Even if I am fond of “real” acoustic instruments,I have always been intrigued by “synthetic” wind instruments,be them sampled or synthesized. For example,I really like some flute patches that come with the for the Yamaha VL70-m,and I find them quite expressive and playable with my Akai EWI 4000s. Alas,I always failed at finding a decent implementation of a virtual sax. Using a sampler rather than a synth – including synths that use physical modeling to replicate the sound characteristics of a real wind instrument,as is the case of the VL70-m – surely delivers a result closer to a natural sax sound,yet I have always been disappointed by the lack of playability and the inability of achieving the many timbre variations that only a real sax can offer. When I decided to record music for sax quartet,the choice was between purchasing a real tenor and baritone (to be added to my alto and soprano) or trying again with a sampled instrument. This is how I got to and its range of products,which includes brass (Trumpet,Trombone,and French Horn &Tuba) and woodwind instruments (Saxophones,Clarinets,Flutes,and Double Reeds).

Their list price ranges from 159 euros (about 200$) for products with two instruments (e.g. Trumpet,Trombone and Clarinets) up to 259 euros (330$) for packages with four instruments,such as Saxophones (which includes soprano,alto,tenor,and baritone) and Double Reeds (oboe,English horn,bassoon,and contrabassoon). These price tags make Samplemodeling products more expensive than libraries that offer hundreds instruments for a fraction of a dollar each,but this comparison is misleading,because none of the instruments in these libraries can really compete with Samplemodeling. The company has been on the market for a while and gained a very high reputation among musicians,especially EWI players. The first line of their products is based on the Native Instruments’ Kontakt platform,and in fact they include the free Kontakt Player for users who don’t own the complete product. This holds true for brass instruments,but newer woodwind instruments – including The Saxophones – are based on a proprietary engine named SWAM (Synchronous Wavelength Acoustic Modeling).

For more tech information about SWAM check,but for now it’s enough to say that this platform is a further step towards more realistic virtual woodwind instruments. SWAM instruments don’t require you to install the Kontakt player. Installation,licensing and required hardware The good news is Samplemodeling software needs no dongle key (e.g. The ),which means you don’t have to give up to a USB port on your computer AND you don’t feel you are treated as a potential pirate. Instead,you get two license keys,which allow you to install their software on two different computers. If you buy a third computer you can have one key deactivated and reactivated on the new hardware.

As is common with most vendors,a valid license gives you the ability to download future minor releases of the same product,without having to pay for a yearly subscription. My review is based on version 2.4,but I learned that version 2.5 is about to be made available (for free) to all registered users. Samplemodeling instruments work on Windows XP and later and on Mac (OSX 10.6 and later). They are provided only as plug-ins in the VST2,AAX,and AudioUnit formats,therefore they require a plug-in host such as Cubase,Live,Logic,or ProTools. If you don’t have a host program,you can use a free one,such as. In all my tests I used the AudioUnit version loaded inside Apple MainStage 3. Interestingly,Samplemodeling virtual instruments are built with the wind player in mind:unlike other software,you must use either a wind controller (such as the Akai EWI or Yamaha WX5),a MIDI keyboard with either a breath controller (such as the Yamaha BC3) or – at the very least – an expression pedal that emits CC11 messages.

Without any of these MIDI controllers,SWAM instruments don’t sound at all! Installing The Saxophones on my MacBook Pro was a breeze. I haven’t used by second serial key yet,therefore I don’t know how it works on a Windows system,but I don’t expect any trouble. I scanned the before getting the software,and the satisfaction level among users is impressively high. This surely means something.

First impressions Quite opportunely,Samplemodeling provides three configurations to start with:for keyboard players with an expression pedal,for keyboard players with breath controller,and for wind controller players. Each configuration correctly initializes the program’s parameters to work properly with the corresponding MIDI controller,and in fact all the four instruments of The Saxophones worked “well enough” as soon as I loaded them in MainStage. But probably “well enough” isn’t enough for you,thus you need to read the manual to get the best out of these instruments;failing to do so means that you are leveraging a fraction of their potential. The documentation is short,clear and concise,and just takes a few minutes. Once I grasped the fundamental concepts,it took less than one hour to tweak the many available parameters until I got the sound and the responsiveness I expected.

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The parameters are grouped in three distinct sets: • basic sound parameters,in the main window • advanced sound parameters,in the Options window • MIDI CC mappings,also in the Options window Let’s have a look at basic parameters first,even though they aren’t really “basic”,as you’ll see in a moment. In the top half of the window you can set the intonation (in Hertz or cents),the transposition (in semitones),the pitchbend up and down ranges,the volume,and the pan. You can also control reverb,even though I prefer MainStage’s own reverb plug-ins because they provide more options. A rectangular area in the center of the main window shows a subset of the messages arriving from the MIDI controller,i.e. Pitch bend,velocity,expression (CC11) or breach (CC2),and vibrato. It also provides a graph of the dynamic envelope and shows how the software is interpreting the way you articulate the phase (e.g.

Legato or staccato). These pieces of information are crucial,because The Saxophones – unlike traditional samplers – uses sophisticated algorithms to understand the musician’s intentions and generates slightly different sounds depending on the result of this analysis. If what you hear isn’t what you had in mind,you should keep an eye on these parameters to understand how the software is analyzing your playing style. The quest for the perfect parameter value In the bottom half of the main window you see more advanced controls that directly affect the resulting sound.

Your first option is which instrument/microphone combination you want to use:each sax model (soprano,alto,tenor,and bari) provides between 8 and 10 variations,labeled with names such as “Sax 1 Dry” or “Sax 2 Bright”. Each variations results in a slightly different timbre,even though the differences aren’t always noticeable,at least to my ears. After some tests,I found myself focusing on two or three different variations for each sax model. Except for a few sliders whose meaning is obvious – for example,the amount of growl,the compressor rate,and the release time – the controls in this area require a deep knowledge of acoustic principles and honestly I can’t really claim I could grasp the meaning of each of them.

In some cases I managed to have interesting sound variations by moving a slider,in others I found no audible difference,probably because some controls must be adjusted in groups rather than individually. For example,I found out that lowering the default value of the Dyn.Pitch parameter – which controls random pitch fluctuations in response to different breath intensity – allows me to articulate phases in a way that is closer to my playing style on the real instrument. Likewise,increasing the SubHarm value – which simulates the sub-harmonics that acoustic instruments create one octave below the played note – results in a “richer” sound. Some parameters are meant to be controlled dynamically by sending CC messages from your MIDI controls.

For example,the Growl and Flutter Tongue values should be set to zero because you don’t want these effects in allyour phrases:by mapping them to specific CC messages you can enable them on-the-fly and add expressiveness to your phrases. A couple of sliders affect the noise produced by breath and keys;when playing at low volume,these two parameters add realism to the sound. You can control them using CC messages,too,but in practice their default value is OK for most circumstances. As if all these options weren’t enough,the Options button (near the bottom-left corner) brings up a window with additional advanced parameters (see right portion of following figure). Here you can set the way portamento and vibrato work,the expression curve,under which circumstances the virtual sax “overblows”,etc.

I haven’t played much with these values,because I was already satisfied with their default value,but it’s good to know that you have so many options to tailor the virtual instrument to your taste and style. The SWAM engine also supports microtones and non-tempered tuning. In the Options window you can select the detuning value (in cents) for each of the twelve semitones,but this operation alone doesn’t change the intonation. Instead,you have to activate the microtuning feature either in the main window or by sending a specific CC message. In either case,you can decide which notes use the alternate tuning. Notice that you can detune any note by the desired amount of cents,but you still have “only” 12 notes available:this means,for example,that you can play non-tempered Indian ragas and other Eastern scales but you still can’t perform any sort of quarter-tone compositions,which would require up to 24 different keys. Optimal MIDI and EWI settings The fields in the left portion of the Options window allow you to customize how MIDI CC messages map to most of the parameters just described.

The default mappings are reasonable,yet they assume that you have a large number of CC controllers available,such as a MIDI keyboard with a lot of sliders and knobs or – if you are an EWI player – a foot MIDI controller such as Behringer FBC1010 or McMillen SoftStep. Even if I have both these foot controllers,my goal was to achieve good results with the EWI alone,thus I spent some time to configure the software and the EWI for the highest expressiveness. Here’s the configuration I came up with. In the SWAM Engine: Trasposition: +3 semitones for alto and baritone,-2 semitones for soprano and tenor – this means that a given fingering delivers the same note that would produce on the real instrument,so for example the low Bb generates more or less the same characteristic tone you get from the saxophone.

PitchBend Up: 0.0 semitones – this is necessary so that you can use the EWI pitchbend plate to send a specific CC message without affecting the pitch. PitchBend Down: 1.0 semitones – with an acoustic sax you typically don’t “bend” a note for more than a semitone;besides,using a small value allows you to achieve a “pitch vibrato” by rapidly moving the thumb on the EWI pitchbend plate.

Expression: mapped to CC2 (breath controller),the standard setting if you select the wind instrument configuration. Vibrato Rate: mapped to CC1 (default),to allow you to apply vibrato using the modulation wheel (on a keyboard) or the pitchbend up plate on the EWI (by using the configuration described below).

Portamento Time: mapped to CC5 (default) Growl: mapped to CC4,so that you can add growl effect by pressing an auxiliary key on the EWI (see below). Overblow: mapped to CC64,so that you can achieve this effect by pressing a key on the EWI (see below). On the EWI: You should configure the EWI to send note velocity and breath information (CC2) with each note,and not send volume (CC7) messages. Sending velocity doesn’t really change the note volume or timbre (which depends on CC2),but can affect other behaviors,for example the transition time from note to note during glissandos.

To match the SWAM settings described above,you should map pitchbend up values to the CC1 (modulation) message,which lets you easily have a variable degree of vibrato by simply sliding your right thumb up the pitchbend plate. The Glide plate should map to CC5,so that it controls the portamento in legato phrases. The Hold key – i.e. The auxiliary key closer to the mouthpiece – should be mapped to CC64 and send the value 65 (or any value greater than 64) when pressed the first time,so that you can activate overblow mode by just pressing this EWI key. Pressing it again disables overblow. The Octave auxiliary key should be mapped to CC4 so that you can achieve the growl effect by pressing a single key;in the setup you should specify a value between 30 and 127,depending on the amount of growl you desire. Unfortunately,the EWI can only send a single value,thus you can’t apply a varying degree of growl unless you use a MIDI foot controller.

Pressing the key again returns to normal (non-growl) sound. Alternatively,you can give up to either overblow or growl,and instead use one of the EWI auxiliary keys to activate microtuning. Finally,I strongly recommend that you reduce the delay that the EWI introduces between playing a fingered note;the default value for this parameter is 7 and you probably never edited it,but Samplemodeling tech support recommends adopting a lower value,say 3 or 4,to reduce the number of “ghost” MIDI notes that the instrument sometimes emits and that is sometimes responsible for spurious notes,clicks,etc. Reality check It’s time to answer the questions that always come up when speaking about virtual instruments:do these instruments sound as good as the “real” ones? Can “The Saxophones” replace real,acoustic saxes? Unfortunately,the only answer I can provide is:it depends. More precisely,it depends on why you want to use a virtual instrument in the first place and what are your expectations.

Let’s start saying that the quality of sound is fully satisfactory:if you play single notes or slow musical phrases,the saxes in “The Saxophones” can be hardly distinguished from acoustic instruments. Same consideration applies if you want to record a big band section:to get the idea,listen to the demos in. In the hands of a good EWI player,a virtual sax can be also used to play ballads and medium-tempo songs,as demonstrates. Samplemodeling instruments were accurately recorded in an with expensive mics and using first-class instruments played by professional musicians,thus a recording session based on these sampled instruments can often deliver better results that those you typically obtain in your home studio. If you don’t have four saxophonists at hand,“The Saxophones” is your next better option.

