derrenleepoole

Yeah Bilbo you're right, and I don't blame performers for taking the easy route. It's all too easy not to see the bigger picture of why we seem to get head-solo-head jazz. And of course, a thrown together band for a one-off gig for beer money is not going to be rehearsed. I guess it's just frustrating to see a legend like Gary Boyle of a fusion super group Isotope just doing the rounds. There were moments though when you could hear the fire of fusion trying to break out, but he had to hold it in

Is it me, or are the Grammy's pointless with regards to jazz? Don't get me wrong, all the nominees are worthy players etc etc. But every year I see the same thing happen - a group of artists, performers etc get nominated who all seem to offer 'jazz' that is safe, predictable and done-to-death! Maybe I'm missing the point and the Grammy's are just for American artists. But there's a whole host of jazz performers outside of America that are pushing the 'art form' of jazz to new and better levels of performance and creativity and musicianship. Point-in-case: I saw a jazz quartet live last Thursday down at my local. All the players were great: Gary Boyle from Isotope, a killer upright player called Bruce Reid, drummer was Ian Bell and an up and coming sax player called Ben Allen. Every single piece, without exception, went like this: head, sax solo, guitar solo, bass solo, drum solo, head. Every single song the same. Great playing for sure, but no playing about with the structure or form etc. Granted, this was a thrown together band to support the sax player. But seriously, are really good players lacking such imagination that they can't think to do something a little different? Unfortunately, this is the type of thing that you hear time and again from a lot of jazz artists, and the Grammy's seem to celebrate this in abundance.

We do Hurry On Sundown by Hawkwind - it's one of those 'what can we play now?' tunes! I love the song, but I don't love playing it in the band. Seems to really drag on and on and on and on...

A 1x12 extension cabinet would of been perfect to sit with the 1x10 combo I have. Shame. Maybe some more stuff later in the year will address this, but doubtful. The new 300 watt head is to be expected I guess. They're clearly going after the Ashdown and GK market, and at £200 a pop, it's going to be very appealing to bassists on a budget, or simply looking for a backup head.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Marshall-MBC-Series-810-1200W-Bass-extension-cabinet-Collection-Only-/290661925550?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item43accd02ae#ht_2109wt_1242

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nemesis-NC-250-Bass-Guitar-/260940925091?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item3cc14a88a3#ht_500wt_1257

Mmmmm... 5 string short scale Corvette

[quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1327404691' post='1510540'] Just ask Fred Durst! [/quote] Who?

[quote name='throwoff' timestamp='1327404522' post='1510538'] I kind of like it, I have actually wondered before why the speakers are always in the corners! [/quote] More efficient spacing means smaller cabs...

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1327403417' post='1510519'] A designer friend of mine ALWAYS puts a deliberate (and fairly obvious) mistake in every proof he does to make sure it has been read! Amazing how often it doesn't get picked up and he has to point it out! [/quote] Yes, I've thought of doing this, and I know people who do. A designer should get four salaries if they work for a company! Their own, one of doing the job of the client, one for sorting out all the crap that reps bring to the job that didn't exist in the first place and one for sorting out crap from incompetent printers

If you're in London, one to snap up! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YORKVILLE-4X10-BASS-CAB-SPEAKER-Top-quality-cab-ABSOLUTE-BARGAIN-/400272112597?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item5d3213bbd5#ht_500wt_1257

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1327399460' post='1510436'] What?! He doesn't do his own typing??!! I once had an argument with someone who had made a spelling mistake in a poster - like this one all in capitals. He said there wasn't a mistake as the spellcheck didn't highlight it [/quote] As a designer myself, it's easy to overlook very simple things - we are human after all, no matter what some designers may tell you The problem is not really spelling, but errors of grammar most of the time. Simple variations on words, so US versus UK spelling etc. No matter how many times I use a spellchecker when setting up artwork, if the client misses basic grammar and simple typos before signing it off, especially if it's been provided on their own copy, it's their responsibility and not mine. Clients seem to be under the illusion that they somehow absolve themselves from responsibility when they get proofs. They give it a simple glance over and say yes, that's fine. It's only when they get the copy back having spent hundreds of pounds on printing costs do they see the mistake, and then it's the 'designers' fault and not theirs! This is particularly problematic when setting up menu's or other lengthy documents in other languages, all with variants... so Indian takeaway menus are a nightmare. I guarantee that there will be at least one or two mistakes when doing these. I hate doing menus

Just keep it simple if you're doing a wedding gig. Weddings gigs can be great fun, but at the end of the day you're there to either a. be background music while people eat and drink or b. be the life and sole of the party after everyone has eaten and is getting blotto! Either way, there's no need for pyrotechnics on the bass. Let the lead singer and guitarist handle that and you just concentrate on delivering a solid foundation for the others to work against. The audience wont know or care if you're playing a clever 'jazz' harmonies. Keep it simple, keep it swinging and have fun.

If money is an option, and you must have that 'valve' tone, then have a look at the new Kustom series of amps. I don't know anyone who uses them, and I keep mentioning them on here in the hope that someone buys one, and tells me if they're any good But seriously, they do a range of [url="http://www.kustom.com/product_family.aspx?TypeID=6&FamilyID=116&Tab=0"]combo's[/url] that have a valve input stage with a solid state amps, and they're stupid cheap! To give you an idea, for a separates options, I think the 300m watt head is £200 and a 2x10 cab is just over £100 from Thomann! Might not be the best amp ever, but at that price, worth a punt?

If you get to Manchester, Band On The Wall as someone has said already, but look at Matt and Phred's too.

That sounded ace. I bet it was incredible being in the audience though. No Youtube compression to wobble the sound

A bit of Fantomas - Director's Cut

I did think of 'Hornchat' might be good, you know, for woodwind players etc. But with that kind of name it could defo pull in the wrong sort of clientele

Can't fault the Zoom gear, some of the best investments I've made have been my little field recorders. The H2 has just been upgraded recently, so I would expect the H4n to follow suit perhaps? But that's just wishful speculation on my part

Lemmy. Nuff said

What, not one mention of the J word...

You need a Zoom Q3 or similar device: http://www.zoom.co.jp/products/q3hd

A great player with great timing I know Jay Kay's latest offerings have been a bit 'so what' of late, but you can't deny he does a great live show. These performances are killing

Cool, I'll hang fire on the cabinet upgrade until then

[quote name='gareth' timestamp='1324567663' post='1475716'] Believe me running a pub is in all ways much tougher than running a band - assuming we are talking non-pro, semi-pro type bands In todays tough economy I really feel for publicans - it must be so hard [/quote] I know, I design signs for the pub industry