No Treble Archive for September 19th

Mike Frost had a life-changing lesson with Jaco Pastorius in the ‘80s. In addition to recording it - which he offers here - he recounted the entire lesson (and its impact) in this guest column.

The new Sons Of Apollo album, “Live With the Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony” includes various covers by the band and a symphony. Here’s an unreleased outtake from the performance, with Billy Sheehan and the band taking on Aerosmith’s “Dream On.”

Stanley Clarke is continuing his world tour this fall with dates across Europe and the United States. The band’s current lineup features Shariq Tucker, Cameron Graves, Beka Gochiashvili, Sala Nader, and Evan Garr.

Electro-Harmonix’s flagship Big Muff pedal line is getting a new addition – or rather an old one. The original Version 1 Big Muff, aka the Triangle Big Muff, has been reissued in a new and more pedalboard-friendly version. The stompbox’s circuit board is faithful to the original 1969 effect. “The Big Muff Pi is the pedal we are best known...

In this video, I’ll be talking a bit about how I try and apply exercises in a more open and musical context (aka, have more fun with them). There are a few minutes of talking and then a lot of playing around with the ideas we’ve been covering for the past few weeks. I hope you all get something from...

Simone Masina sent us a new video for his duo Peekaboom (with vocalist Angelica Lubian.) “We made another clip from our live in-studio session,” Simone shared. “The song is ‘Blackbird’ (our first version was one of the most popular videos on your site in 2016) and I get to take a double bass solo in the middle of the song.”

Jazz bassist Katie Thiroux is taking her trio on the road for an international tour this fall. The journey kicks off with a leg on the West Coast before heading to Europe for the majority of October. Thiroux is a bassist in the stylistic vein of the great Ray Brown. Her latest album, Off Beat, featured and was produced by...

Nick Castledine lives an interesting life, working as a mechanical engineer (and on his Ph.D. in robotics) while balancing a healthy gigging schedule. He started on saxophone until an opportunity in a metal band came up, which is when he made the switch to bass. Nick is this week’s No Treble reader in the spotlight (you could be next!) Here’s...

After introducing a JJ model earlier this year, Cort has once again added to their GB7 series with the GB75JH bass. The new bass takes a “proven body and bridge design” and adds a new pickup configuration – in this case a single coil pickup with a humbucker in the bridge position. “This model is equipped with two-band EQ with...

We’re big fans of bassist Wes Stephenson. Here he is performing with guitarist Mark Lettieri on the tune, “Montreal,” which appears on Lettieri’s 2016 album, . Wes always seems to find the perfect line to serve the song. Plus, he offers up a terrific solo on this one.

It’s been eight years since the last Living Colour album, but the wait has been worth it. The band has just released Shade, a 13-song record that brings their unique blend of rock, blues, and funk to 2017. This time, it focuses particularly on the blues. The spark for the album came from performing a spiritually charged version of pioneer...

Les Claypool has always played distinct basses, and this week we’re checking out one of those basses he helped design: The Pachyderm Basses Blonde Bass. Claypool worked with luthier and longtime friend Dan Maloney to form the company and create his idea of the ultimate bass. “My idea was to incorporate the traits of the instruments I have loved over...

I play a five-string bass with both a higher string and a low C, via an extension. My specific tuning is (from lowest to highest) C, B, E, A, D. The low C string can be tuned via capos (on the C extension) to any chromatic note between C and E (the more standard low string on a double bass)....

Ivo Schot, aka Fortheloveofbass, is back again with a new collaboration. In his fourth bass and vocal song, he teams up with the Dutch artist Storksky for a version of the song “Fracas Maracas.” “[It’s] a rock tune with a lot of grit,” Schot shares. “The song features a 1956 Danelectro Longhorn bass, which is the oldest bass I’ve ever...

The story of baseball’s longest game, and the book written about it – Dan Barry’s Bottom of the 33rd, inspired jazz outfit Saltman Knowles’ latest effort, Almost. The book reflects the players’ commitment and dedication to the game, even if they weren’t destined to make it in the major league (the game was a minor league contest). They continued to...

After relaunching the brand earlier this year, Teye Guitars has unveiled the prototypes for a new bass model called the Super Coyote Bass. The instrument, which feature the company’s signature acid-etched aluminum artwork, was designed with AC/DC bassist Cliff Williams. “When Cliff Williams received his first Teye-bass, a superb Master series ‘La Mora’, his immediate reaction was to order two...

Rage Against the Machine came together in 2010 to perform a special free concert at London’s Finsbury Park, and it was a night to remember. Luckily, the band is releasing the entire performance in an upcoming DVD, aptly named Live at Finsbury Park. Here’s a killer version of “Bulls on Parade” taken from the event. Rage is in rare form...

When ZÜE Engineering used a 9-volt center negative plug to battery adapter to demonstrate their On TIMER pedal, they didn’t realize they had already created their next product. The 9V Backpack external power adapter plugs into your pedal’s power supply input and connects to a 9-volt battery. The device comes in two styles: The Right Angle 9V Backpack and the...

To quote one of my favorite musical guilty pleasures, it’s time to throw a little girl power into the mix. As a stellar vocalist and compelling player, Gail has had a reputable solo career and has recorded and toured with artists including David Bowie, Tears for Fears, Lenny Kravitz, Dar Williams, The Indigo Girls, and Gwen Stefani. With impeccable style,...

