molan

I did post some of this previously as part of some questions about Maceo Parker but thought I'd re-post a few words about 'Skeet' Curtis who I was privileged to see on Tuesday evening. He's just a great groove based funky bass man, early pioneer of 5 string Alembics with Parliament & Funkadelic & obviously still having a great time playing live with Maceo Parker. I loved how effortlessly he held it all together through Maceo's extended funky jazz songs & even kept an impossible groove going whilst Maceo held his jacket across 'Skeet's' face so he couldn't see anything he was playing Well worth checking the man out. . . Here's a great groove of his from a Maceo gig in '03. I have no idea how he keeps this up for 9 minutes! You only get to see him briefly at about 8:45 Here's him live with Dr Funkenstein himself (you have to bear in mind that Funkadelic Live is a pretty stretched out experience so these 'go on a bit' lol). A different side of him on his trusty Alembic from '78 (I think last time I saw him live was from this tour in '79) And this is a lot more how he looks these days:

[quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='500340' date='May 28 2009, 10:17 PM']Jake, come to Harrogate for a weekend and get free B&B at my place!!![/quote] I don't think 'free' is enough - I'd glady pay to watch Jake improvising over the top of some funky soul songs

I've also joined the Jakesbass fan club today Full details of my thoughts here : [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=50324&st=0"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=50324&st=0[/url] Basic summary is that in only a couple of hours he helped me work on some technique stuff that will be really useful & inspired me to want to learn lots of new things. The best part really was that he got a feel for what I was looking for very quickly & set about giving me help and advice on how to achieve it in a practical & inspiring way without me feeling that I was being 'preached' at. Really made me want to pick up my bass & play, play, play

Not sure if I'm allowed to put recommendations in here but I'm sure one of the mods will move me if I'm not I've just finished a 2 hour first session with Jake & was blown away with both his playing and the way he worked with me today. We nattered for a while so he could get a feel for what I really wanted to learn and how I might want to apply it. This made such a difference in allowing him to set me some goals that were practical, achievable and, most importantly, actually fun. I can already see how some of the things he showed me will allow me to do the things I was asking for. He then got me to play a few things and immediately set about showing me some exercises that would help improve my technique to make things more playable - probably my chief aim from taking lessons. We also spent a while working on some general theory stuff - at my request, he certainly didn't try to ram theory down my throat, lol. What was great was that he asked me to pick any song I liked & he then worked out the bass part in a bout 2 seconds flat & played along with it & filled in some nice solo parts. The reason for doing this was so he could bring together the various things we'd been working on & he could show me how I might be able to use my learning in the future to do something similar. Really inspiring way of teaching and gave me some goals to aim for - although I think it might be a while before I can get close to some of them Obviously we finished off with some more nattering about basses & players & music we both liked All in all a great way to spend a couple of hours, I recommend him very highly if you live anywhere near him. . .

Sounds like a cool gig to be involved with! I certainly interpreted it that you were on the tech side from the outset as well Definitely interested to hear more (so long as no journos from the Sun are listening. . .).

It used to be mine I bought it with a set of Nordstands which I had fitted so it looks like the current owner has removed them and put the original Barts back in. It's very much green rather than teal. I loved it actually & only sold becuase I wanted to move over to 5's rather than 4's. Josh had it after me & I think he sold it to the current owner.

I'm a huge Parliafunkadelicmentthang fan & couldn't believe it when Rodney "Skeet" Curtis appeared on stage with Maceo Turns out he's been Maceo's bass man for years as well. He played some great grooves all evening & I just loved his style of playing Here's a great groove of his from a Maceo gig in '03. I have no idea how he keeps this up for 9 minutes! You only get to see him briefly at about 8:45 Here's him live with Dr Funkenstein himself A different side of him on his trusty Alembic from '78 (I think last time I saw him live was from this tour in '79) And this is a lot more how he looks these days:

[quote name='bubinga5' post='498308' date='May 26 2009, 09:23 PM']I hate you Molan!!! [/quote] F me, It's only Skeet Curtis on bass! I'm in shock!!

So I'm here but too early! Nice looking Lakland 5 on stage with an Eden WT head and 4x10 plus 1x15. Anyone know who the bass player is?

[quote name='bubinga5' post='498251' date='May 26 2009, 07:50 PM']Maceo is just Awsome!!! The best funk ive heard!!!![/quote] Just about to head over there now (I only work 10 minutes from the Jazz Cafe)

He was great last time I saw him. Candy Dulfer was support & she was pretty damn impressive as well!

I was really tempted to go and see Maceo last week but never got round to it. Sent off a competition entry at the weekend & they've literally just contacted me to say I've won tickets for tonight. Only problem is that I'm suffering from a sinusy headache thing today & not sure if my poor old head will hold out I wondered if he's focussing more on the funky stuff or big band material (he's had a recent album of Ray Charles songs that doesn't do a lot for me). For anyone who hasn't heard of him (shame on you!) - here's a taster:

If you want a very giggable combo then this Trace at £300 would more than fir the bill [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=41491"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=41491[/url] It's a 300w 4x10 so plenty of power & depth for gigging but obviously a big old beast to lug around

Stu - are you looking to sell the Moon & use the money to buy both a bass & a combo? The MM basses are nice but a lot of people don't like the core tone circuit & replace them with a 'Marcus Retro'. By the time you've got a nice MM & fitted a retro for £200 you wouldn't have much left to buy a combo. I've gigged with a combo plenty of times without many problems. Obviously there are massive differences between what's out there (especially with the new breed of class D heads & neo speakers). The two most recent ones I've used were a MarkBass CMD112 which was really nice & a Genz-Benz Shuttle 300 with the 1x10 speaker. The Mark had more depth to it but the GB is brilliant for what I want as it's so tiny & weighs nothing but still has a decent gigging tone. I've only gigged the GB whilst going through the PA though (in quite a large venue) & it needs to be raised as high as possible for the best use as a stage monitor. I bet it would hold its own against most amps out there for pub gigging - unless you plan on playing subsonic reggae If you want to try a really low cost option bass then a lot of people have said very good things about the Squire Classic Vibe Jazz - only £250 brand new!

[quote name='bythesea' post='496910' date='May 24 2009, 11:06 PM']omg that is beautiful - why do you do this to me?![/quote] Sorry Brian, Did I forget to mention my vicious streak?

Brilliant, thanks Mark. I have vaguely had my eyes open for a nice acoustic I could noodle around whilst sitting on the sofa of an evening. Body looks quite deep - does this make it feel a bit bulky?

Spotted an Expression up for sale recently and wondered what they were like to play?