Bass Player US Magazine - July 2021

In this issue

THEORY OF THE MONTH
Grasp essential bass theory at three levels of ability, thanks to Joe Hubbard.

KRAMER D-1
Ian Glasper takes the new K-Bass for a spin.

FOUR of the BEST

It’s 50 years this year since Led Zeppelin released their immense fourth album, cementing their position in music history and inspiring the playing of a million guitar-shop visitors. The band’s Quiet One, bassist John Paul Jones, was on astounding form throughout Half a century since that high point, we revisit his bass parts and ask how it was that JPJ became the leading rock bassist of his generation...

10+ mins

Benny Rietveld – Smooth Operator

Carlos Santana’s long-time bassist Benny Rietveld reflects on a career at the front line of expression

7 mins

NEW ROSE

With his new album, Two Roses, Israeli upright bassist Avishai Cohen achieves a career high. We meet the master

4 mins

INSPIRED NOTES

Bassist and songwriter Lena Morris on the catalyst that sent her into the low frequencies

3 mins

PUTT IT THERE

We meet the veteran jazz bassist— and occasional James Bond adversary —Putter Smith.

10 mins

MARCUS MILLER

In every issue, we bring you a noteworthy interview from the bass vaults, from far-off times when gigs were plentiful and a virus meant no more than a day in bed. This month: Marcus Miller, interviewed in 2012

10+ mins

TURNER PORTRAIT

The Atlanta-based rock quintet Blackberry Smoke return with a new album, You Hear Georgia. Bassist Richard Turner explains the thinking behind the big tones

6 mins

BASS CENTRE Ashbory

Time for something a little different, suggests our Editor...

2 mins

MXR Effects

Spice up your bass tones, says Mike Brooks

3 mins

PICKING LARGE INTERVALS

Welcome! To finish off our exploration of pick playing, we’re going to look at a couple of things related to playing bigger intervals. As we’ve noted before, every technique takes on a whole new level of difficulty when we start to move it across the strings, but it can get even harder when we want to be able to control how long each note lasts.

8 mins

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Bass Player US Magazine Description:

Bobby Vega
Ever since his first recording session with Sly Stone at the age of 17, Bay Area bass badass Bobby Vega has set the bar for funktastic pick playing. In this month's cover story, he goes deep on his plectrum technique and artistic approach. Plus: interviews with Cheap Trick's Tom Petersson, Dream Theater's John Myung, and Jerry "J Blakk" Henderson of Big Sam's Funky Nation; reviews of the Blackstar Fly Bass mini-amp, Mesa-Boogie D-800 head and Ultra Lite cabinets, and new pickups from Lindy Fralin; Jazz and R&B lessons you can use; a full-song bass transcription of Deep Purple's "Gettin' Tighter;" and more!