meterman

Great record, love a bit of Dennis Brown!

On a more Ethio tip are The Sorcerers. Straight outta Leeds! Signed to the excellent ATA label which is also home to The Lewis Express and Nat Birchall among others, the whole label has a lot of interesting things going on. If you're into the jazzier side of soul and funk, or the funkier side of jazz the label is worth a look. But anyway, The Sorcerers. They've got it totally locked. And bonus points for using a Jedson tele bass and a Philicorda organ (Philips home entertainment keyboard from the 60s) and making it work. 😎

Loved both of those! The Shaolin Afronauts I knew a little bit, but the Maisha tune was a new one to me. Great mix of jazz and Afrobeat influence. Thank you!

Loved that, thank you!

Marley all day long! 😎

@itu +1 for King Sunny Ade and his African Beats, and you're dead right about Island Records. They had great artists in pretty much every genre, but for me especially African and Jamaican. And I thought the light blue / dark blue labels was a great touch. Here's a couple of tunes from an album that was released in 2015 that still hits the spot for me. Baba Sissoko - "Three Gees". A proper family affair, it's Baba and his wife and their daughter Djana with an electric backing band that includes Corey Harris and musicians from the Daptone Records roster. It goes from bluesy to funky to soulful and back, and the whole LP is a great listen imho. If these tunes float your boat, go down the YouTube rabbit hole of live clips of Baba Sissoko and his band in radio sessions and at festivals. Absolutely compelling stuff if African gear is your thing 😎

I had some European dates in March and April get cancelled. And some in October as well. Got an email yesterday asking me if I'm okay with the March/April dates being rescheduled for next March! I've got no other gigs in the diary until then and no fixed income either. I know it's safety first and all that, but I'm still a bit gutted. I just want to play live again.

Ezra Collective are great, both live and on record. Saw them cover a Fela tune and they put their own spin on it, a real sense of joy from them. Nomo is Elliot Bergman, who makes high-end electric kalimbas. A guy I play for has done records with him, that's my claim to fame haha 🤣

Yep, that's scorchiooooo alright!!! I've played this in live DJ sets and it's always got people moving: And of course, this does it for me all day long: 😎

As soon as I hear the intro to this, I'm instantly up: The Isleys version is great but this one edges it slightly for me.

I absolutely love short scale basses but I often used to struggle with getting them to record well, it would always be the E string. Over the years I've had: early 1970s Shaftesbury Tele bass copy (beautiful to play, horrible to record with) 1978 cream Fender Musicmaster (recorded okay, but was the heaviest bass I've ever owned) 1978 black Fender Mustang (looked cool but was 'meh' all over) 2003 fiesta red MIJ Fender Mustang reissue (sold one Xmas when I was skint) 1997 surf green Squier Vista Musicmaster (beautiful to look at, but the frets started lifting so I moved it on) 1997 black Squier Vista Musicmaster (was okay but sold it to part finance another Mustang) 2008 oly white MIJ Fender Mustang (was nice but I swapped it for a 1966 Gibson ES-125T) 2012 silver sparkle Mikey Way sig Squier Mustang (kept the neck for a partscaster Mustang) 2000's black Squier Mustang (kept the body for a partscaster Mustang) I've still got a little Tanglewood EB-18 kid's bass I found in a charity shop as well. Not sure what the scale length is but I'm guessing 25" or something as it's tiny, really feels like a toy! It's got La Bella strings on it now and was my only bass for a couple of years. Fun to play but really hit or miss to record with. I wouldn't rule out another Mustang. If I had the funds I'd buy a JMJ Mustang reissue today. Like, right now. Maybe I'll find one someday when I've got disposable £'s. Anyhow, have a couple of gratuitous pics:

Newen Afrobeat are soundtracking my morning 😎 There seems to be about 3 dozen musicians onstage, I bet their rider requirements are insane. Great tune though.

I know what you mean! I definitely prefer their more dubby material but I like Caravan as well. Easily pleased, that's me 😂

Dutch band Jungle By Night used to be good live, especially for a bunch of young'uns, and they're still worth seeing but have moved away from their Afrobeat beginnings lately. Great clip of them playing live in the street here, skip to 6:00 minutes in for the grooves: Nice competition Mustang bass too 😎

I visited there infrequently, was disappointed to find it closed down. London's been going that way for ages.