The sound of all the instruments provided in the package is equally good,yet I have my preferences. In my opinion,the baritone and the soprano delivers slightly better results,then comes the tenor and finally the alto.

But again,this is my personal opinion and it probably depends on me being an alto sax player,which means that have higher expectations for that specific model. Playing these virtual instruments in live gigs can be challenging.

The detail that makes the biggest difference between a virtual or real sax isn’t the sound itself,rather it’s the playability of the virtual instrument:a sampled instrument just cannot render the countless timbre and articulation variations that you can achieve with an acoustic instrument,such as alternate fingerings and different tonguing techniques;you can sing in the instrument,use multiphonics,produce vibrato by using either the breath or the jaw,and so forth. You can’t reasonably expect that a virtual instrument can implement all these techniques,even though Samplemodeling offer some interesting possibilities,for example in the way they implement growl and flutter tonguing. Just remember that every single detail of how these instruments sound can be controlled via CC messages:if you really want to get the best results you should read the manual,learn how to tweak the most important parameters,and maybe use an EWI with a MIDI foot controller (or a master MIDI keyboard with a breath controller and a lot of sliders and knobs). I came acress this 75-minute seminar by Lenny Pickett,held at Broken Arrow Jazz Band facilities. The video was posted in July 2014 and has been watched to only a few hundred times,which is a pity because it is quite interesting.

For those who aren’t familiar with him:Lenny is sax,flute and clarinet player and is considered a master in altissimo register,alternate fingerings and all sort of tricks and interesting sounds you can get out of a wind instrument. He played with Tower of Power and the Saturday Night Live band. The seminar has been split if five videos.

During the seminar Lenny performs a few of his compositions for sax or clarinet solo,which are impressive and that demonstrate how to use harmonics,multiphonics,slap toungue and altissimo register notes in a very musical context. Happy watching! I just uploaded edition 1.02 of, which adds a few more scales,fixes minor mistakes and is still (and will always be) absolutely FREE. With 399 distinct scales and 1,030 scale synonyms,you can hardly find a better value at this price! A big thank you goes to Bob Hartig,saxophonist,editor,and author of,who kindly offered to edit and improve this book’s introduction as only a native language writer can do. If you are a jazz musician,do yourself a favor and check out Bob’s.

And if you need the assistance of a professional editor or writer,visit his site Download the new 430-page booklet or read it online at home page. Every now and them I have a look at saxopedia stats,to learn what pages are viewed the most and which ones are less interesting for my fellow musicians. For example,in a few days the free “The Scale Omnibus”book has been downloaded by more than 3,000 people,and the trend seems growing. The book raised a lot of interest,which makes me very happy. A great reward for the many evenings spent researching,typing and proofreading. Not surprisingly,the most popular pages are those devoted to transcribed solos. In the last 30 days these pages were visited 40,000 times,with half of the visits going to the sax transcription pages.

More than 50,000 solos have been downloaded,most of which are 2-3 pages long. Given that an average book with transcribed contains 120-150 pages,it is as if saxopedia were giving away one thousand transcription books each month. Not bad at all! The Scale Omnibus is a FREE 430-page book that describes as many as 399 distinct scales in all 12 keys,with synonyms,historical notes,chords over which the scale sounds well,summary tables,and more. It took hours of researching,typing,read-proofing,and double-checking and might easily be the most complete book on this topic.

I am very glad to offer it to instrumentalists,vocalists,composers,improvisers,students,music amateurs and all saxopedia readers. Feel free to share this material with your fellow musicians.

However,instead of passing a copy of the PDF,please point them to,so that they can download the most recent edition. Hello, it has been a while since the last site update in January. Sorry,I have been busy with my daily job and many other things. But above all I realized that taking care of both the English and Italian versions of saxopedia is just too much for me and my scarce spare time. I need to keep this task to a manageable size. With much regret I decided to “freeze”the of saxopedia:the site will continue to exist but it won’t be updated in parallel with the English version. For example,all solo pages will just point to the pages on www.saxopedia.com.

Also,I decided to trim down the iOS section of this site,which now is reduced to a (with over one hundred links,though). There are so many sites entirely devoted to making music on the iPhone and iPad,and I am sure no one will miss this section.

I am putting all the saved time to good use,as you’ll see soon. To begin with,I just added over 100 new solo transcriptions to the sax,trumpet,bass,guitar and piano pages. The NEA Jazz Masters Awards Ceremony &Concert will be webcast at 7:30 pm EST on January 13,2014,from The Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center. As we honor Jamey Aebersold,Anthony Braxton,Richard Davis and Keith Jarrett with the nation’s highest jazz award,we will hear incredible performances by past honorees and the 2014 NEA Jazz Masters themselves. I am glad for all these great musicians,all of them deserve this award but –indirectly and a bit paradoxically –the one in the group who did more for jazz diffusion is also the less popular one among the “average”jazz lover. My sincerest wishes to James Aebersold,to whom several generations of jazz musicians owe so much. I finally got some spare time to have a look at a few music books that are stacking on my desk.

The one on the top is Slick Licks That Stick,by saxophonist Bobby Stern. Some (or many) of you might already be familiar with Bobby,him being the author of,published in 2006 by James Aebersold. More recently he turned to self-publishing,and the e-book I am reviewing here is his first work. (There is also Slick Licks That Sticks,volume II,that was released some days ago.) Slick Licks That Stick contains 167 pages of exercises and etudes,plus an index and some notes. However the book uses the landscape orientation,pages are smaller than the standard A4 and each page contains only 4 staves. Broadly and large,it therefore corresponds to an 80-page book in standard layout.

Unlike most exercise books,it doesn’t attempt to cover every single chord progression or scale. Instead,it contains 10 specific (and partially unrelated) sections,that analyze topics on which the author believes he can provide a better insight,and rightly so. While the quality of the material is high,on the average,there are sections that I like very much and other that I don’t find particularly exciting. Let’s see each section in detail.

Chapter 1:Pentatonic Modes is arguably the least interesting of the entire book. It covers the classic Major Pentatonic (e.g.

CDEGA),the Pentatonic b3 scale (derived from the Melodic Minor scale),the Pentatonic b6 scale,and the Pentatonic b2 scale (derived from the Diminished scale). For each scale it displays straight runs over its five modes.

I assume that any average player will not even look at these pages once he or she understands the obvious pattern used to build the exercise. Chapter 2:Augmented Scale Patterns is where the interesting stuff begins. It shows how to use arpeggios and intervals over this often-neglected scale and in this case I do welcome the fact that each pattern is repeated for each key (more precisely,for each of the 4 distinct versions of this symmetrical scale). Chapter 3:Coltrane Changes shows how to use basic 4-note patterns over a Coltrane change chord sequence. You will find this chapter very useful if you are new to this sequence,yet it might be a bit too basic if you are already familiar with it. At the end of the chapter you can also find some interesting patterns built using the Augmented scale. Chapter 4:Triad Pairs shows how to alternate a Major triad with a Minor triad a 3rd minor above it.

Rather than leading you into creating musical ideas on this sequence,the chapter includes just one series of ascending arpeggios,repeated in all 12 keys. As it is the case with chapter 1,I found that transposing these arpeggios in your mind is a better exercise than reading them on a book. Chapter 5:Chromatic Finger Busters is exactly what the title implies,that is a series of fast exercises built over the chromatic scale that aim at improving your chops rather than providing complete musical ideas. If played at up tempos these exercises can be truly challenging,and I like them a lot. Chapter 6:Intervalic ii-Vs includes a couple of ii-V patterns built over fourth intervals and pentatonic scales,and shows how to momentarily play “outside” and then back inside at the end of the pattern. Good stuff that doesn’t sound as “already-heard-of.” Chapter 7:Melodic Minor Bebop Scales includes runs of the little-used Melodic Minor Bebop scale (e.g.

Nothing else but straight runs up and down the seven modes of this scale. The same considerations I gave for Chapter 1 apply here as well. Chapter 8:Melodic Minor 4th Stacks contains non-obvious arpeggio patterns built over the Melodic Minor scale,which can be useful if you are tired of playing using plain thirds. Chapter 9:Melodic Minor Polymodal ii-V7 explains how to cleverly use modes of the Melodic Minor scales over the classic ii-V7 progression. It contains 15 different patterns (in all keys),all of which sound quite intriguing to me. Chapter 10:Melodic Minor Etudes contains three etudes on the minor scale.

It’s a good departure from the usual all-eight-notes exercises. The bottom line: Slick Licks That Stick contains some great sections and some less useful ones. The chapters on the Melodic Minor scale (7-8-9) are surely the most interesting one,and they justify the $9.99 price tag,unless you believe that you already master this topic. I haven’t had a look at the just published Slick Licks That Stick volume II, so I can’t really recommend it.

This second volume is twice as thick (369 pages) and sells for $13.99,thus you might find it convenient to get the Volume I and II bundle for $19.99. For more information and purchase,visit. Even if you aren’t interested in this e-book,I strongly recommend paying a visit to,where you can find TONS of useful tips,ideas,exercises,and more. One of the good reasons for jazz players to own an iPad is the ability of using it as a score reader. Unfortunately,finding a score reader app that satisfies all your needs might not be as simple as you might imagine. Before diving into a more detailed review,let me briefly outline the features that,in my opinion,the ideal music reader app should have to appeal a demanding jazz/rock/pop/fusion player. The primary goal for such an app is replacing tons of fake books and paper scores,therefore the most obvious feature is ability to store,browse,search,annotate,and bookmark large PDF files,such as the many editions of the Real Book and other fake books you can find on the Internet.

If you play original compositions or songs that aren’t included in those fake books,adding your own PDF should be a very quick and simple process. Secondly,I want the ability to associate one audio file to each score,so that I don’t have to switch to the iPad music player to listen to the original song or practice over a play-along version of the tune (e.g. Aebersold or Hal Leonard CDs). Ideally,I’d like to associate a given score to multiple audio files,so that I can quickly reach different versions of the same song,or play-along tunes with different tempo or harmonization. Another important feature is the ability to quickly e-mail my scores to other musicians,backup them on the desktop computer (or the cloud,Dropbox,etc.),move scores and associated audio files to another iPad,create song subsets (great for creating the song list for a gig),and print them when necessary. Additionally,a perfect score reader should automatically turn pages,or at least give you the ability to do that with a foot controller. There are a few other,less critical features I’d like to see in a music reader app:a metronome,a tuner,a virtual keyboard (very useful if you are a singer or a choir director).

Being an alto and soprano sax player,I’d also like the capability to store multiple versions of the same song,one transposed in Eb and one in Bb. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * As I anticipated,finding the music reader app that fulfills all my needs hasn’t been simple. The first one I tried was.

It features an elegant and simple user interface,an integrated music player,the ability to turn half-pages (i.e. Displaying the upper half of next page while you read the bottom half of current page),and an impressive arsenal of tools and music symbols for annotating a PDF score. Unfortunately,forScore doesn’t provide indexes for the most popular fake books,therefore you have to create such indexes manually. (Alas,the app occasionally crashed when trying to organize and re-arrange large PDFs.) All in all,forScore is a good app that addresses the needs of classical music players,yet it is less useful for jazz and rock musicians. ForScore My next attempt was,which claims to be the perfect replacement for jazz and rock fake books:it comes with the index of 70+ popular fake books (including many editions of the Real Book,with Bb and Eb versions),plus over the chord progressions of 1,000+ jazz tunes that can be transposed to any key. While these indexes are theoretically very useful,in practice they work flawlessly only if you own exactly the same PDF used to create the index,which isn’t often the case:iGigBook provides a way to define a page offset and compensate for missing pages near the beginning of the PDF,but if your PDF lacks one or more pages in the middle or if own a PDF of a different version of the fake book used to create the index,the iGigBook index is useless.

