urb

Horses for courses innit... Jaco-ish for more fusiony funk and jazz, thick bass-heavy tone for more pop/funk stuff, both with very little or no treble, though I do add mids for more definition - then more top end added in for the occasional bit of slap that I do. I like to adjust it live all the time anyway as so much depends on the room, the on stage sound, the backline (which I have to borrow sometimes) - I just play it by ear and see what works best in the mix and for the style of music I'm playing. M

Sorry to bump this - but on the off chance any of you West London bass types are about tonight we're playing at 10pm tonight here: [url="http://www.thegoldhawkshepherdsbush.co.uk/"]http://www.thegoldhawkshepherdsbush.co.uk/[/url] Mmmm a pub gig - let's hope the natives are friendly! Thanks as ever chaps Mike

[quote name='XB26354' post='902646' date='Jul 23 2010, 12:39 AM']Funny, on this forum I've considered the revisionism has gone the opposite way. It is easy to knock a dead man. When I heard Jaco's first solo album and Heavy Weather it sounded like music from another planet. Stanley was and is great but came across to me as souped-up funk. Never liked his bass tone or his tendency to muck around with piccolo bass (who's the bass player Stan? Jimmy Earl!) He has had a lot longer to grow and change, and whilst I don't doubt for a minute that his playing was top notch, as others have said he hasn't really gone anywhere stylistically. And that's without any (perceived) mental disorders... Still, each to their own.[/quote] I agree Mark - but I think the point with him now is that he's playing a lot of actual 'bass' within a great band - that explore a lot of different styles/sound - I agree about his electric playing and it has generally, rarely, moved me in the way Jaco or Victor's stuff does from time to time - but I do think he has developed now more as a bandleader... all this is based on what I heard last week - not on what he's been doing for the last 35 years... M

Hey folks - this is a great bass album - Si is one hell of a player - check it out... PS Si - check the Sept issue of BGM for my review... hope you like it Cheers Mike

[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='901712' date='Jul 22 2010, 10:41 AM']Great stuff mate! Recorded on a Samson Q3?[/quote] Thanks man - it was filmed on a Canon HF200 - you can manually set the audio level so it doesn't distort - and it's an HD cam as well - a great bit of kit. And Molan - no it's not my usual rig - I don't like Trace E much but inevitable end up using them when I have to borrow stuff - my own rig sounds so much nicer! But hey the Sei bass sounds good through pretty much anything - so I quite like the tone I got here. Glad you dug it M

Another vid from our studio session the other night EDIT: our gig on Friday night was pretty killing, hopefully have a couple of things to share from that as well Hope you this Cheers Mike

[quote name='liamcapleton' post='901473' date='Jul 21 2010, 11:46 PM']Never been a fan of Stanley Clarke, although his contribution to electric bass I understand is sizeable. Sidestepping the usual 'who's the best of all time' argument (I would still argue that Jamerson was, and was definitely the most influential), he's a great player with serious stamina and musicality.[/quote] I used to feel the same way about him - I never really dug him past his School Days album - wasn't a fan of the the Clarke/George Duke stuff at all - BUT having got into his last couple of albums and then seen him at Ronnie's last week I can honestly say I'm now a fan and he is without doubt playing at the very top of his game. I can only second all the positive comments here about the Ronnie's gig - a truly mind blowing band of young players - with Stan the wise jazz elder at the front - he played he ass off on both electric and acoustic basses and the material was really good as well. I interviewed him on Friday for BGM and he was very, very cool in person - I've met him before when he was touring the RTF band a couple of years ago - he seems very happy with life right now and has some more exciting new projects in the works - so look out for the piece in next month's mag. M

[quote name='faceman' post='900365' date='Jul 20 2010, 06:58 PM']We Want Miles, Tutu and Amandla are amazing pieces of work from the 80s that I adore to listen to. I can understand why they annoy some but if you can appreciate the 80s production, then you will love these babies. I actually heard We Want Miles before any other of his albums and it's always had a special place. His first come back album (The Man With The Horn) isn't great, and some like You're Under Arrest, Decoy and Siesta are weaker but do check out these three if you are interested. [b]We Want Miles[/b] shows the first incarnation, which although Miles might not be at his strongest, the band are excellent and tunes like Jean Pierre are just groove laden. [b]Tutu[/b] was Marcus' baby in terms of the music but the play of Miles here is his strongest since the early 70s. It's pretty much all synthesied but I'm a fan of good 80s music and this fits the bill. [b]Amandla[/b] was really the final band Miles had and the title track, Mr Pastorious and Hannibal are all winners. With a little less sheen this would be a fantastic album but it just feels a bit too smooth. Most of the music was Miller's again but the band are excellent. Either way, I love these three albums. Do check out the book 'The Last Miles' which goes through all his works, bands and live performances of 80s and early 90s. Excellent read that digs deep into the music.[/quote] Plus the One - 'Mr Pastorius' on Amandla is great - apparently Miles instructed Marcus to start 'walking' the bass line as he was recording the take - the bass line is just wonderful. Mike

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='900378' date='Jul 20 2010, 07:21 PM']For a professional entertainer that man is remarkably boring. I actually like his playing too, but my god I never want to listen to him speak ever again. Nice to see that men were inexplicably wearing hats indoors even back in the '80s though.[/quote] For the record Gary Willis has publicly denounced this video as awful and hated making it - hates the end result and wishes it would dissappear forever - unfortunately there's some very good advice and demos on it... Gary has also said the director hated him and made it very hard to do the video the way he wanted - hence the very stilted presentational style - Gary is a monster bassist and quite possibly one of the most influential bassists alive today IMHO - there are tons of clips of him on Youtube that are much more entertaining that this one

Here's the last word on all aspects of playing with a light touch from Gary Willis, it might not be for everyone but this guy sure knows what's what when it comes to refined fingerstyle technique: Loads of stuff to work on there then! M

[quote name='bubinga5' post='899471' date='Jul 19 2010, 09:54 PM']i used to have my action super low with hex core strings that were tight...i found i had to play soft with no dynamics in my fingers...if i dug in i would choke the notes..this is a prob with super low action IMHO.. there is a balance to be had IMO[/quote] Absolutely - my action allows dynamics and I do play with a light touch but can dig in when I need to Gary Willis has a lot of sensible advice on this style and it works. By the way Bubinga5 have you heard the new Incognito album yet? It's rather good...

