No Treble Archive for August 14th

TWA has announced the Side Step, which is a variable-state, tap-tempo low-frequency oscillator. It’s designed to be used to control “practically any device with an expression input and/or +5V control voltage source.”

This week’s “Ask” question was sent in by a reader who is pretty new to the bass, and pretty frustrated with his bass teacher. So he reached out to Damian for advice. Check out what Damian has to say about the student/teacher relationship.

Jason Raso recently sent us this video, and it is a ton of fun. Thanks to a hilarious intro, we learned that Jason’s goal back in 1991 was to record with Stuart Hamm. 28 years later, it happened.

Elvis Presley’s big comeback in 1969 began with a run of 57 sold-out shows in Las Vegas. It was the dawn of a new era, thanks in part to a new band, including session bassist Jerry Scheff. The new “Elvis: Live 1969” release features 11 complete sets.

Justin Almquist got a later start on the bass, but he’s a quick learner. He continued his work through college and got into the gear side of things by working at Mackie. Justin is this week’s No Treble reader in the spotlight. Here’s his story… Bio: I had a lot of interest in music growing up, but never played any...

Gabriel Severn is a 13-year-old bassist who has been blowing people away on the social web. Here’s a video featuring Gabriel tearing it up on the tune “Caravan,” with 16-year-old Logan Sheppard on drums on The Urban Renewal Project Horn Section. Watch out world!

Ultraphonix, the new rock and metal supergroup fronted by Living Colour’s Corey Glover and Dokken guitarist George Lynch, has released their debut album entitled Original Human Music. The band is rounded out by the rhythm section of drummer Chris Moore (Project NfidelikAh) and bassist Pancho Tomaselli (War, Philm). It’s an unlikely grouping that Glover summed up in naming the band....

Luthier Jean-Luc Moscato designed his Funk Bass model with the groove in mind. Built around a pair of his single-coil pickups, the instrument is described as the best choice for slap lovers. “[The] Funk Bass is a perfect combination of [a dual] single-coil pickups configuration and high range manufacturing‘s lovers,” his website states. “Find a typical sound of Funk Music...

In the last lesson, we covered adding “burps” into walking bass lines and how to practice them systematically. This time we’re spicing up your walking with triplets. We’ll go over several variations to get these triplets under your fingers and ready to go on all beats of the bar. To keep a focused practice session, we’re going to narrow it...

I’ve watched this video more times than I can count (and I’m still watching). The Berklee Indian Ensemble, with Guy Bernfeld on bass, performed “5 Peace Band,” and they absolutely nailed it. “The Berklee Indian Ensemble is delighted to present ‘5 Peace Band’ featuring renowned Indian composer and vocalist, Shankar Mahadevan,” the video description reads. “Composed by John McLaughlin, ‘5...

The killer jazz trio of saxophonist Lance Bryant, drummer Jason Marsalis, and bassist Christian Fabian have teamed up to release Do For You? The album, which also features guest artist Gates Thomas on keys, is rooted in the jazz tradition and tinged with the blues. It includes eight original tunes with four written or co-written by Fabian. His big, warm...

Time to celebrate the most popular stories, features, videos and more from No Treble for the week. Thanks as always for reading, watching, commenting and sharing. 1. Dudley Moore & Kenny Rogers: Satin Doll A video has been making the rounds on Facebook, thanks to Freemont’s Office – and it was quite unexpected. Dudley Moore and Kenny Rogers performed “Satin...

Crazy Tube Circuits has unleashed the Golden Ratio Phi, a stompbox that features two compressors in one. The pedal can switch between an optical compressor and a FET compressor, each of which have their own distinct style. Crazy Tube says the optical compressor is a “hand selected photocell [that] offers distinctive attack and release characteristics resulting in very gentle and...

Adam Ben Ezra is back with a new live – and quite epic – video with his trio. “I first wrote ‘India Time’ after my return from an inspired journey of new and real sounds from beautiful India,” he shares. “Here I am with my Trio recording live my Indian experience.”