(Needless to say,the iGigBook documentation can’t include links to the PDFs used the create the index,because it would infringe copyright laws.) In practice,only few of the PDFs I own perfectly match iGigBook indexes,thus I had to create my own indexes. Unfortunately,creating a custom index is a slow and an (unnecessarily) contorted process:you must upload the PDF to the iGigBook website (after creating an account),then enter information about individual songs (title,start page,number of page,etc.),one by one. If your Internet connection isn’t optimal,the workflow can take a lot of time. There is the option to upload a text file in comma-delimited format,containing data of multiple songs,but quite absurdly this simplified procedure can be used only for PDFs with 50 or more songs.

This threshold prevents me from using the simplified upload method for many of my scores (e.g.,none the Aebersold booklets can be uploaded in this way). Once you have (painfully) created your indexes,you must download them from the iGigBook site to your device,which happens automatically the next time you launch the app. IGigBook On the plus side,iGigBook (as well as forScore) allows you to bookmark any page in the score,can import bookmarks scored in PDSs,and can search your music library for music tracks that match the name of the song title that you are current viewing with the option to automatically play the track and repeat it. ( Thank you Phil for correct me on these points) iGigBook has other shortcomings too:its interface isn’t user friendly,it doesn’t offer context-sensitive help and,more importantly,it lacks many other features which I consider as essential.

For example,it has limited sorting capabilities,no integrated tuner or metronome. Conclusion:after wasting a lot of time for my tests,I decided to delete iGigBook from my iPad. For sure,it isn’t worth the $15 I paid for it. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * There are a few other score reader programs in the App Store,but their feature list was too short and/or readers’ comments were negative,thus I was about to abandon my search for the ideal iPad score reader when I finally bumped into. Calypso has an impressive set of features,which almost perfectly matches my wish list. For example,it can handle large PDFs and associate any number of audio files to any song. In addition to setlists,you can create “books”,i.e.

Collections of scores that you can then share using iTunes,iCloud,Bluetooth,Dropbox or email. A song can belong to zero,one or more books,and all of them are automatically inserted in the special “All my songs” book (see figure). You can remove a song from a book,but it will be deleted from the device only if you delete it from the main “All my songs” book. The book list in Calypso You can assign a color label to a song for your own purposes. For example,I might use a red label for songs I play on alto and yellow label for those I play on soprano,but you can find other interesting uses. You can sort the songs in a book by their title,composer,poet (i.e.

Lyrics’ author),genre,color label,or creation date. Calypso comes with indexes for many popular fake books in PDF format and,as it happens for iGigBook,you have to create the index manually if you don’t own the same PDF file used to create the index that comes with the app.

However,the workflow to extract a song from a large PDF is much simpler than in iGigBook:you open the PDF (which you must have copied to the device using iTunes sharing),move to the page where the song begins,and press the “Add Page” button once for each page in the song. It took me a relatively short time to index a couple hundred songs from my Real Books.

As a bonus,you can quickly create a page from a photo taken with the iPad camera,which is very useful during jam sessions. Unlike forScore and iGigBook,Calypso doesn’t really create an index into PDF files.

Instead,it allows you to browse a PDF and then take “snapshots” of one or more pages,which don’t have to be consecutive. This approach has so many benefits that it surprises me that other apps fail to adopt it. For example,individual pages can be resized,tilted and cropped to better fit the iPad display. These snapshots are stored in a single database and you can later remove the original PDF,so you don’t actually waste any memory on the device. In addition to pages and songs,the database includes books,song information and annotation:you can backup this database to your computer or copy it to another iPad. Even more important,a score can be formed by pages taken from different PDFs,thus I can combine the Eb and Bb version of a song (taken from different Real Book editions) in a single score,so I can switch between these versions by simply swiping to the next or previous page. Calypso can associate a song with one or more audio files from the iPad music library,a feature that I consider as essential when practicing. These audio files aren’t stored in the database,yet an option allows you to show them in the iTunes folder,so that you can easily backup them and move them to another iPad.

By the way,you can also record an audio file yourself using the iPad mic,a feature that might be used to music teachers to monitor their students. Calypso lets you to slow down an audio file and/or modify its pitch,a feature that can be very useful when practicing over a though piece of music. There are other iPad apps that offer this feature alone (and honestly do a better job than Calypso),but having it embedded in the score reader app is a real bonus. Calypso lets you associate one or more songs to each score One of the most intriguing features is automatic page layout,i.e.

The ability to create jumps and bookmarks inside a song,and synchronize them with the associated audio file,so that Calypso can automatically turn pages for you. The process to associate a measure in the score to a position in the audio file is simple and effective:you just tap an area in the score while the tune is playing (see figure below). Calypso can interpolate between the bookmarks you defined,therefore you only need to tap when there is a repetition or a-capo,or when the tempo gets faster or slower. All in all,automatic page layout puts Calypso ahead of its competitors,even though – admittedly – preparing a score for it requires a good degree of manual labor.

An example of automatic page layoyut (taken from Calypso's user manual) Calypso includes a simple metronome and the ability to annotate the score with text and markers,even though it isn’t as flexible as forScore in this respect. It lacks a tuner,a virtual keyboard,and a few other frills. It does have the ability to turn pages using a Bluetooth foot controller such as Air Turn BT-105.,yet I would also like to see the same half-page turn feature seen in forScore,that would be useful with scores that haven’t been prepared for automatic page layout.

All in all,Calypso is very robust and can be used with confidence both at home and during gigs. To tell the truth,the program crashed a few times during my tests,but I was impressed by how quickly the offending bugs were found and fixed. Not only that:Siegfried Koester,the developer behind Calypso,was nice enough to share with me some details about future development plans,which are very interesting. Like any piece of software,Calypso isn’t perfect,even though it gets quite close. Some users have complained that the program didn’t behave as they expected,and wrote somewhat negative reviews on the App Store. In many cases,however,the workflow makes sense once you understand that Calypso stores PDF scores using snapshots rather than indexes. It is essential that you read its manual before trying to use it in a real environment.

Calypso’s most recent release offers a more detailed context-sensitive help and introductory screens,thus this is going to be less of a problem. Context-sensitive help,with links to the relevant section in the manual Calypso shares with iGigBook the limitation of pre-built,non-flexible indexes for popular fake books.

However,the author told me that a future release will make much simpler to modify existing indexes to adapt to PDFs with missing pages or taken from different editions of a given fake book. There are a few other features I’d like to see in Calypso,for example additional fields for song metadata and the ability to filter the song list by these fields;the capability to loop between two positions in the audio files,that would be useful to practice the most difficult sections of a song;an integrated tuner and virtual keyboard (as in forScore);the ability to turn page using the new IK Multimedia’s iRig Blueboard or other MIDI foot controllers (in addition to dedicated Bluetooth page turner foot controllers).

These are minor improvements,though,and the author told me that some of them (and many others) are planned for future versions of Calypso. The bottom line:if you own an iPad,Calypso Score is a must-have! It changed the way I study and play with my band. At just $6 it’s a bargain you can’t miss. If you aren’t sure yet,try:it’s a free version that comes with indexes for 25 popular fake books and allows you to add a limited number of personal scores,so you can see whether Calypso Score is your ideal music score reader app without spending a dime.

In the third and final installment of his popular Walking Bass Line Module System instructional series, Todd Johnson expands upon the fundamental components of triad and scale modules that he presented in the preceeding volumes. Johnson demonstrates how to improvise walking bass lines using rhythmic articulations. He also discusses modal bass line construction, two-beat playing, building bass lines on the E and A strings, playing in 3, transcribing, and more. This volume, available exclusively as a downloadable file directly from Johnson's web site, also comes with all of the exercises notated in PDF format. Recognized for his work with Joe Satriani, Frank Gambale, and Steve Vai, Stuart Hamm teaches you the fundamentals of bass playing in Bass Bassics. Combining decades of top-level stage and studio experience with an innovative approach to accelerate the learning process, Hamm walks you through each of the lessons in this 2-DVD set without requiring you to struggle through tedious examples and exercises.

From tuning up to nailing your first audition, Hamm provides the foundation for aspiring bassists. Developed for intermediate-level bassists, Fretboard Fitness For Electric Bass by Stuart Hamm is an efficient and well-balanced method of study that is aimed to save you hundreds of hours of wasted practice. It features exercises for navigating the fretboard, building hand strength, and understanding the essential principles of music theory and harmony which are required to play all styles of music. This package contains 159 minutes of videos over the course of 40 lessons, practice rhythm tracks, text commentary, notation, tablature, and power tab. Featuring 20 individual lessons by internationally recognized instructor Roy Vogt, 16 hours of video instruction recorded from five different angles on 10 HD DVDs, over 100 play-along videos with a band of professional Nashville studio musicians, an innovative real-time fretboard that appears throughout the lessons to demonstrate the exact notes which are being played, a 162-page lesson book, and unlimited access to ThunderRow, an online community and support website, Teach Me Bass Guitar is the most comprehensive program ever produced specifically for bass players. Just a few of the topics discussed during this course include scales, chords, sight reading, improvisation, slapping, tapping, and the Nashville Number System.

Vogt, the first person to receive a Masters Degree in Electric Bass Performance (University of Miami), has been teaching at the university level for thirty years, and since 1983, he has held the bass chair at Belmont University in Nashville. Teach Me Bass Guitar was awarded a 2009 Telly Award for excellence in video production and an AEGIS award for excellence in education. Bass Guitar Basics is the essential quick start method and music primer for electric bass guitar by Stuart Hamm.

From tuning up for the first time to nailing your first audition, this DVD establishes a solid foundation for beginning bassists through a step-by-step approach to every aspect of the instrument. Hamm demonstrates useful left and right hand techniques to build strength and endurance. He shares with you the language of music that will make quick work of communicating your ideas with other musicians. Hamm discusses the essential theory required to take your playing in any direction you choose and presents valuable insight into a multitude of styles, covering everything from country to classical. He also provides tips on tone settings for both the bass and amplifier and how to use them to get the sound you want. On his latest DVD, Groove Workshop, Victor Wooten expands upon his unique philosophy of teaching and learning music which he first introduced in his book, The Music Lesson � A Spiritual Search For Growth Through Music, by redefining the essential elements of music and demonstrates how to apply them in fresh, creative, and musically relevant ways.

This 2-disc set features nearly five hours of material including a master class where Wooten uses his expertise to delve deeper into vitally important aspects of music making with six students along with several solo performances by Wooten and duets with bassist/educator Anthony Wellington. DVD chapters include 'Notes,' 'Grooving,' 'Articulation/Duration,' 'Dynamics,' 'Rhythm/Tempo,' 'Tone,' 'Phrasing,' 'Space/Rest,' and 'Listening.' Bassline 1 was originally released by Henrik Deleuran in Scandanavia in 2005. Now, released by BassBooks.com Publishing, it has been updated and remastered in English. Acknowledged as an exceptionally versatile player, Deleuran is a professional bass player from Denmark with over 25 years of experience playing in a variety of bands and extensive teaching experience.

Featuring well over 2 hours of instruction, Deleuran covers a number of topics including tuning the bass, finger techniques, well known bass lines, chords, scales, arpeggios, walking, fretless bass, 5-string bass, acoustic bass, and slapping techniques. Printable PDF scores written in both standard notation and tablature helps make understanding the principles easy. On The Solo Session, Todd Johnson demonstrates his melodic chordal approach to arranging popular pieces from the jazz repertoire and original compositions for solo bass guitar. Utilizing his 6-string signature model Zon bass, Johnson performs innovative solo renditions of 'All The Things You Are,' 'Blues For Hellen,' 'Bye Bye Blackbird,' 'Goin' Home,' 'In A Mellow Tone,' 'Smile,' 'Stella By Starlight,' 'There Will Never Be Another You,' 'You Are My Sunshine,' and 'Just A Closer Walk With Thee.' Also included on this DVD is bonus footage consisting of excerpted instructional material from Vol. 2 of Johnson's Walking Bass Line Module System DVDs along with exercises from his Technique Builders DVD and a 2004 performance of 'Battle Hymn Of The Republic.' In volume 2 of his Walking Bass Line Module System, Todd Johnson continues to break down the art of walking bass line construction through Scale Modules.

