The Bass Geek

Radio Radio has Cash Bash tonight – celebrating the Man In Black with Mandy Marie and the Cool Hand Lukes with special guest Mark Miller from BR-549.  Tomorrow’s show has been cancelled.  Don’t go to it – the performers won’t be there.

Big Car Gallery’s Art!Bike! party tonight features some music, according to their website.  I’d go just to see what they mean.

Deano’s Vino has New Augusta this evening and the Last Drop Jug Band tomorrow.

Finally, there’s jazz at Maria’s Pizza tonight and swing music from the Boilermaker Jazz Orchestra at the Fountain Square Theater.  Enjoy.

The new IMN podcast is up and running – download it here or listen at the site or on WFYI.

Also, it’s not new, but Inside Home Recording’s current podcast has a fairly lengthy and fairly good interview about buying a new bass. Newbies and vets alike, this one’s for you. If only I could afford four or five more . . .

Gibson is still making basses – they just do it in small, extremely good looking batches. I’d love to find out how it sounds, but I’m not sure the run of 350 will get enough instruments outside the city limits, much less into my hands. And so it goes . . .

I have no idea if the “world’s largest bass guitar” is a Photoshopped work of trickery. I have no idea of the scale on it or the notes. Would it even make an audible tone, or does it just rumble quietly to itself when plucked, the soundwaves passing below our ability to hear? What the hell is up with the flame job anyway? So many imponderables.

What is being heard it Last.fm’s response to Techcrunch’s allegations that the service turned over its data on what its Scrobble users listen to over to the RIAA, specifically the folks who gave a listen to leaked U2 tracks. Last.fm is claiming they only collect aggregate data to share with labels and artists, and the private stuff never makes it out of their servers. Techcrunch is backtracking somewhat on the claims, but the implications are already out and the debate is underway. If anything, this is as much of a warning to make sure exactly what data is being collected from your system before you use a service (and maybe turn off the service that broadcasts the music you’re enjoying to the world, even if it hasn’t technically been released yet). Given that your information is already being tracked, though, whether by Amazon’s purchases or iTunes’ Genius feature or another feature, this kind of becomes a non-issue.

Radio Radio has a private event on Saturday. Unless you’re invited, don’t go.

Deano’s Vino has Ann McWilliams tonight and Acoustic Catfish tomorrow. Ann’s acoustic, too – it’s just not in her name.

Maria’s Pizza has Frank Glover and Claude Sifferlen tonight for acoustic jazz.

And there you go. Kind of a light weekend, but there’s a Mardi Gras celebration coming up at Deano’s on Tuesday, too, so rest up for that.

When Gabe Roth writes that recently stolen items from his studio include “A whole bunch of condensor and dynamic microphones (I still need to figure out exactly what’s missing),” that’s potentially a huge loss. Roth is one of the masterminds behind Daptone Records, and their recording philosophy includes a reliance on older gear. Even if it didn’t cost that much, it can’t be easy to find and replace some of the more unique items. A complete list of the stolen gear can be found here, among other places. Here’s hoping they get their gear back soon. And if this doesn’t serve as a cautionary tale to get insurance and security, I don’t know what does.

Think the prices on tickets for the huge conglomer-festivals are too high? Put it on layaway! A friend of mine sent me this link detailing the installment plans some festivals have put in place to sell their tickets. If you can’t afford the lump sum, sounds like the shows are willing to work with you. No word if the same installment plan is available for the food and beverage concessions they’ll be overcharging you for at the venue.

Also, the new IMN podcast is up. Download it here or listen at the site or WFYI HD2.

Yesterday’s news about the new leadership for the Indy Jazz Fest was very exciting – not that the American Pianists Association did a terrible job with it, but because the folks behind the new Indy Jazz Fest Corp. (including the Jazz Kitchen, Owl Studios, and the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation) have such a close and vital connection to the music and to the community. Most welcome was the news that other venues would be used to host shows as a prelude to the outdoor event in late June. The Madame Walker Theater was crying out to be a part of this event, and it’s the most eligible venue on Indiana Avenue, where the majority of Indy’s jazz history took place.

It’s also good to see the Jazz Kitchen and Owl Studios be a part of this because they retain links to both traditional and modern jazz, so I have high hopes for the programming of these shows and the festival in general. A favor to ask, please – more Hiromi, less Koz.

It doesn’t seem clear how the “big names” the festival has hosted in the past will fare, but this is a great move for the festival as a whole, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens next. Even if I have to sit through a bit of Spyro Gyra to see McCoy Tyner.