No Treble Archive for February 19th

Since David Sanborn’s “Sanborn Sessions” debuted, I’m always looking forward to a new episode. In session #3, the band was joined by Jonatha Brooke and Charlie Hunter to perform Brooke’s song, “Inconsolable.” Ben Williams once again is on bass.

Les Claypool and Primus will be paying tribute to Rush this year with an extensive tour. The “A Tribute to Kings” shows will feature the trio performing Rush’s “A Farewell To Kings” in its entirety at each show in addition to an all-Primus set.

Meet Benjamin Williams, who goes bass B.E.N (bass every night). Benjamin is an active bassist around Atlanta and on tour and seems to have a superhuman pinky as well. Here’s his story…

Warwick has added the Sklar Bass I Signature to their Teambuilt Artist Series as well as their Rockbass line. Developed with session legend Leland Sklar, the semi-hollow bass is a modified version of their Star Bass.

The guys at Funky Lemonade sent us this video. Not only did we love it, we also dig their name. Check out their tune, “LunuL.”

Norwegian jazz bassist and composer Mats Eilertsen has released a new trio album, entitled “And Then Comes The Night.” The record, which is titled after a novel by Icelandic writer Jón Kalman Stefánsson, has a subtle and beautiful sound. That comes in part thanks to the studio they used.

This week we’re taking a look at another great bass we saw at the NAMM Show: the Majesté Buckeye 5. Majesté’s Willy Abued showed us the bass, which is named after its stunning buckeye maple top. Its striking body shape is made with debitou for the body wings while the five-piece carbon-reinforced azobe and maple neck runs through the length...

Today’s episode is all about thinking inside the box. Pentatonic box shapes only on the G and D string are easy to finger and make for quite the pizzazz when you lay them over a variety of chords. Check out the PDF to guide you along the easy shape and what colors you introduce using them with various chords.

Today’s video feature a couple of true virtuosos: guitarist Guthrie Govan and bassist Mohini Dey, who perform Govan’s tune, “Wonderful Slippery Thing.” Mohini is laying it down!

There’s more troubling news abound for industry giant Gibson Guitars. After announcing plans to sell off their downtown Memphis factory, rumors have been flying that they may be facing bankruptcy in the coming months. In an article for the Nashville Post, Geert De Lombaerde laid out the dire state of affairs. “The situation facing the iconic Nashville-based music instrument maker,...

D’Angelico introduced the Premier version of their Mott acoustic/electric bass at the Winter NAMM Show this year. The affordable bass features a cutaway design with a 16-inch-wide body and solid Sitka spruce top. Its mahogany neck has a slim C-shape, which the company says allows for maximum comfort and playability. Similar to the rest of the Premier series, the Premier...

Craig Butterfield first caught our attention with a burning note-for-note playalong of Charlie Parker’s “Donna Lee.” but he can do more on the upright than shred. Here’s a beautiful tune called “Lulu’s Theme,” written by multi-instrumentalist Jesse Jones, who accompanies on guitar. Butterfield brings tons of emotion to the gorgeous, sweeping melody to pull on your heartstrings.

Every instrument of distinction starts with a vision, but passion and commitment are the factors that make it a reality. That perfect storm has come together with Finland’s Tuli Basses, a fresh boutique bass company aimed at quality over quantity. The man with the vision is luthier Aron Bach. A lifelong bassist, the American-born bass builder cut his teeth as...

Bryan Ladd just shared his latest with us, performing along with Mark Bowers on guitar, Aaron Swinnerton on keys and Jason Patterson on drums. The tune is “3-4-4”, which Ladd wrote along with Bowers. This one grooves, and dig that bass solo!

If you’re a Rush fan and haven’t encountered this 1975 live recording of the band in Cleveland, Ohio, you’re in luck. It’s now available as an import as Beneath, Between and Behind: F.M. Broadcast 1975. According to the site, Rush Is A Band, the show by the Canadian trio with Geddy Lee on bass and vocals was recorded to air...

Warwick introduced a new signature bass for Stuart Hamm during the NAMM Show this year. The new model is based on the company’s Streamer with extended contouring and a deeper cutaway for improved access to the higher register. The Stu Hamm Signature bass is built with an alder body and five-piece birdseye maple and rosewood neck. Its neck has illuminated...

A couple of weeks ago, Damian Erskine sent me an email filled with excitement. Here’s an excerpt: You know about my trip to pick up my dad’s bass in St Louis, right? Well, Jim Widner (who cared for it for the past 25 years) pointed out a name carved in the front. Faint but clear: “Shaw”. Apparently this was Arvell...

Hadrien Feraud is one of my favorite players, and it’s always fascinating to watch him play. Our friend Charles Robitaille sent in this video of Feraud playing “Paradise Variations” with drummer Virgil Donati, and my jaw hit the floor. The clip features several variations on Donati’s “Paradise Lost” from his album In This Life. Feraud’s bass playing is matched with...

Bassist Greg Christian, following his second departure from thrash metal band Testament, has formed the core of a new band. Christian, who was an original member of Testament and left the band in 1996 and returned in 2004 only to step away 10 years later, has joined forces with guitarist Artak Ozan of Kinnefret, and according to Blabbermouth, is looking...

The members of Korn are getting new signature instruments from Ibanez this year including bassist Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu’s K5 Signature Limited Edition bass. The updated K5 takes an opposite aesthetic approach of Fieldy’s black signature bass and features a flat white finish as well as a white painted maple fretboard. The white theme is accented with a set of blue...

