The Bass Geek

Hey, remember when I mentioned that I was doing a little work with downtempo soul stylists Mystikos Quintet and some live work was in the offing?

Well, all that is finally happening. To be precise, it’s happening at the Jazz Kitchen during the Broad Ripple Music Festival on October 16th. We’re going through their catalog and working out the numbers, and I’m truly happy to be playing a part in their first-ever live band show. Plus, Broad Ripple will be alive with a ton of live music that Friday and Saturday night – a host of rare spectacles not to be missed!

Mystikos has been doing a ton of remix and studio work – check out all of the news here, follow them on Facebook and Twitter, and we’ll see you on October 16th!

I should also note that this date is one of the few nights in October I won’t be playing for the Irvington-based production of Cabaret Poe, a wonderful Halloween-themed production from Q Artistry. So see the show there, then see the Mystikos Quintet, then go back for more Cabaret Poe. It’s the right thing to do, really.

The new IMN podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2, Thursdays at 4pm and 10pm.

Picked up some new recordings over the past week through the magic of eMusic and the CD store. The notable standouts include Julie Slick’s self-titled debut and the Stanley Clarke Band’s latest release. Slick melds the brawny, muscular tone she displayed at the Adrian Belew show at Radio Radio some months back with intriguing, well-composed tracks featured a ton of guest artists. This one comes highly recommended. As for Clarke’s disc, I actually heard the first track via WWOZ without knowing who it was and was intrigued by the modern rock elements the song incorporated within the jazz framework. But pair Clarke with pianist Hiromi and the other great musicians on the disc, and that kind of ingenuity makes sense. Good stuff all around. Finally, I’m just getting into the new Trombone Shorty disc – it doesn’t quite capture the fiery presence Troy Andrews has live, but it still communicates what you can expect from his outfit. Pick it up, but I’d definitely be looking for the next live show.

Back to playing with the new Propellerheads software – the new drum and loop tools are great, and Record sports an auto-tune function now. Use with discretion, please.

The new IMN podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2, Thursdays at 4pm and 10pm (DOUBLE SHOT!).

Also, there’s only one thing I really find appealing about the picture to the left, and it fits in with the occurrences taking place over the next few weeks. Yes, the NFL preseason continues, and I choose to focus on the initial winning ways of the Steelers than the ongoing drama horror that is the career of Brett Favre. And by career, I mean season-ending interceptions.

So take a look at this bass, if you will. Black, black, black, black and gold, with the tastefully placed Steelers logo and the not-so-tastefully placed nickname. But it’s his bass, so I suppose the nickname belongs. Other than that, it looks ready to go. So, indeed, here we go, Steelers, here we go!

Not only did the movie manage to include a bass guitar in their promotional materials, but this interview reveals a monumental scene that no doubt represents the climactic height of the movie:

Brandon Routh: And I had to learn to play bass — both Michael Cera and I had to for our bass battle. I had to find out what looks cool when you’re playing the bass guitar.

The answer, Brandon, is that the mere act of playing bass guitar represents the coolest thing you can do.

Especially in a bass battle.

Without a doubt.

The MadChilli bass looks fantastic (no audio samples, though – grrrrr . . .), but you could tell it was going to be a pricey addition to your collection even before you got to the MSRP. How many times have you seen gig bags and cases referred to as “couture?” Aren’t the items held by the disaffected hipsters in these photos (fingerless gloves!) designed to take punishment, rather than lend a fashion statement to your instrument?

Perhaps I’m being too sensitive about this, but cases get banged, smashed, and generally abused. Buy them for functionality, please. Oh, and I’d like to hear the bass. Sound samples, please!

The new IMN podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2, Thursdays at 4pm and 10pm.

So I mentioned the NPR Monitor Mix bass solo contest a few months back. Whatever happened of this promised contest, you may ask? Who won, and what did it sound like? I’m guessing nobody knows, because the blog went on vacation in May and not a peep has been heard since. I guess I should be used to bassists being ignored or overlooked at this point (and it’s not about contests anyway) – it’s just cruel to raise hopes and then dash them again. Sigh . . .

The new IMN podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2, Thursdays at 4pm and 10pm.

My new iPad holds quite a bit of sheet music in PDF form, and so far it’s been a good resource for such storage. The resolution is high enough to be useful, and the screen is big enough to show the entire page in legible form. It’s still a little slower on the large files, and normal PDF files aren’t convenient to scan through (Real Book fans, take note). But it’s awfully convenient for storage, a quick touch changes the page, and it’s hundreds of dollars cheaper than the MusicPad Pro (a device designed just for sheet music, although it does come with a foot pedal for changing the page). I wouldn’t be surprised to see this showing up on tons of music stands soon.

The new IMN podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2, Thursdays at 4pm and 10pm.

And, as it turns out, there’s no Great American Trailer Park Musical show tomorrow due to actress injury, so my run with them is done. There’s going to be two more shows next week, though, so make the effort to see their last weekend in the run. Music rehearsals start Sunday for the next BobDirex production, so that’ll be more than enough to keep me busy.