That's making me grin like a fool 😃 Thank you! Percussion is my main instrument (or instruments, there's loads of them). I used to play shekere, woodblock and conga all night in an Afrobeat band and I'd zone out, just focussing on the basslines. One of our favourite Antibalas performances was the Tiny Desk Concert. Full marks to the 3D specs-wearing drummer and the organist with an alien mask on:

@Reggaebass Fred Locks, nice one! My local reggae vinyl shop was Dub Vendor in Ladbroke Grove. Was a shame when it left the area, I reckon that's when Notting Hill went Down Hill after that!

I love the look of your bass, but what's that little red amp on the stool behind it? Is it some fancy practice amp? Intrigued. 🤔

I was wondering how much love there is for Afrobeat 'round these parts? Not just the classic old school Fela Kuti and Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou and The Funkees and Tony Allen etc, but also the modern day revival acts like Antibalas, Vaudou Game, Fanga, Newen Afrobeat, Bixiga 70 etc? I used to play percussion in an Afrobeat / Jazz hybrid outfit and it was some of the deepest, funkiest, most life-affirming music I've ever been involved in. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Please share some of your favourites, old and new, if you're a fan of this stuff. Afrobeat, African funk and soul, highlife, anything 😎 The band that kicked off the current revival was probably The Daktaris. Martin Perna and co. recorded just one studio LP before evolving into the band that became Antibalas, but that whole album is killer! The video is the most boring YT video ever but the basslines totally hit the spot 👍 Vaudou Game are a great live band, I saw them twice midway down the bill at festivals and they absolutely destroyed it for the poor bands that had to follow them: The Budos Band's output varies a lot, but when they're on an Afro tip they totally nail it: And from France, Fanga. They often had Tony Allen sit in with them and, again, a devastatingly funky live act: Please if you're into this stuff feel free to add your faves to the thread! Cheers - Lee

Sunday reggae thread update time! From Brazil, Buena Onda Reggae Club: and from darn sarf, The Skints. A band I was in supported them once and they were brilliant live, defo want to see them again: and a bit of an old school UK favourite on Greensleeves, Reggae Regular "It's Coming", the flipside of "Black Star Liner". Always loved the bass on this, he's pretty much freestyling it all the way through. Around 3:01 when the bass comes back in after a drop out it makes me smile every time: Enjoy, folks

The sun's trying to get out here, time for some tunes 👍 An old fave from the wonderfully named 10ft Ganja Plant: A classic from Joe Gibbs with one of my all time favourite basslines. Nice 'doorbell in dub' action too: Then an older fave from Lennie Hibbert: Then me doing a cheeky cover of Lennie Hibbert on a 4-track cassette recorder for a daft laugh. Lo-fi AF but it was fun to do: Let's hope the sun gets out eh?

I reckon I could probably get away with one bass for the rest of my days. And I'd be happy if it was the bass I've just bought, a MIJ Squier Bullet. I only have two sounds anyway - flats played near the neck and flats played near the bridge. Three sounds if you count playing with a pick. At one time I had 5 basses (USA Fender Bullet, a Squier Mustang, an infuriating Shaftesbury Tele style bass, a little Tanglewood EF-18 from a charity shop, and an unbranded short scale acoustic bass) but I sounded pretty much the same on all of them. Could have been the flats, but more than likely it's my lack of proper technique. That's my signature sound: lack of proper technique 😂 and I only need one bass for that!

Great minds, etc! 😎 I'm going to get one made, so when I've got it I'll share a pic or two. I'll need to get some black Mustang pickup covers as well...

GAS for me would be an Ampeg Portaflex as I don't currently own a dedicated bass amp. If it could be the old one from Vintage & Rare on Denmark Street that made everything sound amazing then that would be it. I've no room for one but I'd still looooove one! Also a Fender Telecaster bass. Don't need one and can't afford one but would still have one. Phwoar. And #3 would be non-bass related, a vintage Wurlitzer 106P electric piano, in orange please. Prices on these now are insane so I'll have to make do with my little Yamaha Reface CP. The Reface does the job but it's no Wurly!