Bilbo

And as for Vanessa Feltz, my seven string bass can lie on the floor.

I always think that this is a loaded question. I prefer Jazz (I know that comes as a surprise to many of you) and would only ever buy Jazz or pay to watch Jazz or even (mostly) accept gigs playing Jazz. On the face of it, I look narrow-minded. The truth is that I would be perfectly willing to listen to good examples of most other genres if I was locked in a lift or sat in someone elses house but, if I have a choice, based in the finite time I have for listening and playing and the finite budget I have for music related products, I would, in most instances, [i]prioritise[/i] Jazz. I downloaded The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway last month!!

Goddamn brilliant!!

Slash chords are generally (but not always) simple the first chord with a defined choice of 'root'. C/E is a C chord with the third in the bass Cm7/Eb is a Cm chord with the flattened third in the bass C/G is a C chord with a fifth in the bass C/Bb has a flattened seventh in the bass and so on. As Ras says, in this case, the Bm7b5 chord is played with the b5 in the bass.

In the US, bands used to have residencies where they played the same venue every night for two weeks. Alternatively, you have people like Mike Stern who has played the 55 Club every Monday for decades. Take the gig.

My plectrum technique is pretty godd (see the attached video of me playing my new seven string bass with a pick). I worked with Al Di Meola's picking technique book and it made a mssive difference remarkably quickly. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6AHkcNO0bg"]https://www.youtube....h?v=f6AHkcNO0bg[/url]

I voted thrice also

Ivo Neame - Strata

The first five reviews of the book that I saw on-line were, respectively 5 star, 4 star, 3 star, 2 star and 1 star. I think that says it all really. There are some nice, sensible reviews out there. At the end of the day, if anyone is a PC fan, they would benefit from reading it. It may not tell them everything they want to know and may not be the best biography ever written but they would certainly know more when they had finished it than when they started so what's to lose. I sincerely hope that one day someone writes a better one. I'd be the first to buy it.

Just the one. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mr-P-C-Chambers-Popular-History/dp/1845536363

I made some progress on a Jimmy Garrison book but it stalled for various reasons. It is not beyond recovery, however, and may yet see the light of day. Ray Brown doiesn't interest me, for some reason. I like his playing, I just don't really get excited about the people he plays with. My loss, I suspect, but there you are.

I have to say I enjoyed most of that. I didn't really see much in the way of random noodling, just a lot of guys locked in with their instruments. It also makes me realise how I have got left behind in all sorts of ways.

Hey, Dad. Not one day in and we are losing already!!!

My exact words (inc typo) were..... [quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1330603918' post='1560089'] I am not aware on anything being done on Ray Brown. [/quote]

Hellborg is an interesting player. I recently downloaded a trio album with him and Buckethead playing acoustics. It's pretty intense and cool.

I have a Gibson ES175 (a beautiful guitar to play) but would love a white ES335.

Listening to it now, it doesn't sound particularly unusal, just a pentatonic run. My own experience of such things would suggest that agoinising over one fill on a tunes is not a particularly constructive thing to spend time on. Finding your own fill will certainly be good enough and may even be better. Missing it out or playing it 'inaccurately' will not bother anyone other than that one in a million anorak Harris fans who have spent even more time than you breaking it down. And even then, the chances are that their version is no more accurate than yours. Get the core riff and then make it your own.

Plug Ugly

I had a half size many years ago and it was crap. Sounded crap, looked stupid (I am 6'1") and was harder to play because I could not really get it to stand up tall enough. My advice; go for 3/4. They aren't heavy, just a stupid shape.

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/82990-hardest-piece-of-music-i-have-ever-tried-to-play/page__hl__elannod__fromsearch__1

Wouldn't It Be Good?

[quote name='Kevin Glasgow' timestamp='1439995631' post='2847387'] Thanks Bilbo! Just watched your seven string vid. Sounds really nice! (I'm guessing it's just a camera mic, but the tone still comes through). You manage to get a nice consistent tone across the instrument. [/quote] Interesting that you heard it that way, Kevin. I previously owned a Status 6 string (£1K) which I felt sounded great at one end and crap at the other but whenever you changed the EQ to address the issue, it sounded sh*t at one end and great at the other. The Harley Benton 7-string (£260) sounds even across the whole instrument and I cannot fault it. The recording was sone on the Kindle mic and the amp I was uising was a Roland Cube 60W GUITAR amp!! I guess the progress in instrument manufacture will account for the 'improvement' at a quarter of the price. Or it could be the fact that I am using a pick and not my fingers (I had not used a pick on bass since about 1982).

Who Do Ya Love? Could You Be Loved? War. What Is It Good For? Do You KNow Where You're Going To? Why Does It Hurt When I Pee? Isn't She Lovely? Wouldn't It Be Nice?

[quote name='Bassjon' timestamp='1439916291' post='2846754'] Ooh thanks..I'll take a look! The Impossible Gentlemen sound quite good. Is Steve Swallow not with them anymore? No idea. I think touring is difficult now as he is over 70 and insurance must be extortionate. [/quote]