Solo bassist Gheorghe Postoronca sent us this video for his latest song, “Dreaming of You.” Combining fingerstyle, slap and tapping, the song flows through several textures to give a full accompaniment to Postoronca’s catchy melody.

Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood are together again, and hitting the road behind the four-man-lineup’s fourth album, . Guitarist Scofield, in a track-by-track assessment of the record for Relix Magazine, reveals not only the album’s origins in an effort to reflect the music of the African diaspora, but also talks about all the band members’ contributions, including pieces by bassist...

If you happen to follow Esperanza Spalding’s Facebook page, you might have seen from photos of her Radio Music Society summer tours that she’s wielding a slick new 5-string fretless. The bass is a South Paw, created by NYC luthier Simon Propert, and it’s one of a kind. “Each bass is custom and a little different, so there is no...

I don’t know how Zander Zon does it, but he just keeps bringing his incredible bass arrangement videos. In this new one, Zander tackles The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” with a killer piccolo bass arrangement and performance on his Zon VB4.

As bassist and songwriting force behind the seminal rock band Pink Floyd, Roger Waters has been an icon in the music industry for over four decades. His story is now being told by biographer Dave Thompson, in Roger Waters: The Man Behind the Wall. The 288-page book, which is the first full biography on Waters, follows the musician’s life from...

Led Zeppelin has confirmed the release of Celebration Day, a film of the one-off reunion concert they performed at London’s O2 Arena in 2007. The film will be shown in theaters worldwide October 17th with CD, DVD, Blu-ray and LP formats and hitting shelves on November 19th. Anchored by bassist John Paul Jones, the band reunited for the concert to...

Q: I do regular cover gigs, but I also play with a few original artists and I’m worried about them conflicting. I was wondering how you balance your “work” gigs with your “fun” gigs? A: I have touched on this in previous columns, but this is a topic worthy of its own dedicated discussion. For starters, this is a subjective...

Here’s an incredibly energetic duet by Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and pianist Tania Maria. NHØP is in his usual top-notch form with ridiculous speed and agility. Check out his masterful right hand technique at the 2:12 mark, and then be ready to want to practice.

Megadeth has announced a 20th anniversary edition of their seminal album Countdown to Extinction, which will be released October 16th in a box set as well as in digital format. The two-disc lift-top box set will contain a remastered version of the album as well as a previously unreleased 1992 concert recorded live at the Cow Palace in San Francisco,...

Bag End has updated their TA series with the introduction of the TA1202, TA2002 and the TA6002. Suited for both sound reinforcement and musical instrument applications, the Time Aligned, full-range loudspeakers feature the new and updated E-700 driver, replacing their previous counterparts’ E-600s. The new driver utilizes newer materials and offers better high-frequency response and lower rates of distortion at...

I was planning on writing this article on Metronomics, an app developed by John Nastos offering quite a few new features that go beyond your basic metronome app. However, I was recently tried out “Time Guru” by Avi Bortnick (John Scofield’s sample guru and rhythm guitarist) which does many of the same things – and also a few different things....

Some people play bass, and some people ride it. Signal Snowboards is a company that makes handmade boards, and on every third Thursday they get a little adventurous. In their latest edition, they hook up with bassist Duff McKagan and build a snowboard out of his signature Fender bass. The kicker? It’s still playable.

Last week’s top 10 features on No Treble include two columns on practicing and the mind. Damian Erskine weighs in with Mindfully Mindless Practice, and Dr. D. shares his thoughts on Mental Practice. Plus, Ryan Madora posted her latest Blues Bass column, focusing on major and minor chords. On the gear front, we took an inside look at M Basses...

Paul McCartney and Wing’s 1973 album, Band on the Run, is being reissued in four different configurations in November. The sets were supervised by McCartney and remastered at Abbey Road using the same team who recently remastered the entire Beatles’ catalog. The Standard Edition is a single disc release, featuring the 9 remastered tracks. The Special Edition includes 2 CDs...

Bassist Juan Nelson brings the funk in this live performance with Big Advice, live on the Sunset Strip.

For the first time in two years, bassist/composer Avishai Cohen is returning to the U.S. as part of his North American tour. The nine date tour covers eight cities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Cohen is a unique jazz musician who blends Middle Eastern, eastern European and African-American styles. Born in Israel to a musical family, Cohen first studied...

Profile has expanded their tuner/metronome line to include the new PT-2800, a mini clip-on tuner. The PT-2800 features a gigantic bright multi-colored LCD that should be visible from the headstock in any lighting condition. The best part is that it changes from red to green once you’re in tune. You can get your strings in shape at a glance! The...

U2 just kicked off their first stadium tour in the USA on September 13th since 1997 (the end of the Popmart Tour). Their other tours since have been confined to arenas, but now U2 has broken out with the biggest concert stage ever built. The band’s US debut was at Soldier Field in Chicago, as a continuation of their 360-degree...

For you classical music fans out there we found this remarkable video of Boguslaw Furtok and Johannes Stähle performing Giovanni Bottesini’s “Gran Duetto No 2 Finale.” A little history lesson, Bottesini was an Italian Romantic composer (1821-1889), conductor, and a double bass virtuoso. Bottesini is credited as being one of the main virtuoso composers to bring the versatility and beauty...