Asheville, North Carolina, group The Get Right Band has released the album, Who’s In Charge? The band, featuring founding member Jesse Gentry on bass, recorded the album at Echo Mountain Studio in Asheville, with their frontman, Silas Durocher and Julian Dreyer (who worked in various capacities with The Avett Brothers, Zac Brown Band, Dawes, and the Steep Canyon Rangers) producing....

Nordstrand Guitars has teamed up with bassist Dan Lutz to unveil the Nordy DL vM5. The bass is a take on the company’s Nordy vM5 model that brings together their NP5 and BigMan pickups for a unique configuration. Similar to the vM5, the DL vM5 is built with either an ash body and maple fingerboard or an alder body with...

Simone Masina has shared another terrific video with us of his project, known as Peekaboom. Here the duo of Simone and vocalist Angelica Lubian perform “Bye Bye Blackbird”. As an added bonus, Angelica takes over on double bass while Simone solos on his bass guitar.

Chicago bassist Pennal Johnson (PJ) combines jazz, funk, adult contemporary and rock and roll on his album, Cissy Strut. The bassist for The Chicago All-City Jazz Band from 1984-87, Johnson began playing bass at age 8. During his career, he has performed with artists like Andre and Sandra Crouch, Kurt Carr and Abraham Laboriel. Johnson is also working as part...

Mr. Big has kept the reunion of its original lineup going and announced it will release a new album in September. Featuring Billy Sheehan on bass, the new album, …The Stories We Could Tell, debuts on September 23. The rest of the classic Mr. Big lineup — the one that produced the band’s massive early 1990s hit, “To Be With...

Rocco Prestia has been making the world dance since 1965 when he first joined Tower of Power. His infectious and distinctive 16th note groove became a foundation of fingerstyle funk bass playing that innumerable bassists have been trying to master for decades. Prestia was born and raised in California, where he got into music at an early age. He joined...

Phantom Pop bassist Dave Lowenthal sent us the band’s first single from their upcoming album. The tune is “Atlantic Ave”, penned by the bassist. The band is a 5-piece instrumental group from Brooklyn, NY who “combines elements of funk, soul, and R&B with the improvisation of jazz to create their own sound.” “Originally formed by Dave Lowenthal to create an...

Famed drummer Simon Phillips, known for his work as both a session player and in Toto, has released his first solo project in 14 years — the jazz/rock/fusion instrumental , featuring Ernest Tibbs on bass. Tibbs is a renowned session player (David Benoit, David Garfield, Pat Kelley and Kevin Toney) who also teaches at the Musician’s Institute. Phillips says he...

TC Electronic has upgraded its flagship tuner with the Polytune 2. The polyphonic tuner, which displays the pitches of all your strings when you strum them simultaneously, now offers a bigger, brighter display as well as chromatic strobe tuner. The Polytune 2 features much brighter LEDs than its predecessor and the brightness of the display is adjusted automatically with an...

Q: Is it cheating to have lines on the fretboard of a fretless bass? Also, what would be better for a first fretless: picking up a quality used instrument and de-fretting it (assuming I cant find a used fretless) or a brand new entry-level one? The only fretless basses I’ve played so far I liked was a Warwick Corvette and...

In honor of Larry Graham’s birthday today, we wanted to look back at his earlier work with Graham Central Station. This is some serious old school funk right here – with Larry and the band making an appearance on Soul Train – I believe in 1975. There’s a nice interview to start, and then just plain ol’ funky goodness. Happy...

After releasing four collaborative albums last year, legendary keyboardist Chick Corea has gotten back to creating his own songs with The Vigil. The effort includes a brand new band filled out by saxophonist Tim Garland, guitarist Charles Altura, drummer Marcus Gilmore and bassist Hadrien Feraud. The band, which is also called The Vigil, gives Corea the opportunity to return to...