In this DVD, Johnson demonstrates his 4 + 2 fingering system, strong beat/weak beat theory, and building walking bass lines over both major and minor ii-V-I chord progressions using Dorian, Mixolydian, Major, Aeolian, Locrian, and Spanish Dominant scale modules. He also provides transcribed bass lines to classic jazz standards including 'Autumn Leaves,' 'All The Things You Are,' 'How High The Moon,' and 'Stella By Starlight.' In addition to presenting this proven, easy-to-learn method to bassists, Scale Modules can be utilized by guitarists and keyboardists as well. Night School: An Evening With Stanley Clarke & Friends is a presentation of The Third Annual Stanley Clarke Scholarship Concert that took place at Musicians Institute in 2002.

This star-studded event was highlighted with performances by a contingent of the world's greatest bass players such as Armand Sabal-Lecco, Bunny Brunel, Wayman Tisdale, Jimmy Johnson, Flea, Alex Al, Brian Bromberg, Billy Sheehan, Stuart Hamm, and Marcus Miller. Appearing with these renowned bassists, other guest artists include Stevie Wonder, Bela Fleck, Wallace Roney, Lenny White, and Stewart Copeland to name a few. Clarke is featured in various settings from a straight-ahead jazz combo to a fusion band and a 22-piece string orchestra. Selected tracks consist of 'Wild Dog,' 'Goodbye Porkpie Hat,' 'Song to John,' 'Everyday I Have The Blues,' 'Giant Steps,' 'School Days,' as well as music from Clark's film scores to 'Passenger 57' and 'Boyz N The Hood.'

Jeff Berlin, the legendary bassist and founder of the Players School of Music in Clearwater, Florida, demonstrates his teaching philosophies on Bass Logic From The Players School Of Music. Berlin explains his thoughts on the utilization of metronomes and tablature.

Instead of relying on these devices which are an accepted part of the general music education system, Berlin suggests different ways to improve your time and develop your bass playing abilities. Berlin also outlines harmonic exercises for those bass players wishing to examine new tonalities and explore the melodic potential of the bass. Along with all of the educational content contained on this special DVD presentation, Berlin plays alongside an all-star band which includes guitarist Pat Martino, Dennis Chambers on drums, and pianist Richard Drexler. To commemorate their 25th anniversary, UZEB has released the The Last Concert. This show was recorded at the Salle Wilfrid Pelletier of Place des Arts on July 6, 1991 during the 12th edition of the Montreal Jazz Festival, and it is the only official live concert footage ever distributed by UZEB. With special guest Tiger Okoshi on trumpet, bassist Alain Caron, drummer/percussionist Paul Brochu, and guitarist Michel Cusson perform over 2 1/2 hours of UZEB's greatest hits including 'UZEB Club,' 'New Hit,' 'Apres Les Confidences,' 'Riff 55,' 'Mister Moe,' 'Loose,' 'Blue 'N Green,' 'Not Even The Shadow Of The Tail Of A Lizard,' 'Spider,' 'Mr.

Bill,' 'Wake Up Call,' 'Funkaleon,' '60, Rue Des Lombards,' and 'Cool It.' 5 Live features the Alain Caron Band in a live concert at the Cabaret de Montreal. With Alain Caron on fretless and fretted basses, Jean St-Jacques on keyboards and malletkat, David Bellemare on saxophone, Simon Langlois on drums, Francois Blouin on keyboards, tracks include 'Ocean Of Trees,' 'Double Agent,' 'Signal,' 'Ink Illusion,' 'Show Of Hands,' 'No Left Turn On Tuesday,' 'Slam The Clown,' 'Turkey Loose On The Kit,' 'Baby Step,' 'Solitude,' 'Black Paws,' and 'D-Code.'

This live concert is also available on a double-CD collection. Master Of All Trades is the first 'official' DVD release from Marcus Miller. This 2-DVD set contains approximately 4 hours of footage. The first DVD is a live concert that was recorded at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, CA on October 14, 2002 featuring Marcus Miller on bass and bass clarinet, Dean Brown on guitar, Patches Stewart on trumpet, Roger Byam on sax, Bruce Flowers on keys, and Poogie Bell on drums with Lalah Hathaway and Raphael Sadiq on vocals. Performances include 'Power,' 'Lonnie's Lament,' 'So What,' 'Scoop,' 'Boomerang,' 'Panther,' 'When Your Life Was Low,' 'People Make The World Go 'Round,' 'Amazing Grace,' 'Burning Down The House,' 'Killing Me Softly,' and a Miles Davis medley.

Bonus tracks consist of 'Nikki's Groove,' 'Teen Town,' and Porgy Solo. The second DVD contains two hours of bonus material including interviews with Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, Omar Hakim, Bill Withers, Roberta Flack, and Luther Vandross. There are also special features including On The Road, Work In Progress, Evolution Of Jazz, Lessons Shared, Discography, And The Winner Is, a Photo Gallery, and much more. This 2-DVD set is in Dolby Digital 5.1 stereo.

Todd Johnson, recognized for his innovative approach to playing the 6-string bass and as an in-demand clinician, shows you how to control the shape, attack, decay, and articulations of the notes you play in a logical, organized, and concise method in his latest instructional DVD series. In Technique Builders, Johnson demonstrates right and left hand ergonomics, right hand muting, supportive fingering, string skipping, floating thumb technique, shifting, hammer-ons and pull-offs, as well as how to play ghost notes on electric bass. This DVD is ideal for beginners who want to learn things right the first time and also for the self-taught bassist hoping to fix bad habits that have been unintentionally picked up over the years. For the past 15 years, Todd Johnson has performed as an integral component of the critically-acclaimed Ron Eschete Trio. Through his distinct approach to playing the bass, Johnson is capable of providing the roles of bassist, pianist, guitarist, and seasoned soloist all at the same time. In his brand new instructional DVD series, The Walking Bass Line Module System, Johnson takes the 'mystery' out of learning to play walking bass lines by breaking techniques down into small, bite-size pieces that anyone can easily digest. In Volume 1, The Triad Module System, Johnson outlines the strong beat/weak beat theory, ear training (playing what you hear), blues changes, 'Autumn Leaves' changes, major and minor triads, chromatic approaches from above and below, and helps you put together a solid, organized practice plan.

In The Contemporary Bassist, Gary Rice shares the techniques and methods that he has learned and applied as a contemporary bassist for the past 28 years. This DVD has interactive functions that give you the power to control camera angle and audio for play-along and practice. You can choose between standard or interactive play modes, and while in interactive play mode, you can change the audio to practice and reinforce various techniques that are demonstrated or change the angle to get a different view. With a running time of 60 minutes, subjects covered include slap bass technique, building a slap bass solo, bass and drums, and musicianship along with bonus features. Gary Willis, one of the world's leading fretless bassists, has delivered his fifth solo recording Larger Than Life. Joining Willis on this set are Gergo Borlai on drums, long-time Tribal Tech bandmate Scott Kinsey on keyboards, Steve Tavaglione on saxes and EWI, Claudia Bardagi on voice, and Llibert Fortuny on tenor sax and voice.

Tracks include 'The Professionals,' 'Everything's Cool,' 'Larger Than Life,' 'Say It Ain't So,' 'Source Code,' 'Hipster,' 'Solaris,' 'Beast Mode,' 'Alien Head Explodes,' 'Vendetta,' '2 Fast,' and 'Superhero.' Captured live at the Art Center La Petite Eglise in Saint-Eustache, Quebec, En/In Concert showcases the virtuosity of bassist Alain Caron. Accompanied by pianist John Roney, guitarist Pierre Cote, and drummer Damien Schmitt, the content featured on this project draws from his critically acclaimed release Multiple Faces along with some of his most popular compositions from prior recordings. A complete track listing includes 'Enhanced,' 'Sfing,' 'The Lost Foot,' 'Jazz Pool,' 'Fair Play,' 'Right After 4,' 'Slick Shift,' 'Then And After,' 'This Or That,' 'Canuba,' 'Hurry Up And Wait,' 'No Way,' and 'D-Code.' A 98-minute DVD of this live performance is also available. Brooklyn is the first solo project in six years from legendary 6-string bass pioneer John Patitucci.

This recording features the debut of the John Patitucci Electric Guitar Quartet, and it is also the first album that showcases Patitucci's virtuoso playing exclusively on electric bass guitar while utilizing a semi-hollow 6-string instrument designed by Yamaha. Rounding out his quartet are Adam Rogers (guitar), Steve Cardenas (guitar), and Brian Blade (drums). Covering a mixture of blues, funk, soul, and jazz styles, this selection of 11 tracks includes 'IN9-1881/The Search,' 'Dugu Kamalemba,' 'Band Of Brothers,' 'Trinkle Tinkle,' 'Ugly Beauty,' 'JLR,' 'Do You?,' 'Bells Of Coutance,' 'The Thumb,' 'Go Down Moses,' and 'Tesori.' Featuring a seven-piece suite for solo bass plus four full-band compositions, The Book Of Lies is the latest solo project from Stuart Hamm. Alongside John Mader (drums), Chester Thompson (drums), Jason Harrison Smith (drums), Carl Verheyen (guitar), Lorn Leber (guitar), Mitchell Forman (piano), Phil Naish (piano), Karl Theobald (baritone and tenor sax), and Anna Kristina (vocals), this collection of tracks consists of 'The Book Of Lies,' 'Back To Shabalalla,' 'Etude #1,' 'Open Note Aria,' 'Chordally Yours,' 'Harmoni-Cali,' 'Te Extrano,' 'Slap Happy,' 'Just A Blues,' 'Practicality,' and 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.'

Inspired by his travels through West Africa, South America, and the Caribbean along the Atlantic slave routes, Afrodeezia is bassist Marcus Miller's debut project as a leader on Blue Note Records. Produced by Miller, this 11-track set features his core band consisting of saxophonist Alex Han, trumpeter Lee Hogans, pianist Brett Williams, guitarist Adam Agati, and drummer Louis Cato along with an international list of guest artists. This collection of songs includes 'Hylife,' 'B's River,' 'Preacher's Kid (Song For William H),' 'We Were There,' 'Papa Was A Rolling Stone,' 'I Still Believe I Hear,' 'Son Of Macbeth,' 'Prism (Interlude),' 'Xtraordinary,' 'Water Dancer,' and 'I Can't Breathe.' Without the use of loops, multi-tracking, or time-based effects, solo bassist Josh Cohen explores new realms and sonic possibilities for bass guitar as an unaccompanied instrument on his debut recording, Out Of The Basement. A complete track listing includes 'Prelude in C Major,' 'Two-Part Invention No. 13,' 'Slap Marcus,' 'Layla,' 'Spiders & Redwoods,' 'Two-Part Invention No. 14,' 'Tappin' Away,' 'Out Of The Basement,' 'Slap Crackle Pop,' 'Smiling At My Tears,' 'Chega de Saudade,' 'Type 1,' 'Song For Hannah,' and 'Kiss From A Rose.'

