urb

Sadly not - chiling now and the playing a gig later - have fun there are a few good bands on that's fo sure - and it's like £3 to get in... well worth a look for that kind of money!

No one like this stuff? No worries - just thought I'd ask

Last time for this - the gig in Dalston was slamming last night - today's in Streatham will probably be a little more chilled but good too - be good to see some of you bass monkeys out and about Peace Mike

Quick bump for this - I hate bugging you peeps but you know what it's like - be great to see a few BCers in either north or south London - both gigs should be good and very funky Cheers for your attention Mike

[quote name='62P-Bass' post='1317839' date='Jul 27 2011, 12:09 AM']This is the interesting bit to me - how can we actively improve or increase the 'music' quotient in our own performance? I saw a masterclass with Chuck Rainey once, and he talked about what I understood to be a 'Zen' idea - the ego vs the spirit. I know naff all about Zen/Buddhism/religion in general, but I liked what I took from this idea in relation to performance and have found it useful. The idea being that your ego would be telling you "play this thing you learnt / force this lick in / you should be doing more / play better / show 'em who's boss! etc.", or what would end up sounding like what has been referred to in this thread as 'Technique'. The best results are gained when you detach from this and let your subconscious or 'spirit' take over - listen to the music as a whole and react instinctively to the bigger picture, without your ego telling you anything. I think this is often what a listener (and performer) responds to best and what we might call 'music' as oppose to 'technique'. Sounds like this is what happened in Sliddx's rehearsal the other night. I guess different people will tap into this 'spirit/music' in different ways so will have varying responses to different music - 'all sounds like widdling to me'! In simple music or even music that you have a huge affinity for and not much technique, this egoless state might be easy to reach, or it least it is for the musicians we like to listen to. More challenging music will require greater/broader technique in order to reach the point where your instinct can take over and the ego is eradicated, or at least reduced. Basically in the masterclass someone asked Chuck what his favourite recordings of him were, or which were the basslines he played that he was most proud of. He said the ones where it sounded like his spirit was in control and not his ego, and they way he could tell would be often he would hear something in the recording that sounded totally new to him and like he couldn't have come up with it or couldn't play it like that again - that was his spirit coming through. That was all he said and I made up all the rest!! Anyway - this has always been something I've been meaning to look into more and haven't got round to it. I tried to read Zen in the Art of Archery, but never made it all the way through and it's a very short book. Cheers, Andrew[/quote] Great post - and you really hit the nail on the head - I find that the best music I've made is almost certainly when I've let my 'spirit' take over and forgotten all about showing off my chops - for me that moment almost certainly happens in a slight haze (no nothing to do with drink or drugs) like you are suddenly letting your fingers/heart/body play the music without your head getting in the way... it doesn;t happen all the time but a good starting place is to listen hard and then respond - not the other way round - i.e. I've got this great bass line and it's going in the song whther it needs it or not! Good debate geezers - very enlightening

Sorry for the additional post - I'm sure some of you have seen this but Midon real is one talented bugger: He's a pretty mean slap-guitarist - and harmony/vocalist/trumpeter too...

This should be a great couple of nights from these two super talented players/singers - no idea if anyone here has caught Midon live but he's a cross between Stevie/Prince - and yes he's blind - but plays guitar like a demon, sings like an angel and does a mean vocal-trumpet impression - Ricky B ain't bad either See you on the Tuesday if you're going - they are there 2 and 3 August [url="http://venues.meanfiddler.com/jazz-cafe/full-listings/featured-gigs/4282"]http://venues.meanfiddler.com/jazz-cafe/fu...tured-gigs/4282[/url] Just thought you'd guys and gals would like to know Cheers Mike

... well I think so anyway - I've seen him a few times with Robert Glasper and he always blows me away - he plays with tons of people including Mint Condition - anyway feel free to post your fave clips of him in action here's one with great ex-Miles Davis bassist (he played 'lead-bass' with Miles actually) - Foley - who grooves like a mutha throughout: Peace M

Hey Folks I just made a new vid - I wanted to try and play something in a less rigid way - so this is a little improv (first take) over a chord sequence - see attached PDF if you fancy having a go at them yourself PS ths is the first recording I've done with my new Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 USB 2 Audio interface - I think it sounds good Cheers for watching Mike [attachment=85755:G_minor_changes.pdf]

