The Bass Geek

Melvin Gibbs was probably most visible to the general music-listening public back in the Nineties when he backed up Henry Rollins in The Rollins Band (that’s him in the “Liar” video), but his incredible career includes work with Ronald Shannon Jackson’s Decoding Society, Vernon Reid, and a whole host of jazz legends.  Heck, I still listen to his pop-oriented Eye & I album (hey, it’s got DJ Logic, Vernon Reid, and BERNIE WORRELL on it!).  His new album features field recordings of Brazilian music influenced by African religious traditions paired with American players like Blackbyrd McKnight and John Medeski.  He does a much better job of explaining it on this WNYC Soundcheck podcast.  Download, listen and enjoy.

One of my recent tweets detailed my rule that once the band plays “Brown-Eyed Girl” at any function, I’m out the door.  In this case, said tweet was prompted at a charity event downtown over the weekend.  The band started out tolerably with “What A Wonderful World” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Fire,” but the third song killed out.  The charity already had our money, so I felt no remorse about calling it a night and heading home.  The band didn’t even make the lead singers handle the tune – it was instead turned over to the pony-tailed keyboardist, who probably mastered the tune at a smooth lounge somewhere.  The song was too much of a chore for the regular singers – they had to call in backup.

It seemed to hit a nerve, too.  I got responses uniformly in support of my personal rule, so it made me wonder why the song is still played so frequently.  It’s a song so bad, not even a bass solo could save it.  Van Morrison has infinitely better material, so why not go for that?  The only thing I can come up with is:

1. Instantly recognizable.
2. Drilled into your head.
3. Easily identifiable with the majority of the population.
4. Fast enough to dance to, slow enough to not present a challenge.
5. Some kind of brainwashing and desensitization at birth.  Probably involving needles.

I’m going to stop thinking about it now.  Sorry for the burden. Just stop playing it, please.  That’s all I ask.

There may be no bass more metal than this one in production today. The only bigger one I can think of came from the bassist for the now-defunct Robert Shannon Meitus and the Dorkestra. His upright was crafted from the alleged metal used to fabricate a German warplane shot down over the Czech Republic during World War II. Since I can’t own that one, this comes in a close second.  The chrome finish is nice, and it also comes in powder coat and anodized finishes.  My only request is that there be some bass-only sound samples posted on the site.  It’s a unique enough design that I want to hear the sound before jumping into it.

Wow, not much blog action this weekend. Made it unscathed through last night’s gig – the amp volume problems from the last show didn’t return, and I coaxed a good tube sound out of it for the P-Bass. Band sounded good as well, so it was a win all around.

On to the weekend’s music in Fountain Square, though. That’s what the title says, anyway.

Radio Radio has the eclectic lineup of Bass Drum of Death, Kink Ador, TJ Reynolds and Santos and the Saints. All come highly recommended, especially Sharon Koltik Novikov of Kink Ador. Excellent bass work. Blue Lustre celebrates the release of their CD tomorrow.

Deano’s Vino has the Shirtless Biddles tomorrow and Wilson and Company Saturday. Saturday is also the Shamrock Run/Walk (9am start time), so watch out for runners in green that may or may not be half-drunk.

Maria’s Pizza has Frank Glover and Claude Sifferlen Friday night, and the Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra plays Swing Night at the Fountain Square Theater that night.

Oh, and the new podcast is up – download it here or listen at the site or WFYI. Happy weekend, all.

Played one gig Friday night sick, and I’ve learned that DayQuil does not help your playing. I’d considered NyQuil as well, but between the psychedelic music and the psychedelic visuals on the wall next to me, I may well have entered another state of being. I also learned that, after being unplugged, my amp takes a long time to warm up again. Meaning that the volume rose steadily through the gig, and I ended up being far too loud for a song or two. Lame.

Going to sleep now to try and avoid another sick gig. Feh.

Radio Radio has the “Michigan Bailout 2009″ tour tonight with The Hard Lessons, the Great Lakes Myth Society, My Dear Disco and the Javelins. Bigger Than Elvis continues their monthly residence on Saturday.

Big Car Gallery is throwing a big extravaganza called “Listen” this First Friday, with all sorts of audio-visual madness from local electronic artists and even an appearance by the Playboy Psychonauts. We’re on at midnight. Stop by before then, though. It’ll be fun.

Deano’s Vino has the Travellin’ Hillbillies tonight and the Naptown Swingin’ String Band tomorrow. That’s a lot of apostrophes.

And there’s live jazz Friday night at Maria’s Pizza. Happy First Friday, all.

The new IMN podcast is up – download it here or listen at the site or on WFYI-HD2 Thursdays at 4pm. I had to fly solo on this one, and then I got ill from the effort. Time for some NyQuil and sleep. Enjoy.

The new issue of Electronic Musician features an interview with the lead singer of Porcupine Tree, and it spends quite a bit of time addressing his intense dislike of the jukebox mentality and the mp3 sound format. Given that he operates mostly in the realm of progressive rock, it’s understandable that he holds quite an attachment to the long-form concept album and the packages that made said genre what it was and is. As part of the recording of his new solo album, he’s putting together a documentary about how musicians have been affected by the transition, with the point that an emphasis on digital audio files leads to degraded audio quality of the songs going to the consumer and less emphasis on full albums.

And I can halfway see his point, although artists are still putting out albums with songs in sequential order, and there’s a lot more that goes into making good sound than just the quality of the sound file. The original material makes a huge difference, but that’s not going to stop a friend of mine from listening to the mono bootleg of Mahavishnu Orchestra from the fairgrounds in the 70s. There’s a lot more that goes into it. And I don’t think the best way to look at it is to bemoan the loss of quality in the sound and how much people focus on songs and not albums now.

The better way to look at it, I’d think, is to focus on what’s possible with the new technology. And not just offering custom packaging in limited editions for physical product. Albums can only present static images and liner notes. As an easy example, what about interactive album art or liner notes? How about the Presidents of the United States putting out an iPhone app that accesses their music (and potentially much more)? Imagine if it were a group I’d actually enjoy listening to (sorry, guys – I still cringe whenever I hear “Peaches”)? And you can always make your songs available in lossless formats. Play them in a good stereo system, and I’m sure they’ll hold up. If they’ve been recorded properly, that is. There’s so much more than just the final format. If we made it through cassettes, we can make it through this.