Over five years removed since his last solo project, Adam Nitti has released, Not Of This World, his fifth recording as a leader. Featuring performances by Chris Carver, Kirk Covington, Michael Whittaker, Keith Carlock, Scott Bernard, Tom Hemby, Gerald Gradwohl, Mark Douthit, Jason Palmer, Derico Watson, Shane Theriot, and Sonny Emory, Nitti blends the melodic sounds of instrumental rock, jazz, and funk styles. Tracks include 'Antisocialmedia,' 'Roofquake,' 'Cosmic Underground,' 'Oakwood,' 'Not Of This World,' 'Francesca's Day Out,' 'The Strut,' and 'I Still Believe.' No Mind is the third solo release from German bassist Peter Muller. Utilizing his classic Fender Jazz bass, Muller merges the sounds of jazz, fusion, soul, and R&B music on a collection of 10 new tracks.

It features performances by special guest artists including Nick Gibbs (vocals), Frank Mead (sax, flute, harmonica), Tim Cansfield (guitars), Tobias Neumann (keyboards), Sebastiaan Cornelissen (drums), Christian Kappe (trumpet), John-Dennis Renken (trumpet), Oliver Spanuth (trumpet), Kristof Hinz (drums), and Coen Molenaar (keyboards). This selection of songs consists of 'Berlin Street Funk,' 'Time,' 'The Player,' 'Golden Rules,' 'Stagger,' 'Analogue Moon,' 'Something 'Bout Your Love,' 'The Trek,' 'Earth Time,' and 'Horizon.' Featuring bassist Joseph Patrick Moore, the RockTronix is a band that fuses rock music with electronica elements. Alongside drummer Wayne Viar and guitarist Chris Blackwell, Magnificent Obsession is the debut recording from this trio, and a complete track listing includes 'Surrender,' 'Magnificent Obsession,' 'Samhain,' 'The Calling,' 'When I Become A Butterfly,' 'Divide And Conquer,' 'Hard Eight,' 'Jack In The Box,' 'Quicksand,' and 'Full Circle.' Also available with this recording is a 43-minute video documentary that captures the birth and evolution of the band through rehearsals, pre-production, three days in the studio, interviews, unedited rehearsal footage, live performances, and a full length music video.

Combining elements of fusion, progressive rock, classical, jazz, Latin, space rock, electronica, and cinematic music, Tampering With Nature is Al Garcia's fourth solo project. Searing guitar solos, scorching bass work, lush synthesizer sounds, and driving drumming are featured in songs with haunting melodies and classically influenced arrangements. Tracks include 'Tampering With Nature,' 'Cognitive Dissonance,' 'The Miraculous Mirage,' 'Voices,' 'Irrational Exuberance,' 'The Uncertainty Principle,' 'The Digital Maze,' and 'Out Into the Empty.' Recorded and filmed live in studio, Multiple Faces is the eighth solo project from Alain Caron. Caron, the recipient of the prestigious 2013 Oscar Peterson Award, is accompanied by Pierre Cote (guitar), John Roney (piano), and Damien Schmitt (drums) along with a 5-piece brass section on two cuts. This collection merges the sounds of jazz, rock, funk, and classical music on eight tracks including 'Right After 4,' 'Sfing,' 'The Lost Foot,' 'Jazz Pool,' 'Slick Shift,' 'Canuba,' 'Hurry Up And Wait,' and 'Then And After.'

Transition is the fourth solo release from Austrian bassist Bernhard Lackner. This contemporary jazz project features performances by many guest artists including Jeff Coffin (sax), Lena Mentschel (vocals), Scott Bernard (guitar), Mike Bauer (guitar), Oliver Keller (guitar), Christian Wegscheider (piano), Christian Stuckelschweiger (piano), Michael Whittaker (piano), De Marco Johnson (piano, harmonica), Pete Lockett (percussion), Derico Watson (drums), and Marcus Finnie (drums). Tracks consist of 'The Jacket,' 'Welcome Back,' 'Mixed Emotions,' 'For My Class,' 'Camel Ride,' 'Dreaming,' 'Transition,' 'Winter,' and 'Tegernsee.' Featuring a compilation of songs composed by artists such as Wayne Shorter, Bill Evans, Benny Golson, Steve Swallow, Carla Bley, and Pat Metheny, Low Standards is the eighth solo project issued by legendary bassist Jeff Berlin. With Richard Drexler on piano/upright bass and Mike Clark on drums, Berlin continues to redefine the role of the bass guitar in contemporary jazz music on a selection of tracks from the jazz repertoire including 'E.S.P.,' 'El Gaucho,' 'Falling Grace,' 'Fee Fi Fo Fum,' 'Vashkar,' 'Very Early,' 'Whisper Not,' and 'James.' Renaissance is the new 13-song collection from Grammy award-winning bassist Marcus Miller. It features performances by Adam Agati (guitar), Adam Rogers (guitar), Sean Jones (trumpet), Maurice Brown (trumpet), Alex Han (alto saxophone), Kris Bowers (keyboards), Federico Gonzalez Pena (keyboards), Bobby Sparks (keyboards), and Louis Cato (drums) along with special guest vocalists Dr.

John, Ruben Blades, and Gretchen Parlato. Included on this project are eight original compositions and five cover songs - 'Detroit,' 'Redemption,' 'February,' 'Slippin' Into Darkness,' 'Setembro (Brazilian Wedding Song),' 'Jekyll & Hyde,' 'Interlude: Nocturnal Mist,' 'Revelation,' 'Mr. Clean,' 'Goree (Go-ray),' 'CEE-TEE-EYE,' 'Tightrope,' and 'I'll Be There.' Following tributes to bass icon Jaco Pastorius and Brazilian Antonio Carlos Jobim, Brian Bromberg's latest dedication, Bromberg Plays Hendrix, features the music of Jimi Hendrix.

Utilizing a collection of his signature model Carvin 4 and 5-string basses and backed by only Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, a complete list of greatest hits includes 'Fire,' 'Manic Depression,' 'Freedom,' 'The Wind Cries Mary,' 'All Along The Watchtower,' 'Foxey Lady,' 'Hey Joe,' 'Crosstown Traffic,' 'Spanish Castle Magic,' and 'Purple Haze.' In The Spirit Of Jobim is Brian Bromberg's tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim. With Otmaro Ruiz (piano), Airto (percussion), Alex Acuna (drums & percussion), Gary Meek (flutes), Joel Taylor (drums), Mitchell Foreman (piano), and Oscar Castro Neves (guitar), this project features five arrangements of classic compositions by Jobim along with seven originals by Bromberg written in the style of Jobim. Tracks include 'One Note Samba,' 'Wave,' 'Coastline Drive,' 'Little Tune,' 'Tristefinado,' 'Corcovado,' 'Cha Chika Chika Boom,' 'Isn't It Beautiful,' 'Ray Of Sunshine,' 'Talia,' 'Ellen,' and 'The Girl From Ipanema.'

Backed by 10-piece horn and string sections and featuring an all-star roster of guest artists including Alex Acuna, Gannin Arnold, Charlie Bisharat, Randy Brecker, Vinnie Colaiuta, George Duke, Bela Fleck, Mitch Forman, Larry Goldings, Jeff Lorber, Gary Meek, and Tom Zink, Compared To That is the 20th solo project from Grammy-nominated bassist Brian Bromberg. Rooted in straight-ahead acoustic swing and recorded live over a span of two days, this 10-track selection consists of 'Compared To That,' 'Rory Lowery, Private Eye,' 'If Ray Brown Was A Cowboy?,' 'Hayride,' 'A Little New Old School,' 'Forgiveness,' 'Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?,' 'I'm Just Sayin',' 'The Eclipse,' and 'Give It To Me Baby.' A companion, rather than a sequel, to her best-selling 2010 release Chamber Music Society which reached the top spot on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart, Radio Music Society captures Esperanza Spalding's most diverse and ambitious performance as a leader to date. Featuring Spalding, the first jazz musician to ever receive the Grammy Award for 'Best New Artist,' on both acoustic upright and electric bass guitar, a complete track listing includes 'Radio Song,' 'Cinnamon Tree,' 'Crowned & Kissed,' 'Land Of The Free,' 'Black Gold,' 'I Can't Help It,' 'Hold On Me,' 'Vague Suspicions,' 'Endangered Species,' 'Let Her,' 'City Of Roses,' and 'Smile Like That.'

With music by Michael Manring, Ray Riendeau, Jonni Lightfoot, Alex Bershadsky, Scott Harlan, Zander Zon, Chuck Bianchi, and Mike Dimin, Holiday Rumblings is the first collection of its kind to feature endorsing artists of Zon Guitars performing arrangements of traditional holiday music on solo bass guitar. A complete listing of tracks includes 'We Three Kings' (Ray Riendeau), 'Angels We Have Heard On High' (Michael Manring), 'Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies' (Alex Bershadsky), 'Silent Night' (Zander Zon), 'The Holly And The Ivy' (Chuck Bianchi), 'O' Come All Ye Faithful' (Scott Harlan), 'Greensleeves' (Jonni Lightfoot), 'Gloucestershire Wassail' (Mike Dimin), 'Suite No. 1 In G Major' (Michael Manring), 'In The Bleak Midwinter' (Chuck Bianchi), 'Ma'oz Tzur' (Alex Bershadsky), 'O' Holy Night' (Zander Zon), and 'Carol Of The Bells' (Jonni Lightfoot). Through a compilation of both classic standards from the jazz repertoire and original compositions, The Jazz Tradition features Brazilian bassist Thiago Espirito Santo. Along with Jim Stinnett (upright bass), Todd Johnson (electric bass), Grant Stinnett (electric bass), Dino Govoni (tenor sax), and Dom Moio (drums), tracks consist of 'No Big Deal,' 'On Green Dolphin Street,' 'Body And Soul,' 'Three Views Of A Secret,' 'The Days Of Wine And Roses,' 'Brown Ave.,' 'Liberty City,' 'That's It,' 'Fize,' and 'Blue Bossa.'

Hands is Brian Bromberg's first completely solo acoustic bass project. Captured live using only digital microphones with no overdubs, this hi-resolution recording contains a collection of classic rock, pop, and jazz arrangements including 'Stella By Starlight,' 'Cute,' 'Solar,' 'The Beatles Medley,' 'Black Orpheus,' 'In A Sentimental Mood,' 'King Of Pain,' 'Teen Town,' 'Susumu's Blues,' 'Black Dog,' 'In Your Own Sweet Way,' 'Use Me,' 'Recordame,' 'What Are You Doing With The Rest Of Your Life,' and 'Yeah.' Stories From Home is the third solo project from Austrian bassist Bernhard Lackner. Produced by bassist Adam Nitti, this new recording features performances by 17 guest artists from the United States and Europe including Horacio 'El Negro' Hernandez (drums), Jeff Coffin (sax), Steve Cunningham (guitar), and Derico Watson (drums) to name a few. Tracks consist of 'Hollywood,' 'The Tribute,' 'Turnaround,' 'That Time Of The Year,' 'Home,' 'You Will Be Missed,' 'European Summer,' 'Two Flies With One Hit,' and 'Reprise.' Forever is a double disc set of 18 quintessential songs featuring Return To Forever's most popular and successful lineup including Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, and Lenny White.

Recorded live, disc one is a best-of sampler from Corea, Clarke, and White's 'RTF-Unplugged' world tour in 2009. Tracks include 'On Green Dolphin Street,' 'Waltz For Debby,' 'Bud Powell,' 'La Cancion De Sofia,' 'Windows,' 'Hackensack,' 'No Mystery,' and 'Senor Mouse.' Joined by Chaka Khan, Jean-Luc Ponty, and original RTF guitarist Bill Conners, disc two is a bonus CD with a complete listing of tracks consisting of 'Captain Marvel,' 'Senor Mouse,' 'Crescent,' 'Armando's Rhumba,' 'Renaissance,' 'High Wire - The Aerialist,' 'I Loves You Porgy,' 'After The Cosmic Rain,' 'Space Circus,' and '500 Miles High.' To celebrate the 15th anniversary of his landmark debut solo recording, bass legend Victor Wooten has released A Show Of Hands 15. This project is the first to be issued by Wooten under his new label, VIX Records. It features newly remastered versions of all the original tracks along with three bonus pieces.