Bollocks to it I'm a wuss - I love my action low and light - fighting the bass is a pointless exercise for me. Admitedly my action is very low but it's not as low as some players I know, I think it's all about the end result, ie does it sound good and are you comfortable while playing? Damaging tendons, fingers and wrists to 'be a man' is just silly, so do what feels good and suits you best, not out of some misguided macho attitude. Just my 0.02 Euros... M

I used Elites for years but I switched to D'Addarios about 18 months ago and really love them I use the EXL 180s - the Nickel ones have the perfect balance of tones and feel good under the fingers - plus they seem to last a fair while as well - I have tried other brands but these are by far my favourite - I have tried Labella and DRs and they are good but don't quite 'fit' my needs.

[quote name='witterth' post='898451' date='Jul 18 2010, 10:39 PM']LOVIN' your playing Mike,(obviously) but Faaaaaakkk me, that drummer!! he's a bit handy inhe? W[/quote] Cheers fella - yeah Saleem is a bit good - great groover but he's got some tasty chops too - I've played with him a lot over the last few years - but not that often now - he's a regular on the London jazz scene so look out for him. Cheers Mike

Hi peeps Just edited this out of a live recording of my funk band - me and the drummer, Saleem Raman, going a little crazy but we managed to keep it together... Hope you you likey [url="http://soundcloud.com/munkio/cissy-strut-bass-and-drum-madness"]http://soundcloud.com/munkio/cissy-strut-b...nd-drum-madness[/url] Cheers big ears,,, Mike

I'm glad it was good, I almost went but had a crazy coupe of weeks and was at Stanley Clarke's gug at Ronnie Scotts on Thursday which was superb, it's one thing to get free tickets to gigs, it's another having endless amounts of energy to go to them. I've seen Bela live about 7 times now and he never fails to blow me away, same for Zakir, and yes I agree on Julian Lage - he's very talented and a serious guitar star in the making...

I pulled at a party where my jazz funk band were playing - miraculously managing to chat up the girl while I was playing... no idea how I did it but I've not managed to repeat the trick since...

Pete - got any more pics and sound clips yet? Or are you still playing it - you must be tired by now Mike

Hey all No doubt this will not be everyone's cup of bass-flavoured tea but for those that dig his stuff Matt Garrison has a new album available for download - but it also comes as a 50 minute live video - I really dig it, but it does start kind of weird but goes into some great electronic jazz fusion type stuff as well - [url="http://musiccenter.garrisonjazz.com/"]click here to check it out.[/url] Looks like his long talked about Music Centre website is coming together now as well - it'll have a ton of amazing video lessons from Matt on there covering loads of aspects of music and playing bass - should be great when it launches soon. Cheers Mike

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='893547' date='Jul 13 2010, 11:16 AM']Nice one Mike. Seen your signature but never read it. Ha ha. (Does that mean I automatically filter out ads?) Shall check it out tonight![/quote] Hey Russ I know what you mean - hope you like the tunes - let me know what you think Cheers Mike

I think it's time we all went and listened to some MUSIC instead for a bit...

I can confirm the Now vs Now album is a corker, it's exactly the kind of stuff I'm into right now, full of great playing but all at the service of the vibe and overall sound... I feel I've found a new group that are completely nailing it...

[quote name='velvetkevorkian' post='888840' date='Jul 7 2010, 07:20 PM']The only one that springs to mind for me is Billy Sheehan (although maybe "virtuoso" is pushing it a bit)- he sang on 'Cosmic Troubadour'. Let's just say I'd rather listen to his bass playing...[/quote] Wooten sings all the time and I have to say I quite like the fact he sings as good as he can and doesn't pretend to be some great singer - it just suits what he wants to 'say' in his music - I know he can get seriously cheesy sometimes but I'll forgive him as he is 'Victa'...

Hey peeps I just saw this posted on Facebook and have to share it - it's a New York trio called Now Vs Now - featuring a Greek bassist I've never heard of Panagiotis Andreou - he's singing in a kind of Indian/Flamenco style - the drummer is Mark Guiliana who is one of the sickest young drummers on the planet right now - normally seen with Avishai Cohen - and it's Jason Linder on keys - another hot youg player. There's a long bass vocal thing and then they hit some seriously rocking drum and bass at the end - stick with it's really f***ing good - I'm buying the CD now... M

[quote name='Doddy' post='888656' date='Jul 7 2010, 04:58 PM']I don't know about this. I don't think that lyrics would necessarily improve anything. One of the reasons that I dig these guys albums is because I really like to listen to instrumental music. If the melodies are good,which I think a lot of them are,then the material will stand up on its own. Marcus' first two solo albums were pretty much all vocal based,and while they aren't bad,they are nowhere near as memorable as his later,mostly-instrumental albums.[/quote] Funnily enough I heard yesterday that Tony Grey is singing on his new album... so we'll have to wait and see if that was either inspired or a bad idea - I'm a big fan of Tony's work so I hope it's good