Middle is best

[quote name='jakesbass' post='1316772' date='Jul 26 2011, 10:59 AM']This is interesting Mike, I always marvel at some artist's ability to convey a message which seems to speak to a history that chimes with my core, in most cases it's singer songwriters that reach me in this way, eg Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Rickie Lee Jones, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Sting, even Elton John (although his performance doesn't groove me as much) Having said that I am also reached by the likes of Bach, Beethoven and the great song writers of the American song book and many things between. My stock saying when asked by people "what are you into" is always "good music" beyond that there are those special ones that just seem to be able to convey something that is speaking about the stuff from which we are made down through our evolution.[/quote] I agree Jake - even though I'm a 'jazz' person/listener/expert - my actual music taste extremely broad - I can get lost in an epic pop tune just as much as the next person, but like I said the properties of what makes something 'good' are quite vague, which in the context of the OP is why the whole concept of 'technique' and indeed 'music' a really hard one to pin down. You could take this idea further and say "where does studio technique end and the purity of the actual song/performance begin...?" - I try not to get wrapped up in the whys and wherefores of this - and or questions of physical technique of an artist - I think if the production enhances the performance then that was a concious decision by the artist and those they chose to work with - that reflects well on them as to show their awareness of the finer points of how an audience 'hears' their work via the radio/internet/TV - there are myriad filters through which we encounter music - yet overall I know a good song or piece of music when I hear it - I'm not thinking about technique or anything to do with how that music is made, it just grabs me and I respond to it. To have great technique is purely to be fluent in communication - the art of communication is another question altogether

[quote name='silddx' post='1316716' date='Jul 26 2011, 10:18 AM']It's interesting because music is a language, you can learn its vocabulary, but how does one COMMUNICATE to others in a way they understand what is intended? It's an interpretive language and I think drawing parallels with verbal languages is inadequate.[/quote] Well then you're into the indeterminable world of taste... it's art man, if Joe Public public stand in front of a Francis Bacon painting and they 'like' it, or are horrified by it - then surely the art has done its job - it exists to hold up a mirror to society - therefore music does this to varying degrees - some in a really mundane everyday way, but some in the most transcendent form possible - but how and what form these last two examples take is comepletely open to interpretation... you see it's art innit?

He's at Ronnie's Scott's for three nights in November: [url="http://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/performances/view/624-avishai-cohen-seven-seas"]http://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/performances...ohen-seven-seas[/url] I had the pleasure of interviewing him a few months back - top man, cool guy, incredible bassist/composer - he's killing it live too - I have to be at these gigs!

Hello all. Just wanted to point you good people in the direction of two gigs I'm doing this weekend coming with my band [url="http://www.groovedigger.co.uk/gigs.html"]Groove Digger[/url] - both on opposite sides of town: [b]First up - 30 July - at Passing Clouds, Dalston - see [url="http://www.visitlondon.com/events/detail/20036411"]http://www.visitlondon.com/events/detail/20036411[/url][/b] This will be a late one in this vry hip funk club in Dalston but the band has some great players in - one being amazing Hungarian drummer Gabor Dornyei (who plays in the MJ Thriller show) plus great Italian saxophonist Roberto Manzin - it's just the stripped back 5-piece version of my band but it should be cooking. [b]Second up - 31 July - at Hideaway, Streatham - [url="http://www.hideawaylive.co.uk/groove-digger-310"]http://www.hideawaylive.co.uk/groove-digger-310[/url][/b]7 Superb award-winning venue that's a real-must see if you haven't already been - this will be with the ful 7-piece band with percussion and a three-horn front line - we'll be on stage around 8.30pm - doors open at 7pm Some rocking sounds from a recent-ish Hideaway gig: Be great to see some of you lovely people at either one of these nights Thanks for your attention Mike

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='1311000' date='Jul 20 2011, 11:23 PM']Spot on Mike! I agree - last year's Bash was pretty cool.. The worst ever though was the one in Northampton some years ago when that one guy just played slap bass for about 4 hours non-stop! It was horrendous.. Anyway, moving onto much better things, what you're proposing sounds really good to me, thanks. Nik[/quote] Cool Nick - I'm not sure I need the whole damn theatre space for this thing - maybe I can do it in the jam room as I'm not sure how many people will be wanting to check this out but either way I will need to borrow an amp/cab of some sort... is there a PA that we can use as well? I only ask as I could bring my laptop with some additional sounds and stuff on... let's work this out on a PM soon Mike

Why not get back into shedding - or take a lesson or two with someone good to inspire you to tackle some more challenging music - once you've got your chops back a bit then find some like minded musos and get jamming, writing etc - take small steps - it doesn't have to either or... and like folks say, there are plenty of weekday gigs out there. One last thing I can add from experience is try swapping genre - if your always playing rock and pop stuff, why not find a Latin or funk band - the tunes are engaging and can be challenging to play - I know I felt pretty uninspired when I was playing rock stuff for years and really got back into my playing when I started working with world music, funk and jazz bands again - and my playing improved ten fold. Just a thought...