A complete listing of songs includes 'Yo Victa,' 'U Can't Hold No Groove,' 'More Love,' 'Lotta Stuffis?,' 'The Vision,' 'Overjoyed,' 'Live For Peace,' 'A Show of Hands,' 'Not Like The Other,' 'Justice,' 'Medley,' 'Radio W-OO-10,' 'Classical Thump,' 'Keep Chargin',' 'Me & My Bass Guitar,' 'Words Of Wisdom,' 'U Can't Hold No Groove? (Enhanced Version),' 'Flip Flop,' and 'Live Solo #2.' With three Juno Awards, Chris Tarry is one of Canada's most celebrated bass exports.

His latest release, Rest Of The Story, is a one-of-a-kind album that mixes short stories, world-class jazz, cutting-edge album design, and beautiful illustrations in a 100-page book-bound CD. Available only in hard copy format and exclusively through Nineteen Eight Records, this project features Dan Weiss (drums), Pete McCann (guitar), Henry Hey (piano), and Kelly Jefferson (saxophone).

Tracks include 'Jump The Shark,' 'Rest Of The Story,' 'You Are The State,' 'Scroll,' 'Five,' 'Tristeza,' 'Launch,' 'Battlestar,' and 'Three Short Stories (Beginning, Middle, End).' Over a decade removed since the release of his last studio recording as a solo artist, Stuart Hamm has produced Just Outside Of Normal. Backed by performances from guest artists including Joe Satriani, Robert Fripp, Frank Gambale, Jude Gold, Mark McGee, Terry Disley, John R. Burr, Alex Murzyn, Karl Theobald, Carlos Reyes, Stanton Moore, Alan Hertz, John Mader, Allison Lovejoy, Malika Alaoui, and Bruce Hamm, this selection of tracks consists of 'The Obligatory Boogie,' 'Going To California,' 'The Clarinet Polka,' 'Windsor Mews,' 'Just Outside Of Normal,' 'Adagio,' 'Big Roller,' 'Uniformitarianism,' and 'Lucidity.'

Recorded live at the Monte-Carlo Jazz Festival on November 29, 2008, A Night In Monte-Carlo is the first project released by Marcus Miller with an orchestra. Featuring L'Orchestre Philharmonique De Monte-Carlo along with Roy Hargrove, Raul Midon, Alex Han, DJ Logic, Federico Gonzalez Pena, Poogie Bell, and Herbie Hancock, a complete listing of orchestral arrangements includes 'Blast!,' 'So What,' 'State Of Mind,' 'I Loves You Porgy,' 'Amandla,' 'I'm Glad There Is You,' 'Medley - O Mio Babbino Caro/Mas Que Nada,' 'Your Amazing Grace,' and 'Strange Fruit.' From one of the most distinguished bassists in contemporary jazz, Alain Caron has released, Sep7entrion, his seventh studio session as a leader. Accompanied by an award-winning lineup of guest performers including Frank Gambale (guitar), Jean-Marie Ecay (guitar), Pierre Cote (guitar), John Roney (piano), Otmaro Ruiz (piano), Tony Raymond (piano), Christophe Raymond (violin), and Damien Schmitt (drums), Caron fuses jazz, rock, and funk sonorities with South American and African influences. This project features 9 new tracks consisting of '1-4-U,' 'Enhanced,' 'Double Action,' 'Fair Play,' 'Cross Checking,' 'Soleil Rouge,' 'This Or That,' 'De l'Aube Au Crepuscule,' and 'Simple Pleasure.' Following the release of her self-titled debut which spent more than 70 weeks on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart and became the best selling album by a new jazz artist worldwide in 2008, Chamber Music Society is the second solo project produced by Esperanza Spalding.

Inspired by the classical training she received as a teenager and joined by pianist Leo Genovese, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, percussionist Quintino Cinalli, violinist Entcho Todorov, violist Lois Martin, cellist David Eggar, and vocalist Gretchen Parlato, Spalding creates a contemporary chamber music group that combines the spontaneity of improvisation with angular string trio arrangements. Tracks include 'Little Fly,' 'Knowledge Of Good And Evil,' 'Really Very Small,' 'Chacarera,' 'Wild Is The Wind,' 'Apple Blossom,' 'As A Sprout,' 'What A Friend,' 'Winter Sun,' 'Inutil Paisagem,' and 'Short And Sweet.'

Utilizing his arsenal of bass instruments and a wide range of collaborative material, legendary bassist Stanley Clarke ventures to new levels of experimentation with The Stanley Clarke Band. Featuring a core group of musicians including pianist Hiromi, drummer Ronald Bruner Jr., and pianist Ruslan Sirota along with an extended supporting case, tracks consist of 'Soldier,' 'Fulani,' 'Here's Why Tears Dry,' 'I Wanna Play for You Too,' 'Bass Folk Song No.

10,' 'No Mystery,' 'How Is The Weather Up There?,' 'Larry Has Traveled 11 Miles And Waited A Lifetime For The Return Of Vishnu's Report,' 'Labyrinth,' 'Sonny Rollins,' and 'Bass Folk Song No. 6 (Mo Anam Cara).'

Backed by performances from a diverse assembly of guest artists including Alex Machacek, Nat Janoff, Marco Sfogli, David Haynes, Greg Koch, and Derek Taylor to name a few, Atmospheres is the fifth production by Ray Riendeau as a solo artist. Featuring the sounds of jazz, rock, fusion, and electronica, a complete track listing consists of 'Cosmic Dust,' 'The Alchemist,' 'Parasite,' 'Alias,' 'Pavor Nocturnus,' 'Slumber,' 'Architeusthis Dux,' 'Translucent,' 'Electro-Jazz,' and 'A Search For Lifeforms.'

Led by bass great Jeff Berlin, one of the world's most legendary bass guitarists and founder of The Players School of Music, High Standards features a collection of standards and popular songs from the jazz repertoire. On this project, his seventh as a solo artist, Berlin continues to redefine the role of the electric bass in jazz music. Along with Richard Drexler on piano/upright bass and Danny Gottlieb on drums, this is a contemporary jazz trio at its finest. The selection of tracks includes 'Groovin' High,' 'Nardis,' 'I Want To Be Happy,' 'Body & Soul,' 'Solar,' 'Invitation,' 'If I Were A Bell,' 'Valses Nobles Et Sentimentales No.

IV,' and 'Someday My Prince Will Come.' The fifth release as a leader on his own Wavetone Records label, the groove-oriented Truth Be Told showcases the music of legendary bassist Mark Egan alongside Bill Evans (saxophones), Mitch Forman (keyboards), and Vinnie Colaiuta (drums). Egan, a charter member of the Pat Metheny Group, is one of the premier electric bassists in contemporary jazz.

As a distinguished session player, sideman, and prolific composer over the past 30 years, Egan's distinct bass tone and remarkably melodic fretless bass work has appeared on countless jazz and pop productions as well as award-winning movie and television soundtracks. A complete track listing includes 'Frog Legs,' 'Gargoyle,' 'Truth Be Told,' 'Sea Saw,' 'Cafe Risque,' 'Shadow Play,' 'Blue Launch,' 'Rhyme Or Reason,' 'Blue Rain,' 'Pepe,' and 'After Thought. Plate N Sheet Professional 4 Crack. ' For more than 40 years, legendary bassist Anthony Jackson has provided groundbreaking grooves in jazz and pop music for the likes of Billy Paul, The O'Jays, Buddy Rich, Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Chick Corea, Steely Dan, Donald Fagen, Paul Simon, Al DiMeola, Nancy Wilson, George Benson, Quincy Jones, Steve Khan's Eyewitness, Luther Vandross, Lee Ritenour, Michel Petrucciani, Pat Metheny, Michel Camilo, Mike Stern, and Wayne Krantz. Jackson's conception of the 6-string contrabass guitar resulted in the international standardization of extended range basses and changed the sound of contemporary music.

On Interspirit, Jackson makes his highly anticipated debut as a solo artist with Greece's most esteemed bass guitarist, Yiorgos Fakanas. This 9-track project features Jackson's trademark picking technique and an all-star cast of guest artists including Frank Gambale (guitar), Dave Weckl (drums), Mitch Forman (keyboards), Takis Paterelis (alto sax), Tony Lakatos (tenor sax), Antonis Andreou (trombone), and Mihail Iosifov (trumpet).

Compositions include 'Inner Power,' 'Footprints,' 'Cuore Vibes,' 'Cuore Vibes,' 'Interspirit,' 'Seviglia,' 'Caldera,' 'Ionio II,' and 'Parhelia.' So To Speak is the second solo project produced by Damian Erskine.

It is a contemporary fusion of latin rhythms, shifting meters, deep grooves, and modern jazz performed by an energized group of musicians including Reinhardt Melz (drums, percussion), Ramsey Embick (piano), Chris Mosley (guitar), Rafael Trujillo (percussion), John Nastos (tenor sax), Jason Dumars (soprano sax), Paul Mazzio (trumpet), and Derek Rieth (percussion). This selection of eight original compositions consists of 'Inside Out,' 'Fif,' 'Kaluanui,' 'American Gyro,' 'Light,' 'Aslant,' 'Cabrerina,' and 'Creep.' Following years recording and touring as a sideman, Lars Lehmann has released Music Like Pictures.

Lehmann is the editor of the German bass magazine 'Bass Professor' and the author of Slap-Attack, an instructional book that illustrates contemporary slap bass techniques. This collection of funk-driven tracks features performances by Lehmann on fretted and fretless bass guitars, tenor bass, and double bass. It includes 'Fat Whale,' 'Give U My Love,' 'I Want To Live,' 'Bassmann,' 'Daddies Arms,' 'Get The Funk Out Ma Way,' 'Music Like Pictures,' 'Hello From The Old World,' 'I'll Never Stop Remembering You,' '9 PM In Baghdad (9:30 In Teheran),' 'Higher Love,' and 'Talk 2 Me.' Featuring eleven original compositions and two cover songs by Horace Silver and The Meters, To Africa With Love is the eighth solo project released by Joseph Patrick Moore.

On this collection of songs inspired by the enchantment of Africa and fused with Moore's own influences and American heritage, Moore is joined with a core trio of remarkable musicians from the Atlanta area including Tyrone Jackson (keys), Wayne Viar (drums/percussion), and Brian Carl (guitar). Additional guest artists consist of Charlie Wood, Seth Condrey, Chinua Hawk, and Abbes Bouzefrane. From composing to arranging, engineering, and final mixing, Moore was directly involved in every aspect of the recording process. Tracks include 'Fire On The Bayou,' 'Bass Song,' 'To Africa With Love,' 'Adventures Of Tigger And Alice,' 'Ubuntu,' 'Eyerusalen,' 'Stained Glass Aura,' 'Bumpy Ride,' 'Acadia Tree,' 'What Could Have Been,' 'Resolution,' 'Senor Blues,' and 'Heart Beat.'

Sonorous is the debut project from U.K. Solo bassist and YouTube sensation Zander Zon. Following years of classical studies on the cello, Zon made the switch to bass guitar at age 17. Influenced by the sounds of legendary solo bassists such as Michael Manring and Victor Wooten, Zon began experimenting with arrangements for unaccompanied bass featuring altered tunings, tapping, and harmonics. Utilizing a Zon VB4 bass guitar strung with piccolo strings in various altered tunings, this selection of 10 original tracks includes 'Epic Love,' 'Circle Of Melodies,' 'I, Resolute,' 'Accelerate,' 'She Danced,' 'Tribal Chant,' 'Hope,' 'Looking Glass,' 'Meditation In E,' and 'Sencilla.'

