The rest of the country spent the afternoon watching a bunch of blokes kick a football around a field this afternoon. The only. balls I was watching were the ones on the ends of my bass strings. I'm learning to bow and those big, fat bass frequencies are the audiological equivalent of sticky date pudding
I'm going back to bass basics and have pulled out the gold standard of beginner books: George Vance. It's really exciting to be working on technique in a small and laser focused way, knowing that by the end of the book I'll be so much more of the player I would like to be.
It's not often you get multiple double basses in a room. More often than not one is sufficient. So it's a treat to park Antoinette with a group of similar beauties. Rumour has it they might all meet up for a big, fat bass session tonight. Bass nap time
A nice photo of oneself is a nice thing. Thanks to Ed for taking this one this afternoon just out my back gate.
It's not often you get two double bass players together and even less often do they record an album. So it's pretty special that Christian McBride and Edgar Meyer, two astoundingly good double bass players, have just made an album together. The album will be released in late March, but they have let one track
There's something very special about the sound of three female voices singing together. All-female, all-star band I'm With Her have got that special in spades. They sing perfectly in sync but with a looseness that only comes with mastery. And the bass in this track is rock solid and grooves like an overland train on
I've been practising 12 bar blues bass lines. Nothing complicated, in fact, quite the opposite. The notes are simple as can be so I can work on my technique and groove and also sing at the same time. For Bb blues, my tune is Blue Monk - slow, groovy and slightly odd, but very satisfying
These are tricky times. Lucky we have music to save us from the madness. If you see me singing as I go about my business it's because it keeps the anxiety at bay and my feet on the ground. And of course, there's nothing like a happy song played by wonderful musicians to lift spirits.
