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When Yes bassist Chris Squire died aged 67 in 2015, it took the bass community aback. Sure, Squire had made his name with recordings from close to half a century before his passing, but there was a sense with everything that he did that he was nowhere near finishedāand that he had ideas for bass lined up for years to come. Thatās the essence of the word āprogressiveā, right there, if you ask me. Progressive rock in the sense of the genre of music that Yes made doesnāt get that name just because the music is fiendishly complex: We call it by that tag because it doesnāt stop evolving. Itās restless, hungry for evolution, and unsatisfied with mediocrity. You can hear this in every bass part that Squire recorded. Thisā¦
The mighty Stuart Hamm, one of the most creative bassists ever to stalk a stage, has announced a new online study program. āWith great innovation, weāre calling it the Stu Hamm Electric Bass Online Course,ā laughs Hamm when we call him for the inside scoop. āYou know, Iāve worked with a lot of bass camps, having done a lot of pedagogy, having run departments and been in education my whole life. When I teach, there are certain things that Iād like to see happen, but which Iāve rarely seen happenāuntil we put this course together.ā The course is hosted by Artistworks, of whom Hamm explains: āThe big difference and selling point in the Artistworks pedagogy is that you take one of my lessonsāsay, on how to create a walking bass-lineāandā¦
Paul McCartneyās Liverpool home at 20 Forthlin Road is set to become a songwriting location for unsigned artists. The plan is to open up the house, where he lived between 1955 and stardom in the early Sixties, as an inspiration for musicians. The Forthlin Sessions is being run by McCartneyās brother Mike, in conjunction with music journalist Pete Paphides and the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA), and will be up and running by the time Macca turns 80 on June 18. Mike says: āWeāre inviting young people to this house and giving them the opportunity of doing the same as us, coming from nothing and seeing where it takes them.āā¦
A new Kiesel bass, the MJāor Modern Jazzāhas been added to the brandās JB series. The pickguard is absent, giving the top woods an airing, and the luthiers add: āOther changes to modernize the bass include a tasteful top bevel for aesthetics and comfort, our greatest variety of pickups options on a bass, and rear-routed controls to accommodate for more flexibility in control configuration.ā The MJ is available in four- and five-string configurations and comes with an alder body, a carbon-fibre reinforced maple neck and an ebony fingerboard. The bass comes equipped with two JVA single-coil pickups, but optional upgrades include H50A alnico humbuckers, Kieselās own Radium single-coil or humbucking pickups, or HB alnico humbuckers. Thereās an 18-volt active preamp with stacked bass and treble cut and boost controls. Itāllā¦
Kim Thayil, his Soundgarden bandmate and Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron and Nirvanaās Krist Novoselic have formed a new supergroup, 3rd Secret. The band also features Bubba Dupree, guitarist for D.C. hardcore vets Void and Cameron side-project Hater, plus vocalists Jennifer Johnson and Jillian Raye, who also feature in Novoselicās Giants In The Trees. 3rd Secret announced the band and surprise-released their self-titled debut album on April 11. It was recorded and mixed by legendary grunge producer Jack Endino, and itās available to hear on streaming services now. The record certainly delivers on the promise of its lineup, with sinewy, off-kilter riffs and the odd frenzied solo from Thayil. But thereās an altogether folkier acoustic thread running through the album, too, which nods to landmark grunge recordings such as Aliceā¦
THE BANGLES , DIFFERENT LIGHT (COLUMBIA, 1986) The sycopated goofiness of āWalk Like An Egyptianā is as effervescent a performance as you could hope for By the mid-Eighties, the Bangles stood atop the pop-rock pantheon, and it was Different Light that pushed them right up there. No fewer than five singles were taken from the LP, including the Prince-penned āManic Mondayā and the record that launched a thousand silly dancesāāWalk Like An Egyptianā, written by Liam Sternberg, which hit number one. The four Bangles were all excellent vocalists, with lead singer Susanna Hoffs often the focal point and sisters Vicki and Debbi Peterson completing the line-up. Bassist Michael āMickiā Steele had replaced Annette Zilinskas in the band in mid-1983 in time to play on their debut album, All Over Theā¦
