Bilbo

I was doing a gig in Cardiff some years ago and half of the Lionel Hampton big band turned up and sat in.

I guess it's a case of knowing why people do what they do. I know some superb musicians who almost never play live. They get a different buzz to the gig thing. Me, I have to gig. Can't see any point in doing it if I don't.

I missed a couple of months because I was recording bass parts for an album. I have recently heard the full mixes and some of it sounds awesome. The bass parts were recorded in my garden shed but sound totally professional!! Sometimes, the BCC has to take a back seat.

I was just reviewing my Soundlcoud page and realised that there are at 30 compositions on there that would not have been written were it not for these challenges. The quality is distictly variable, of course, but the learning has been invaluable. One wonders how many tunes have been written across the Basschat fraternity because of this. Whoever had the idea for this thread is a frickin' genius.

Here's my entry: three acoustic guitars playing a country blues kind of vibe. http://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/way-to-go

I love my 30 year old Wal Custom Fretless. I hate that it never be quite sounds like it is in tune.

Plus one for Bach.

It's part of growing up.

There are no quick routes to reading. You just have to do it again and again and again and again

I think part of my problem with JB endorsed basses is that I don't like JB's sound. He needs a thin neck to do his thing but I don't like his thing so can't shake the feeling that the basses won't deliver what I need.

I had a student with a Palladium in Cardiff. I remember it being very playable but light. As a Wal player, I always struggle with basses without a little weight to them. I always think that the sound will be thin.I had the same experience when I tried an Alembic. It's not rational, though. The Palladium was a perfectly credible instrument.

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/215336-learning-to-read-the-dots-sheet-music-to-learn-with/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjkTI4-roYg

It's all scouse banter and should be treated as such. I like the guy. For the record, Jazz doesn't like Noel Gallagher either.

I think there is an interesting point hiding away in this discussion. The band thing is, in some ways, a cultural phenomenon that started as a 'four kids who grew up together and decide they want to be in a band and then allocate roles on the basis of stereotypes; the good looking one is the singer, the guy whose idea it was is the guitarist, the kid with glasses gets keyboards, the thick one is the drummer and the tall skinny one is the bass player'. They then go out and buy the gear and start to learn to play together before gradually drifting apart as they all begin to realise how hard it all is, get girlfriends ad jobs, leaving the bass player as the only one left doing it in their 50s' Culturally, the above practice is likely to bring similar people together. A load of inner-city Black kids who listen to their parents reggae records are going to form a reggae band whilst the inner city White kids go down the indie route. The middle class kids in Canterbury, who all had classical music lessons as kids, form prog bands etc etc. The motivation and drivers have changed over the years and splintered. One of these shards is made up of the kids who think that the way forward is to 'manufacture' the ideal band. These are the people who want the musicians they employ to 'fit' with the overall concept be that the right age, gender, height (I was once refused an audition with a name band for being too tall) etc. Prince had his 'pimp' thing going on but he would book people who weren't thin. he also booked women by the dozen. We now have front men as the only known artist backed by anonynous pros who can be thin, fat, tall or short because they are generally out of the spotlight. The point is, many of the acts out there now are not music, they are theatre and theatre is generally not covered by discrimination legislation because of the 'authenticity' clause. Indian waiters for Indian restaurants; female bass players for all-female bands. Outside of the mainstream, there are thousands of bands that are multi-ethnic, multi-gender, a range of ages etc etc. In the last six months I have played with people/promoted gig with musicians who are Polish, Brazilian, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Lithuanian, Irish, Scottish and English. Several female players have appeared (not just singers but trumpters, saxophonists and pianists - I have played with some great female drummers over the years but not recently) and the age range is deeply encouraging. The issue that the OP raises is a genuine problem but only if you have the expectation that your demographic should not matter in any circusmtance. It doesn't in many, many situations. Jazz is the one I am involved with but Folk, Prog, World Music etc are all a lot less 'bigoted' than mainstream popular musics where the 'product' is not just the music but the whole package. If you need amusician to be able to dance, I, for one, am screwed!! Of course, the other thing is that older people are less available for intensive rehearsals, tours etc because they are more likely to have responsibilities that prevent them from being away from home. It's not the age, it's the differing priotities. Re: Peter King - I said at the time. At 75 years old and barely able to walk, PK kicked my arse BIG TIME.

Their Vocalese LP is exquisite.

Andy and Mike are both great players and great teachers. You can't go wrong with either of them. I am in Felixstowe and I don't teach so take the above as a recommendation without prejudice.

Get well soon, Dad. Now, where is the January picture?

You didn't play Moondance. Everything else, I can forgive.

Bass-wise, I am home and dry but, if I can sell my Gibbo, it's two Ovation electro acoustic guitars for me!!

I do not have this problem. My wife bought me a surprise guitar for Christmas.

Listen to the whole video; Marion Montgomery is not mentioned very often but has a great touch but Dudley is a monster in every sense. Absolute magic. Who said Jazz can't be entertaining? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS8Va_z-2bA

The suspense is killing me!!!!

People need to understand that there are more ways to engage an audience than eye contact and posturing, more ways to create a show than flashbombs and smoke machines and more ways to move people than facial cues and staring into the middle distance. Not all audiences want to dance.

Yes. An early influence in my NWOBHM days.