Leonard Smalls

I get round playing covers I don't like by being in an originals band... That way we get to play songs wot we wrote ourselves and like a lot, but nobody else likes 'em. Luckily, we don't like crowded places.

Most often, I come along with the bass lines/chord sequences etc for a song which everybody works out a part for (or sometimes I suggest), and singer writes lyrics. A couple of times our singer has come along with lyrics which we'll then work out riffage for. Either way, we jam it until it works. With a cover we'll look for a spin on the idea like funkin' or punkin' itup, or making it into a mash-up. I object to doing straight covers!

And from the same sort of place, but different 😁

Some Buttholes...

Here's some racquet... I got to thinking about a certain type of person for whom the future is only acceptable if it stays exactly the same as the present, hence a ditty about some bloke who won't never grow up. All is by me, except some EZ drummer loops (plus some programmed by me). All mixed in Ableton with bass fx by Helix, guitar tones by Bias FX, keyboard is Iris. Everything's rolled in the glitter that is Ozone 9.

She's my neighbour! And very nice she is too...

Funny you should say that... Here's my song for this month:

I sort of regret that time 30-odd years ago when there were a number of record company scouts coming to see us at the Bull and Gate, and we thought that if we got completely off our faces we'd play much better. We couldn't... And worse, we thought we'd played really well! However, it probably did me a favour in the long run.

Today it's a touch of compressed Ampeg model in one Helix path, the other path with tube overdrive, plate reverb and Wah. Yesterday it was a Royal Blood sort of thing with bass in one path and autowah screaming guitar in the other. Before that with an actual pedalboard it was whatever craziness I could conjure from Qtron and bass-synth. Tomorrow, who knows?

I'm not quite as flamboyant as I used to be... Then (me in beautiful wedding dress) With the Weeds And more recently, Captain Square in sparkley leggings

Favourite jazz bass player? Always liked Jamaaladeen Tacuma for his harmolodic grooves. And loved Melvin Gibbs power in both Avant jazz and rock - I've seen him with Bill Frisell, Sonny Sharrock, Defunct and Rollins Band so proper versatile. Though neither specifically play a jazz . I've seen Jamalaadeen with a Rick, a Kubicki in pink, a Steinberger cricket bat and some weird cross between a Barbie doll and a Les Paul!

I suspect many will agree! My first thought was it was just random noises, but I actually ended up listening to the whole thing and found it rather haunting and hypnotic... I'm not normally one for ambient backgroundy stuff but liked this!

I'm quite happy with my main rig - DBX rack compressor, BBE pre-amp and Crown 2 channel power amp bridged to give 1500W into a Markbass 2x10 and Markbass 4x10. So I can take either or both cabs depending on the gig. It's also almost impossible to get any sort of distortion or overdrive out of the rig - max gain on the pre results in a little bit of thickening. Which in my book is excellent, as any distortion or FX come from my Helix meaning my on-stage sound is similar to front of house (assuming soundperson thinks bass definition is something they need to worry themselves about).

Local Hereford crew...

Nice bit of early Simple Minds. Reminds me of RoxyBowie Nite at Angels Nite Spot in Chester back in 1982! (they couldn't spell in them days...)

I keep mine in the shed next to the shovel, spades and mattock.

This is my favourite!

From my mum's side we got anything up to Rachmaninov, then she started doing her LRAM and we got right up to date with a touch of Shostakovich. And from my dad's side we got really modern, with Sidney Bechet, Chris Barber and Acker Bilk. My dad's reaction to popular music on TOTP was usually "Do they want to go to the toilet?", and my mum would say "what a disgusting noise!". As a result I like to make as much of a racket as I can!

It wouldn't let me buy 2!

Think I just bought the last set! No delivery till 11th December though?

Dreary and rather dull. A bit of a dirge. Not quite dire, but definitely distinctly disappointing.

Bit of forgotten 70s fusion featuring the flute stylings of Jeremy Steig with (wait for it!) Anthony Jackson on bass, Alphonse Mouzon on drums and bizarrely, Johny Winters of guitars!

Heavying up the fusion a bit...

Own up... Who voted for me? I thought I'd managed to make my entry so unpleasant that folks wouldn't be able to listen to it! What does a guy have to do to get nul points round here? Just wait till next month...

Slightly crazed Zorn and Frisell...