Q: Some people stand strongly by the notion of having a true practice routine while others claim that routines stunt growth, because the same thing is being practiced each day (e.g. scale modes in broken thirds with such-and-such technique striving for X bpm). Will you please elaborate on what a routine is and how to create one that keeps one...

Sometimes you just need a nice buttery groove to make your day. Here’s Jerry Jemmott making it happen with Aretha Franklin on the song “Make It With You” during her 1971 concert at Fillmore West.

HELLYEAH has split ways with guitarist Greg Tribbett and bassist Bob “Bobzilla” Kakaha, according to a new post on Blabbermouth. The supergroup didn’t give a specific reason for the split, but posted about it on their Facebook page. “Things happen for necessary reasons,” they wrote. “It’s so easy for people to assume or makeup reasons for things. Don’t ASSUME anything!...

Meet Adam Neely, a bass player living in Brooklyn, NY and keeping busy with a music-filled calendar. Kevin featured Adam during our Featured Reader Video week, with a video of his band, Inside//Outside. We enjoyed learning more about this exciting bassist with his spotlight submission. Adam is our player in the spotlight for the week of February 18, 2013. (You...

Here’s an awesome rendition of the classic John Coltrane tune “Countdown,” performed by Petros Klampanis. The bassist gets creative with harmonics, insane rhythms, and a shaker attached to his ankle.

Rush has just added 15 cities to its current North America tour, in support of Clockwork Angels, from June through August. The is the second time the trio has announced additional dates. The second leg of the North American tour will kick off in Austin, Texas on April 23rd, following the group’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of...

Jackson unveiled two new Dave Ellefson signature basses at the NAMM show last month. The basses are part of Jackson’s X-Series and are offered in two models: the David Ellefson CB-X 4-string and the David Ellefson CB-XV 5-string. The CB-X is a four-string with dual humbucking EMG pickups with an alder Concert Bass body. The bass sports a choice of...

Hardware manufacturer Hipshot unveiled an interesting product aimed at double bassists called the FreeRange Xtender at NAMM this year. The new gadget allows you to quickly change the tuning of an upright bass string at the switch of a lever, and lets you drop down as far as a low A. Using several together can be handing for changing the...

Or Lubianiker (aka “Rule of Thump”) is on to something cool in the world of bass lessons. He’s posted his first experiment with interactive bass lessons on YouTube in which he plays simple licks in E minor and you choose how to mix and match them to create your own licks. Or provides links to each little lick and breaks...

Michael Davis, the bassist best known for his work with the band MC5, has died of liver failure, his wife announced yesterday. The bassist died at Enloe Medical Center in Chico, California on Friday, following a month of treatment for liver disease. He was 68. MC5, whose name was short for “Motor City Five” was formed in 1964 in Lincoln...

Opeth and Mastodon will be teaming up to bring metal to the masses on a North American trek scheduled from April to May. Rooted by bassists Martín Méndez and Troy Sanders, the “Heritage Hunter” Tour kicks off April 4th in Portland, Maine and works its way between the U.S. and Canada until the closing show on May 12th at the...

Radiohead’s newest album, King of Limbs, is now available for download, with physical copies to be released in retail stores on March 28. The release was announced less than a week ago, and in fact was released a day earlier than previously stated. Colin Greenwood’s bass and synth bass hold down the abstract collection of songs, which feature intense polyrhythms...

New Wave rockers The Cars have reformed to record new material for the first time since their split in 1988, though the group will be missing bassist/vocalist Benjamin Orr, who died of cancer in 2000. Co-founder Ric Ocasek told Rolling Stone that, “This is not a reunion – it’s more like a conjunction. I never thought I’d make another Cars...

Checking out videos featuring bassist Bakithi Kumalo this morning, I ran into this old favorite from Paul Simon’s Graceland concert in South Africa in 1987. Kumalo’s fretless work on this and the rest of the performance is so awesome, even 24 years later.

Jim Dunlop has introduced a new Bass Envelope Filter pedal to their Bass Innovations line, the MXR Bass Envelope Filter. This box was designed for the classic analog envelope filter sounds with portability in mind. The pedal features five controls on the face: Dry, Effect, Decay, Q, and Sensitivity. Dry and Effect control your mix of dry and wet signals,...

George Smed used to have very popular videos on Google Video, back when watching videos online wasn’t so popular, in the days before Youtube. His tapping-arrangement of Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” was perhaps his most famous video, but his original composition, “Nothing can compare to the sunset in her hair”, was always my favorite.

Medeski Martin and Wood have kicked off their 10 day west coast tour, beginning in San Diego, California. The experimental jazz group, featuring Chris Wood on bass, will be trekking in support of their recently released box set, Radiolarians: The Evolutionary Set. The collection includes the Radiolarian albums I, II, and III, a 10 track disc of remixes, a live...

The much-anticipated 16th album from Sonic Youth is on its way. Among the new details are a release date, June 9, 2009, and cover art. Recorded last year at SY’s Echo Canyon West studio, the record features former Pavement/Dustdevils bassist Mark Ibold as the band’s newest studio member, replacing Jim O’Rouke. Ibold has been touring with the band for the...

Wayne Shorter’s performance at the 1996 Montreux Jazz Festival is now available on DVD. Bassist and formerly Shorter’s Weather Report band mate Alphonso Johnson, Stanley Clarke and Ron Carter all make appearances on the DVD, which includes bonus footage from both the 1991 and 1992 Montreux performances. The complete line-up for the 1996 show: Wayne Shorter (saxophones) James Beard (keyboards)...