Meet Drew Felder, a bassist who goes by the nickname “Hondo” (I don’t see any actual Hondo basses on his gear list though – and I may be dating myself with that comment). Drew is a pretty interesting and funny guy. So we think you’ll like this week’s reader spotlight. Bio: I’m an undead bassist/composer from the Philly area. My...

Bass videos rule. And here are the ten that ruled most in July 2012, based on No Treble reader views. Enjoy! 1. Victor Wooten: “Isn’t She Lovely”, Live Solo Bass Performance In April, Victor Wooten held a music clinic at a music school in Mechanicsville, Virginia. One of the songs he performed was his solo bass take on Stevie Wonder’s...

The Kinky Wizzards is a British bass and drum duo made up of Jonathan and Matthew Griffiths. The brothers have been playing together since they were around 11 years old, playing as a duo as well as a rhythm section in several bands. Bassist Matthew sent us this awesome video of three of their original songs – “Walk to the...

Stagetrix is now shipping the Setting Saver, a marker that applies a clean, bright fluorescent green ink on your gear to help keep track of your settings. The ink lights up under black light and is easily removed wiping it off with your finger without leaving any residue. It’s available now with an MSRP of $5.99. For more info, check...

Megadeth has announced their thirteenth album, TH1RT3EN, will be released on November 1, 2011 and will mark the return of bassist Dave Ellefson. Ellefson performed with the group from 1983 until 2002 and rejoining the band for live performances last year. The new album follows the 2009 release, Endgame. Guitarist Dave Mustaine says TH1RT3EN is “the culmination of my work...

65 years ago today, Larry Graham, Jr. was born in Beaumont, Texas. From Sly & the Family Stone to Graham Central Station, and a whole lot of other projects, he’s credited with the invention of slap bass. Or as Larry calls it, “Thumpin’ and Pluckin’.” Larry is still bringing it… Here’s a clip of Graham Central Station performing “The Jam”...

Korg has introduced the MA-1 Solo Metronome, a device capable of audible beat keeping, rhythm training and tuning, via a chromatic pitch source. Adjustable from 30 to 252 beats per minute, the MA-1 features a swinging metronome style needle display with on-screen triangles to inform which beat you’re on or how far into a pattern you are. Tempo can be...

Here’s a pretty good video of Herbie Hancock’s newest line-up, shot from a member of the audience at the Montreux Jazz Festival last month. The band is performing a classic from Herbie’s extensive library, “Chameleon”, with Tal Wilkenfeld holding down the low end and even helping Herbie with some equipment issues.

Andy Rourke, the bassist formerly with the Smiths, has left Freebass, the bass super group he formed in 2005. The band also includes New Order bassist Peter Hook and The Stone Roses/Primal Fear bassist Gary “Mani” Mounfield According to a post on the band’s website, Rourke will not tour with the group, who planned to hit the road in support...

Bryan Beller is currently on the road for what is one monster tour. Bryan says it best: “I will be home for only 10 of the next 112 days. Which means that, if you live in America, there’s a very good chance I’ll be near you with someone or another. – Mike Keneally, Kira Small, Dethklok, or just plain ol’...

The latest CD by bassist Tony Grey, called Chasing Shadows, is something I’ve been spinning for months. If you have not heard this guy play, do yourself a favor and check him out! The CD to me is a perfect blend of musicality with some insane playing. I really love the writing and how every song has cool twists and...

Forty years ago, Dan Garson, then a 17 year old music lover, got a ride to the three day Woodstock music festival from New Haven, Connecticut. Garson had been snapping photos for his high-school newspaper, but only a few of the images were published. Now, 40 years later, the box of unseen photographs has been uncovered and collected in a...

This video showcases bassist Dave Holland performing a solo of “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” a composition by Charles Mingus as an elegy for jazz saxophone great Lester Young. Holland is currently featuring previously unreleased tracks from his album Pass It On on his web site.

Here at No Treble, we are dedicated to bringing you the latest news exclusively about the bass and bass players; however, there are events that mandate we step out of our status quo. Tragically, guitar legend and music icon Les Paul has died. We felt his influence on music has been so huge we needed to honor him and his...