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='1304974' date='Jul 15 2011, 06:42 PM']So ... the SE Bass Bash is turning into a slap fest before it even happens.[/quote] Absolutely not - if I in fact do go ahead and give a little workshop type thing it'll be to demonstrate some picking techniques that basically get away from all the percussive w***ery and into stuff that has the potentially be melodic and funky - but if the last one was anything to go by I thought most people who played were using finger style, tapping and yes a bit of slapping too but it was all pretty restrained compared to say the London Bass Guitar Show that was just horrible slap overkill... my aim is to educate as to the other possibilities when using thumb and pop stuff - hope that's OK...?

[quote name='Doddy' post='1302613' date='Jul 13 2011, 05:15 PM']I agree that Gary Willis owns the fretless-he's a fantastic player. But there is a track on his first solo album called 'Everlasting Night' and it could be easily mistaken for being Jaco.( The Album 'No Sweat' is one of my favourite bass lead album...it's brilliant). I know that is only one tune of many,but I can see both sides of the argument.[/quote] I agree Paul - I love that album too, it's one of my most listened to bass player led albums ever - and the last track is a masterclass in timing, feel, note choice and es, lots of 'Mwah'! - I think Gary has always said Jaco is an influence but he also always sounds like himself, in a blindfold test I can detect his playing in just a few notes - a true sign of a player's identity is ever there was one.

[quote name='mcgraham' post='1300707' date='Jul 12 2011, 10:17 AM']Non-stop extended periods of slaping can be tolerable... when tasteful, non-repetitive and at an acceptable volume. It's when it's not tasteful/poor, exceedingly repetitive with the same riffs over and over, and at ear deafening volume that I start to consider self-harming as a more enjoyable alternative,[/quote] As I mentioned earlier I'd be happy to give a demo - either in small group or to the whole Bash if my embarrassment levels will tolerate it - explaining some slap and picking techniques that get away from relentless machine gun triplets and always riffing away in open E or A when slapping... I'd be happy to have a few others plugging in as well to enable them to learn or share any of the techniques discussed/demonstrated... Let me know if any of y'all is interested - we can always use one of the off-shoot performance rooms to do this in Cheers Mike

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1301256' date='Jul 12 2011, 04:37 PM']JB can be such a pillock. So Percy Jones sounds like Jaco, does he? I think not. So Mick Karn sounds like Jaco, does he? I think not. So I sound like Jaco do I? I think not. To suggest all fretless players sound like Jaco shows a complete inability to hear the distinct differences between individual players. THe differences between 30 fretless electrci players is as marked as those between 30 different double bass players or 30 fretted bass players. They all sound liek a fretless/fretted/doouble bass but they all sound different. Wayne Shorter, Joe Lovano, Joe Henderson, John Coltrane, Chris Potter, Michael Brecker - they all sound like tenor players but all sound completely different. If JB can't tell the difference between Jaco, Michale Manring, Percy Jones, Mick Karn and a cast of thousands, then he ain't trying very hard. JB, for all his skills, comes across as a concrete thinker. His opinions are now decades old and show no evidence of reconsideration in the face of compelling evidence to the contrary.[/quote] Massive +1 there Rob - and all I'll add is Gary Willis OWNS the whole fretless thing today - he's taken all of Jaco's concepts and refined them, built on them and has his own unique sound and musical approach - he's one of my biggest inspirations and the fact he plays fretless is part of what he does but it's not ALL that he does - would Jeff be so conceited as to refute anything GW does just because he plays fretless? Probably - which sadly makes JB look all the more an ass... sad really as I appreciate his musicianship, if not all of his music, and he has got many valid points on many musical topics - shame he has to be so belligerent and aggressive in asserting his views - as if there's simply no room for disagreement... if the resulting shitstorms are his desired result of expressing them then again - he's an even bigger ass....

[quote name='ziggydolphinboy' post='1298447' date='Jul 9 2011, 06:48 PM']Absolutely stunning. awesome and beutiful... seriously considering getting a custom jazz. i finally aquired a 5 string sei so now i have a 6,5,and 4. sei basses rule.[/quote] That looks gorgeous as does Russ' new one - good to see some new posts here - I've seen a few new Seis in the works - the one below looks stunning in the flesh: Wouldn't mind one of these myself Tho still loving my single cut and Jazz - amazing basses that get better and better with age! M