After years spent being a bassist for hire on the Los Angeles music scene, Derek Frank has released his first recording as a solo artist. On Let The Games Begin, Frank takes the listener on a journey through a collection of horn-injected funk compositions.

Of the dozen tracks featured on this project, eight were written by Frank with the remaining pieces being funky arrangements of music composed by artists such as Hall & Oates, Soundgarden, and Curtis Mayfield. Enlisting some of L.A.' S funkiest players including Hammond B-3 organ legend Brian Auger and veteran drummer Steve Ferrone, tracks consist of 'Breakout,' 'Keep It Fresh,' 'I Can't Go For That (No Can Do),' 'Interlude: Shake It (Don't Break It),' 'Lunchbox,' 'Pusherman,' 'Smack Dab,' 'Interlude: Trigger-Happy,' 'Off The Top,' 'Black Hole Sun,' 'Pinball Number Count,' and 'Postlude: Balance.' Eight years removed from Pondering The Sushi, his acclaimed debut as a solo artist, Norm Stockton has released his second solo production, Tea In The Typhoon. Spanning jazz, fusion, funk, rock, classical, and West African influences, eight of the songs on this collection are original compositions. Rounding out this recording are fresh arrangements of U2's 'Sunday Bloody Sunday,' Sondheim's 'Send In The Clowns,' and a rendition of J.S. Bach's 'Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring' for unaccompanied bass guitar.

Featuring performances by Gregg Bissonette, Lincoln Brewster, Michael Manring, Etienne Mbappe, John Patitucci, and many other outstanding guest artists, a complete listing of tracks includes 'At The Behest Of Penelope & 26,' 'Close Reach Home,' 'Sunday Bloody Sunday,' 'Tea In The Typhoon,' 'Runway 19R,' '. But I Play One On TV (I'm Not A Fuzoid),' 'Send In The Clowns,' 'Grace Once More,' 'Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring,' 'Rockefeller Forest,' 'Let Me Not Forget,' and 'Eternal Father, Strong To Save' (Hidden Bonus Track). Following Seven Waves, his critically-acclaimed premier as a solo artist, A Life is the second project to be released by Yves Carbonne. Featuring special guests such as bass legend Marcus Miller, Guillaume Eyango, Denis Adande-Menest, Laurent Maur, Roger Biwandu, Antony Breyer, Tami Hamilton, and Myriam Kante, a complete track listing includes 'Self Made Believer,' 'A Life,' 'Wink,' 'New Love,' 'Permanent Dream,' 'Personal Warming,' 'Interlude,' 'Evening In New York,' 'Fired,' 'Inside Colors,' and 'Remember Me.' It Is What It Is is the most recent release from Grammy-nominated bassist and producer Brian Bromberg.

Backed by a world-class horn section, this contemporary jazz project features performances by George Duke, Patrice Rushen, Jeff Lorber, Randy Brecker, Eric Marienthal, Gerald Albright, Richard Elliot, Rick Braun, Will Kennedy, Dave Weckl, Alex Acuna, Paul Jackson Jr., and Dan Siegel. Showcasing both acoustic upright and electric basses, this collection of 13 tracks includes 'It Is What It Is,' 'Love Shack,' 'Excuse Me?,' 'Life,' 'Elephants On Ice Skates,' 'The Mirror,' 'Sanford And Son Theme,' 'Mr. Miller,' 'Martinis At The Velvet Lounge?,' 'Saul Goode,' 'Waiting For You,' 'Heaven,' and 'Slap Happy.' Honoring several of his musical hereos including John Coltrane, Michael Brecker, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Ray Brown, Thelonious Monk, Freddie Hubbard, Olivier Messiaen, Ali Farka Toure, legendary bassist John Patitucci has released Remembrance. This trio recording, Patitucci's 13th project as a leader, features saxophonist Joe Lovano and drummer Brian Blade along with Sachi Patitucci on cello and percussionist Rogerio Boccato as special guests. Utilizing acoustic upright, 6-string bass guitar, and 6-string piccolo bass guitar, this selection of 11 original compositions includes 'Monk/Trane,' 'Messaien's Gumbo,' 'Sonny Side,' 'Meditations,' 'Mali,' 'Scenes From An Opera,' 'Blues For Freddie,' 'Safari,' 'Joe Hen,' 'Play Ball,' and 'Remembrance.' Stylistically categorized as contemporary jazz, One Good-Looking Guy?

Is the first recorded collaboration released by bassists Todd Johnson and Jim Stinnett. Between Johnson's pioneering chordal vocabulary on 6-string bass guitar and Stinnett's acoustic upright prowess, the balance of virtuosity and musicality demonstrated by these two bassists on their debut project is unprecedented. Complimenting Johnson and Stinnett in this innovative group format are saxophonist Dino Govoni and drummer Joe Hunt.

With each bassist contributing four original compositions to this recording, a complete track listing of this collection includes 'Chipper's Dream,' 'Pine,' 'Goin' Home,' 'My Beloved,' 'When Sleep Won't Come,' 'Minorology,' 'Whisper,' and 'Blues For Hellen.' Featuring the contributions of two brilliant collaborators, pianist Hiromi Uehara and drummer Lenny White, Jazz In The Garden is the first acoustic jazz trio released by legendary bassist Stanley Clarke. On one of the most refreshing recordings ever produced by Clarke, a complete listing of compositions includes 'Paradigm Shift (Election Day 2008),' 'Sakura Sakura,' 'Sicilian Blue,' 'Take The Coltrane,' '3 Wrong Notes,' 'Someday My Prince Will Come,' 'Isotope,' 'Bass Folk Song No.

5 & 6,' 'Global Tweak,' 'Solar,' 'Brain Training,' and 'Under The Bridge.' Merging elements of funk, blues, rock, jazz, and fusion into an exciting compilation of contemporary instrumental tracks, Adam Nitti's fourth release as a leader, Liminal, consists of performances by Shane Theriot (guitar), Mike Whittaker (keyboards), Marcus Finnie (drums), Jeff Coffin (tenor sax), Marco Sfogli (guitar), Alex Argento (keyboards), Marco Minnemann (drums), Doug Belote (drums), Steve Cunningham (lap steel), Phil Keaggy (guitar), Johnny Neel (hammond B-3), and Tom Quayle (guitar). This collection includes 'The Renaissance Man/Rebirth,' 'Distraction,' 'Liminal,' 'Redemption Street,' 'The Seven Year Swing,' 'The Last Walk Home,' 'Not Forsaken,' 'The Good Foot,' 'Il Cuore Del Campione,' and 'Vivere l'Aperitivo.' Regarded as one of the top bassists in Germany, Ralf Gauck has released A Hard Day's Night. Recorded with just a fretless bass guitar, this tribute to the Beatles presents the classic music of Lennon and McCartney in a completely new dimension and features instrumental versions of 'And I Love Her,' 'Come Together,' 'Imagine,' 'Let It Be,' 'Things We Said Today,' 'A Hard Day's Night,' 'Yesterday,' 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away,' 'A Day In The Life,' 'Eleanor Rigby,' and 'Cello Suite 1/Prelude' (bonus track).

Alongside an eclectic cast of notable musicians, CinemaSonics features the infectious grooves of bassist Doug Wimbish. In addition to his bass playing and arranging skills being on full display, Wimbish provides vocal, guitar, and keyboard work. Titles include 'Revolution,' 'Trance (Make My Own Reality),' 'Scary Man,' 'Homeless,' 'Danger,' 'Rockin' Shoes,' 'Silent Footsteps/Minor 'D'eparture,' 'Swirl,' 'Broadcasting,' 'I Wanna Know,' 'Special Request,' 'No Release, No Surrender,' and 'Easy Philosophy.'

Holy Cow is the third solo release from legendary bassist Billy Sheehan. Special guests Ray Luzier (drums), Billy Gibbons (guitar), Paul Gilbert (guitar), Dug Pinnick (vocals), Simone Sello (guitar), and Tony MacAlpine (piano) accompany Sheehan on this project. A complete track listing features 'In A Week Or Two (I'll Give It Back To You),' 'A Lit'l Bit'l Do It To 'Ya Ev'ry Time,' 'Dynamic Exhilarator,' 'A Bloodless Casualty,' 'Make It To Another Day (I Keep Rolling On My Way),' 'Just Another Humanoid,' 'Turning Point,' 'Theme From An Imaginary Sci Fi,' 'Another Broken Promise,' 'Two People Can Keep A Secret (If One Of Them Is Dead),' 'Cell Towers,' 'She Goes From Cruel To Missionary,' and 'Sweat On An E String.' With the release of his second project as a solo artist, Pocket Fulla Nasty is a potent groove-driven collection of 11 tracks by Doug Johns. Co-produced by drummer Chris Ceja, Johns' latest recording features the work of several notable guest artists such as Oz Noy, Otmaro Ruiz, Kenny Anderson, Joe Miller, Mark Leach, Rafael Guzman Jr., Utah Witherspoon, Dana Rasch, and Felix Dupre. This selection of compositions includes 'Scrumpt,' 'Manic,' 'Chump Suey,' 'Knutso,' 'Funk Bomb,' 'Uum.Continue,' 'Southwest Song,' 'Pocket Fulla Nasty,' 'Local Forecast,' 'Chew On A Dog,' and 'Truth In Nature.' Locutions is the long-awaited debut project from acclaimed bassist Rich Brown and his band Rinse The Algorithm.

On 11 original scores, Brown combines sophisticated harmonic and melodic concepts with a groove-oriented rhythmic foundation. Alongside Brown, his band features Robi Botos (piano/keys), David Virelles (piano/keys), Luis Deniz (alto saxophone), and Larnell Lewis (drums). This collection of tracks contains 'Urban Nocturnal,' 'Constellation 149,' 'The Purple Time,' 'Algorithmic,' 'Hibiscus,' 'Locutions,' 'Black Nimbus,' 'Forward Motion (.in progress),' 'Soothe The Machinery,' 'As If Sleepwalking With Headphones On,' and 'The Lakeside Stroll.' Cumulo is the third solo production released by Darren Michaels. Utilizing a common theme of clouds throughout the recording, Michaels takes the listener on a journey through rock, pop, electronica, ambient, and new age tracks and steps up to the microphone for the first time by providing vocals on nine of the fourteen titles.

With nothing more than his bass guitar, vocals, and drums, a complete listing of compositions includes 'Pellucid,' 'Look Up,' 'Deluge,' 'Underneath Fish Belly Skies,' 'Gullywasher,' 'Thunderhead,' 'Fracto,' 'Days In The Sun,' 'Sideways,' 'Tangerine Horizon,' 'Shroud,' 'Blue,' 'Teach My Eyes To See Only The Silver,' and 'Unspoken, Unsaid.' Project M showcases the debut of a bass quartet consisting of Michael Manring, Jim Stinnett, Rob Gourlay, and Grant Stinnett. This unique 2-disc CD/DVD set is comprised of an original 10-track audio CD along with an accompanying 92-minute DVD, Making Project M, which features a behind-the-scenes look at the recording process in the studio as well as interviews and demonstrations with each group member and an extensive interview with luthier Chris Stambaugh.

Tracks include 'Mr. Gordon,' 'En Chinga,' 'Companions Journey,' 'Piscatorial Dreams,' 'Money Talks,' 'Blessed One,' 'Lambent Flame,' 'Grok,' 'She Sleeps,' and 'Final Voyage.' Featuring a potent compilation of previously recorded tracks along with the debut of a couple new compositions, Pass It On, is the latest release from perennial poll-winner Dave Holland.

