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Leonard Smalls

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Posts posted by Leonard Smalls

    Is there a popular bass player, that you just don’t get?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    10 hours ago, Bluewine said:

    It doesn't seem like playing bass comes naturally to him. Flea always seems to be struggling when he's playing.

    Not sure I agree with this!

    Having seen them on their first few gigs in the UK - the first of which was in a 200 capacity pub in Hammersmith - he was always awesome, and the backbone of the band. They wouldn't have been the Chillis without him! Not liking them is a different matter entirely., but I most certainly wouldn't call Flea's playing "struggling"!

    I remember seeing them at the Mean Fiddler in Harlesden - their 2nd or 3rd UK gig and and perhaps 500 capacity - with Hillel Slovak on guitar. Hillel was in the depths of heroin addiction and he was definitely struggling for the first couple of songs. Then the struggle became too much for him and he left the stage, leaving the other three to finish the gig without him. And it was one of the most memorable gigs I've ever seen - Flea somehow managed to completely cover for him while leaping all around the stage like a dervish and doing his super-speedy slap thing at the same time. Hardly struggling!

    However, the Superbowl thing was rather embarrassing and should probably be forgotten by anyone who ever saw it 😁

    • Like 6

    Is there a popular bass player, that you just don’t get?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    4 hours ago, ubit said:

    I hate w***ing of any kind over a piece of music

    Depends on your definition.

    What for one person is a bit of mild frottage is for others a full-blown bag-over-the-head-and-a-bottle-of-poppers-cuffed-to-a-radiator scenario!

    What fills me with horror for any solo is where the band leave the stage, put on a bath and a baked potato leaving said muso (whether he/she/it are bass, guitar, drums, whatever) to fill the time with a cacophony of a-musical onanism. Like that Cliff bloke out of off of Metallica who seems to be so revered! It's only forgivable if it's completely amazing - frinstance I saw Sheila E do a percussion solo for about 10 minutes which had at least 2 minutes on the triangle, and it was awesome - or completely hilarious - like Nigel Tuffnell and his violin-guitar thang.

    As for bass solos, I absolutely love a good funk-bass one... Like the one Big Tony does for Trouble Funk. It's there to complement the song, and it's groovy, entertaining and full of showmanship. 

     

    • Like 5

    What do you value about your local music shop?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    9 hours ago, 3below said:

    Mid Wales Music, Newtown

    They are indeed excellent! I bought my Sandberg from them quite a few years ago and pop in whenever I'm in Newtown...

    Also recommend my local music shop, Knighton Music, though only really for guitars; they have a huge selection of just about anything you can think of! Not much bass unfortunately, but I bought my Parker from them.

    • Like 1

    Is there a popular bass player, that you just don’t get?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Burns-bass said:

    I don’t buy this. 
     

    I love jazz and play it live and at home and I can’t stand the virtuoso stuff

     

    1 hour ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

    What kind of jazz though?

    Indeed! There's jazz and there's jazz... 😁

    I know that in certain jazz circles (i.e. the more acoustic end) electric bass (or anything electric!) is either kind of frowned on or not acknowledged as being suitable for use in "proper" jazz. Use of one demotes the music to "fusion" and not worthy of attention by "serious" jazzers.

    I had recent experience of this when I asked a local jazz promoter if he would be putting on any more electric jazz or fusion gigs. His reply, dripping with condescension, was "You’re clearly an authority, perhaps one might suggest attending one of our sessions, we’d certainly appreciate your opinion...then perhaps you’d have a better understanding of our Jazz performances!". With a reply like that I wouldn't feel like I was welcome at any of their sessions - all of them (for the last 3 years at least) have been quite straight head "traditional" (not trad!) with brass, piano, double bass and drums with Julian Siegel perhaps being the most "out there". No electric anything... And none were really in any way swinging, none were really about groove, which is what I want in any music, from punk to Vivaldi!

     

    • Like 3

    Is there a popular bass player, that you just don’t get?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    It strikes me that the bass players most BCers don't get is the ones wot play a bit jazzy... The usual criticisms are "no musicality or feel" but I reckon much of that dislike is due to a hatred of jazz! 

    The bass players I find over-rated are those who simply lay down the bottom end with minimal flourishes - in other words are basic bass-players allowing the rest of the players to be the actual musicians 😁 Calling Mr. McCartney!!

    • Like 6

    March Composition Challenge

    in Recording

    Posted

    I done one!

    Remembering the Babycham ad with a bit of jazzyfunkyrock...

     

    Bass is the trusty Wal with a touch of chorus. Guitars are a strat through various Helix programmes. Horns courtesy of Loopcloud, and drums programmed in EZ Drummer. All rolled in a spot of Neutron 3 and Ozone 9.

    • Like 4

    Basschatters' Upcoming Gigs

    in Gigs

    Posted

    We've got a run of 4 consecutive gigs coming up - Heart of Anarchy with last Tree Squad in Hereford (poster previous page) on 27th April, Guttercrush Festival 5th May in Wellington near Telford (no poster yet!), Soap Girls in Nottingham (poster above) 11th May and newly booked with OG Punks, the Samples in Malvern 20th April:

    ChokedMalvernSamplesPoster.thumb.jpg.127b08a278fda174e44bf98fbfc9c2a8.jpg

    • Like 4

    Brush with Greatness (or, "Hey, I once played a gig with him!")

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I was in a band in the early 80s in Leeds called Dredd and the Badass Weeds... We were kind of ramshackle, and played extended funk-metal and occasionally reggae jams for up to 3 hours if we could get away with it... We broke up when most of us finished at university - some members went on to far greater things. Keith and Jez went on to form MDMA, and later, Utah Saints with lots of chart success. Chris moved back to the US, met up with his old mate Henry and they became the Rollins Band Chris even went on to play with Bowie! And he got me to meet one of my bass heroes, Melvin Gibbs, when I met the Rollinses for lunch in, of all places, the BBC canteen.

    Our singer, Andy, went on to sing for probably the best of the Madchester bands - New Fast Automatic Daffodils. Our other guitarist - another Andy - still plays with Cassandra Complex who are huge in Germany. And our occasional keyboard player, Jay with the famous mum (Clare Rayner), went on to appear lots on telly eating fancy dinners.

    The Weeds are still an occasional entity - our long-anticipated debut album is due sometime in the next decade.

    • Like 3
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