video with us, he said very few words. “This french band is simply amazing!” The band is Oceakyl… an unusual trio we really dig. Started by bassist/multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Olivier Carole, who recruited bassist Emeline Fougeray and drummer Mogan Cornebert, the group has been performing together since 2009. The polyrhythms, which are quite intricate at times, are...

Black Sabbath has announced a full 20-city North American tour in anticipation of their upcoming album, 13. The outing will build on their current World Tour, which kicked off April 20 in New Zealand and takes the legendary act from Texas to Virginia to British Columbia to California and several spots in between. 13 will be the band’s first new...

While looking up videos of Jack Casady on YouTube, I stumbled upon a real head-turner of a bass: the Lane Poor Minima. Poor, who is renowned for his pickups, designed and manufactured the bass in the early ’90s. Besides the obvious headless and stepped-tuner body design, the Minima had a graphite fingerboard with special epoxy “frets”, which as Bob Gollihur...

Chances are, if you’re listening to a Soul hit from back in the day, you’re listening to Jerry Jemmott. In his prolific career spanning over 40 years, the bassist’s work helped shape the Atlantic Records and Muscle Shoals sounds. He has left his stamp on some generation-defining hits alongside musicians such as Aretha Franklin, Herbie Hancock, King Curtis, B.B. King,...

Dirty Loops is back, with a new cover and more acrobatic bass from Henrik Linder. This is the group’s take on Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep”. The instrumental break is fantastic. Here’s our proposed tagline for Dirty Loops: Making top 40 listenable.

Italian jazz bassist Andrea Veneziani has made his solo debut with Oltreoceano, a 10-track album featuring drummer Ross Pederson and renowned pianist Kenny Werner. The trio performs a version the Bill Evans classic “Time Remembered”, and their musical dialogue throughout the record is influenced by the late pianist’s work. “It’s really about interplay,” Veneziani says. “I had listened to a...

Meet Patrick McCarthy, a bassist from New York who believes guitarists shouldn’t have all the fun (amen!). Patrick is our player in the spotlight for April 26, 2011. Bio: With over a decades worth of experience as a professional musician, bassist Patrick McCarthy chalks his ability up to hard work, patience, and the love of music. “Whenever I get a...

Bootsy Collins has a released a new studio album, one he calls a “musical biography”, with strong ties to the bassist’s four decades in the music business. Tha Funk Capital Of The World features many cameo appearances including fellow P-Funkers George Clinton and Bernie Worrell, rappers Snoop Dogg, Chuck D, and Ice Cube, guitarists Buckethead and Catfish Collins (Bootsy’s late...

Here’s No Treble columnist Damian Erskine taking a solo with Tony Furtado in 2005, at the Hatch Fest in Bozeman, Montana.

If there’s one thing about playing I’ve always had trouble with, it’s going through strings. My hands sweat. A lot. And sweat really breaks down strings, especially in places where the humidity can be really bad (such as the Midwest, where I live). I’ve played every brand and type of string: coated, uncoated, steel, nickel… the whole spectrum, and I’ve...

Bootsy Collins has released a pilot video to promote a new documentary series called “Funk 101”. The video includes Bootsy and other funk masters talking about the legacy of the funk genre and its impact on society. He also released a teaser for Funk University, which begins enrollment this week. Classes begin on July 1. Visit Bootsy on the web...

Rhythmic Accuracy Last time we talked about one of the major physical components rhythm: feeling the beat internally. However, for the performer there are two components to rhythm, physical and mental. Accurate execution of musical rhythm requires the cultivation of both aspects. One important mental element needed to precisely perform rhythms is active subdivision. Subdividing Most of us understand that...

Norwegian Cruise Lines has a couple of electric bass openings for mid-summer into the fall. If you’re a solid sight reader and can work through the fall, this might be the gig for you. Norwegian Cruise Lines provides food, lodging, travel to and from the ship, and complete healthcare while onboard in addition to a salary. You will need a...

Here’s another great video of Gary Willis performing during a 2006 clinic in Rotterdam. This time, he’s playing the Pee Wee Ellis tune, “The Chicken”, popularized of course by Jaco Pastorius.

Here are the top 10 most popular features on No Treble last week, as determined by you! 1. Video: Leo Fender and the History of the Electric Bass Check out Davey4557’s short but amazing video on the history of the electric bass and Leo Fender. 2. Gear Review: Gear Review: Boss RC-20XL Loop Station Our resident loop expert, Russ Sargeant,...

Todays’ featured video showcases the amazing skills of bassist Willie Dixon, performing in 1966. This clip, filmed by the Canadian television network CBC, was re-discovered 30 years later and released on a DVD entitled . Special thanks to The Blues Blogger, for the tip and the great story.

Bassist Chris Tarry has released his latest album, Live at the Birdseye-Switzerland, recorded in Basel, Switzerland during Chris’s European tour in 2008. Joining Chris on this release is Dan Weiss on drums, Kelly Jefferson on saxophone, Pete McCann on guitar and Henry Hay on piano. The album is available as a download only, from Chris’s web site, where you can...

Alfred Music Publishing has just released their latest in their Total Bassist series, this time covering the blues. The Total Blues Bassist: A Fun and Comprehensive Overview of Blues Bass Playing (Book & CD) covers beginning to advanced techniques for blues bass playing, covering Delta, Chicago and Texas blues styles, rockabilly, funk and jazz. The book ships with a companion...