On his third recording to be issued under his own label, Holland is joined by Mulgrew Miller (piano), Robin Eubanks (trombone), Alex Sipiagin (trumpet), Antonio Hart (alto saxophone), and Eric Harland (drums) on 'The Sum Of All Parts,' 'Fast Track,' 'Lazy Snake,' 'Double Vision,' 'Equality,' 'Modern Times,' 'Rivers Run,' 'Processional,' and 'Pass It On.' Five years following his debut as a solo artist, Bryan Beller has released Thanks In Advance. Featuring a large supporting cast of musicians from both California and Nashville including guitarist Mike Keneally, Beller also played guitar and piano in addition to all the bass work on his latest project. Available with direct web site orders of this production is a special edition DVD, To Nothing, which documents the creation of this recording and contains nearly three hours of exclusive material and behind-the-scenes footage. Ben Wolfe has released, No Strangers Here, his fifth recording as a leader. Currently a faculty member of the jazz studies division at the Juilliard School, Wolfe has performed with The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and has recorded extensively with Wynton Marsalis, Diana Krall, and Harry Connick Jr.

On his latest solo project, Wolfe unites an outstanding jazz quartet comprised of Marcus Strickland (tenor and soprano saxophone), Luis Perdomo (piano), and Greg Hutchinson (drums) with a string quartet consisting of Jesse Mills (violin), Cyrus Beroukhim (violin), Kenji Bunch (viola), and Wolfgram Koessel (cello). Featuring guest artists Branford Marsalis (tenor and soprano saxophone), Terell Stafford (trumpet), Victor Goines (bass clarinet), and Jeff 'Tain' Watts (drums), tracks include 'The Minnick Rule,' 'No Strangers Here,' 'Milo,' 'No Pat No,' 'The Filth,' 'Circus,' 'Blue Envy,' 'Rosy & Zero,' 'Jackie Mac,' and 'Groovy Medium.'

Produced by Adam Nitti on his Renaissance Man Records label, 48 Hour Odyssey is the debut solo project by Enrico Galetta. Combining jazz, funk, and fusion sounds on a collection of high energy tracks, Galetta is joined by Marcus Finnie (drums), Mike Whittaker (keyboards, rhodes, and piano), Rod McGaha (trumpet), Jonathan Jackson (saxophones), Bill Hart (guitar), Adriano Albarella (guitar), Melody Chambers (vocals), and special guest Adam Nitti (bass). Featured tracks include 'High Damper,' '48 Hour Odyssey,' 'Apulia Arabian Night,' 'Love Despite The Distance,' 'Sant'Isaia Street,' 'L'illy Time,' 'White Smoke Rising,' and 'Be Part Of It.' A musical prodigy since her childhood, Esperanza Spalding graduated from Berklee College of Music and became one of the youngest instructors in the school's history. On her new self-titled release, the 23-year-old combines her uncanny instrumental chops, a siren voice that spans three languages, and composing skills that weave together the finest elements of jazz, soul, pop, and world music on the tracks 'Ponta De Areia,' 'I Know You Know,' 'Fall In,' 'I Adore You,' 'Cuerpo Y Alma (Body & Soul),' 'She Got To You,' 'Precious,' 'Mela,' 'Love In Time,' 'Espera,' 'If That's True,' and 'Samba Em Preludio.' Marcus is the latest solo project to be released by Grammy award-winning bassist Marcus Miller.

Since the 1980's, Miller's signature sound has become one of the most identifiable in contemporary jazz. With special guest performances by Corinne Bailey Rae, Keb' Mo', and David Sanborn, this collection of tracks contains 'Blast,' 'Funk Joint,' 'Free,' 'Higher Ground,' 'Milky Way,' 'Pluck,' 'Lost Without U,' 'Cause I Want You,' 'Ooh,' 'When I Fall In Love,' 'Strum,' 'Jean Pierre,' 'What Is Hip,' and 'Lost Without U (spoken word).' Your Move is the eighth solo release from Gerald Veasley. Veasley, one of today's leading contemporary jazz bassists, is joined by guitarist Chuck Loeb, saxophonist Chris Farr, drummer Josh Dion, trumpeter John Swana, organist Peter Kuzma, and vocalist Mikki Kornegay. A complete listing of tracks consists of 'Hear Now,' 'Slip 'n' Slide,' 'So Close To The Sun,' 'Greenwood,' 'Your Move,' 'Cross Currents,' 'Three Tears,' 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),' 'Traveling Light,' and 'Roxanne's Dance.' A pioneer of the 6-string fretless bass, Steve Bailey has performed and recorded with a long list of renowned artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Larry Carlton, and The Rippingtons since the early 1980's.

In 1993, Bailey teamed up with fellow bass virtuoso Victor Wooten to form the revered Bass Extremes duo, and over the past 15 years, they have released a number of highly regarded CD and DVD projects. Solo, his third session as a solo artist, Bailey presents a new perspective on playing solo bass without the use of loopers or overdubs. Featuring legendary hand drummer Robert Thomas Jr.

(Weather Report), Bailey utilizes his innovative artificial harmonic techniques, chordal voicings, and multi-timbre polyphonic pyrotechnics to create a duo that sounds like an entire ensemble. A complete track listing includes 'Waltz for Leeann,' 'Rhum Bar,' 'Last Train Home,' 'Scrapple From the Apple,' 'Calm Before The Storm,' 'Sea Major,' 'Blink,' 'Sir Paul,' 'Bombz Over Baghdad,' 'Ella's Boogie,' 'Majestic March,' and 'Mom's Melody.'

Following his acclaimed debut on M-Vibez in 2003, Peter Muller has released The Flow. On his new project, Muller is joined by Frank Mead (sax, flute), Tim Cansfield (guitar), Tobias Neumann (keyboards), Christian Kappe (trumpet), Ulle Rode (guitar), Kristof Hinz (drums), and Tim Weller (drums) on 10 tracks which blend funk, contemporary jazz, r&b, and soul sounds with oriental and latin elements. This collection includes 'Cairo,' 'The Chase,' 'Lounge Creatures,' 'G-String,' 'Space Train,' 'For Funk's Sake!,' 'Chanson Triste,' 'The Cruise,' 'Dracula,' and 'Belleza.'

One of Canada's most successful and celebrated electric bass exports, Chris Tarry has produced his latest project as a leader, Almost Certainly Dreaming. Since 1994, The Chris Tarry Group has been presented in many different lineups and has released several award-winning recordings ranging from trios to 15-piece big bands. Through sold out concert tours and festival appearances around the United States and Europe, The Chris Tarry Group has become one of the most successful bass-fronted groups in contemporary jazz. Some of New York's finest jazz musicians including Dan Weiss (drums), Henry Hey (piano), Pete McCann (guitar), and Kelly Jefferson (sax) join Tarry on eight brand new compositions consisting of 'Bedford Celebrities,' 'An Unlikely UFO,' 'Radio Princess,' 'Same Clothes, Different Day,' 'Prettiest Town Of Goderich,' 'In The Beginning,' 'Almost Certainly Dreaming,' and 'Alien Blueprints.' Hemispheres, the debut trio project from bassist Ric Fierabracci, keyboardist Phil Turcio, and drummer Joel Rosenblatt, features a blend of fusion, funk, and contemporary jazz sounds. Special guest musicians include Dave Weckl, Gary Meek, Walter Rodriguez, Brett Garsed, Eric Marienthal, Jeff Miley, Bob Sheppard, Steve Tavaglione, Christian Howes, Bill Evans, Brian Monroney, Doug Webb, and Joel Hoekstra.

A complete track listing consists of 'Conflict,' 'The Goods,' 'Earth,' 'Avenue Of The Righteous,' 'Shadows,' 'Ghosts,' 'Gravity,' 'Sacrifice,' 'The Oracle,' 'Sphere Of Influence,' and 'Reverie.' On Seven Waves, his debut studio recording as a solo artist, Yves Carbonne delivers a potent mixture of jazz, R&B, progressive rock, and spiritual sounds utilizing the massive tonal range of his 10 and 12-string fretless sub-bass guitars which he combines with the human voice.

In addition to his bass/vocal collaborations with French African jazz and soul singer Guillaume Eyango, this project features notable guest performers such as solo bass pioneer Michael Manring, drummers Roger Biwandu and Anthony Breyer as well as Laurent Maur on harmonica. This collection of 11 original compositions consists of 'Cloudy Day,' 'Sweet Passion,' 'Holy Spirit 2nd Verse,' 'Childhood,' 'Childhood Interlude,' 'Seven Waves,' 'Origin,' 'Origin Interlude,' 'You Got All My Love,' 'Dawning,' and 'A Day In His Life.' The Toys Of Men is the latest solo project from legendary bass pioneer Stanley Clarke. Filled with fiery electric bass grooves and solo acoustic bass interludes, Clarke is joined on this recording by Ruslan Sirota (keyboards), Mads Tolling (violin), Esperanza Spalding (vocals), Jef Lee Johnson (guitar), Ronald Bruner, Jr. (drums), Tomer Shtein (acoustic guitar), Michael Landau (acoustic and electric guitars), Phil Davis (keyboards), and Paulinho Da Costa (percussion).

A complete listing of tracks includes 'The Toys Of Men' (6 Parts), 'Come On,' 'Jerusalem,' 'Back In The Woods,' 'All Over Again,' 'Hmm Hmm,' 'Bad Asses,' 'Game,' 'La Cancion De Sofia,' 'El Bajo Negro,' 'Broski,' 'Chateauvallon 1972,' and 'Bass Folk Song #6.' Legendary jazz bassist Ron Carter was the anchor of Miles Davis' classic quintet of the 1960's, and today, Carter is recognized as one of the most prolific and influential bassists in the history of jazz music. It has been over 40 years since he joined Miles' renowned group, and on Dear Miles, Carter pays tribute to his former bandleader with this collection of tracks which were associated with the iconic trumpeter. With Stephen Scott on piano, Peyton Crossley on drums, and Roger Squitero on percussion, this 10-track compilation features several tunes closely linked with Davis' repertoire throughout the 1950's and '60's in addition to two originals by Carter and a couple of compositions that were loosely related to Miles. Player Lost In Reality Rarity there.

This project consists of the tracks 'Gone,' 'Seven Steps To Heaven,' 'My Funny Valentine,' 'Bag's Groove,' 'Someday My Prince Will Come,' 'Cut And Paste,' 'Stella By Starlight,' 'As Time Goes By,' 'Bye Bye Blackbird,' and '595.' This is the self-titled debut recording from young French phenom bassist Hadrien Feraud. As a member of John McLaughlin's band, Feraud's musicianship has already been showcased to an audience on an international scale. On this release, Feraud's playing is featured alongside a leading group of musicians within the jazz and fusion community consisting of John McLaughlin, Bireli Lagrene, Dominique DiPiazza, and Linley Marthe to name just a few. Tracks include 'Rumeurs,' 'Marie Ael,' 'Natural,' 'High Jacked,' 'Giant Steps,' 'Jet Sun Dance,' 'Hadrien & Linley Trip 1,' 'Clair Obscur,' 'Rhapsody In Blue,' 'Shall We Love,' 'Hadrien & Linley Trip 2,' 'Maria Christina,' 'Marie Ael - Long Version,' and 'Outro Trip 3.'

Vitalization is the 12th recording released by Steve Smith and Vital Information. For over the past two decades, Vital Information has continually expanded their musical boundaries by encompassing straight-ahead jazz, contemporary jazz, fusion, South Indian rhythms, odd time grooves, blues, funk, and rock influences. This new project features longtime band members Steve Smith, Tom Coster, Baron Browne, and new guitarist Vinny Valentino along with special guests such as saxophonist Bill Evans as well as percussionists Pete Lockett, Gilad, and Juan Carlos Melian. The twelve original compositions include 'Interwoven Rhythms - Synchronous,' 'Get Serious,' 'The Trouble With,' 'The Bottom Line,' 'Seven And A Half,' 'Interwoven Rhythms - Dialogue,' 'J Ben Jazz,' 'Groove Time,' 'You Know What I Mean,' 'The Closer,' 'Jimmy Jive,' and 'Positano.'