Blog By James

I wanted to quickly remind those interested that 3 is playing at The Ottobar this Thursday night, the 2nd. Only $10! So far we’ve got a party of five going. Their new album “The End Is Begun” is out now.

So this weekend we’re going to Ocean City and we’re all very excited. Yeah beach! Even if it rains while we’re there, I am still looking forward to getting away for a few days.

Tal Wilkenfeld’s debut album “Transformation” has unexpectedly occupied all of my listening time over the past few days. It is the first fusion album that has demanded this kind of attention from me in years. I bought the latest issue of Bass Player magazine (which I now subscribe to) because Geddy Lee was on the cover. In the reviews section I found a write-up for the album and since I’m always on the lookout for up and coming players, I thought I’d look into it further. Well after hearing the first minute of “BC” on her myspace page, I knew this was going to be something I’d dig. The bass tone she’s got on this recording is not the kind of tone that you get from a particular amp or bass. It’s mostly in the hands and I absolutely love this sound. In addition to Tal’s fantastic playing, she’s got quite the line up for this session including Wayne Krantz on guitar and Keith Carlock on drums. Although I had heard Keith’s drumming before, I didn’t really appreciate it as much until now. And as for Krantz, he freakin’ kills on this record! Tal has written some great tunes here and I particularly appreciate her use of odd meter through out, doing it in a very musical way. “Transformation” is available via iTunes for $7 which is where I bought it. I plan to buy the actual CD from Waterfront Records when I can afford it. It’s an Austrailian import at the moment so it’s about $25 US.

I have purchased a new bass to compliment my existing Variax 4 string. Although Melborne and I haven’t been gigging at all recently, we hope to change that later this year. And since I will be playing mainly bass with him, I wanted both a backup bass and something that sounded totally different from the Line 6. So as of tomorrow, FedEx claims they’ll deliver my new SX 5 string fretless Jazz Bass copy. It’s a $130 bass that is perfect for me at my current playing level. Meb owns a 4 string fretted version and I’ve played basses that cost 6 times as much that don’t feel as solid nor play as well as that thing, especially after I set it up. So I am very excited about it and I’ll be taking it to the beach with me to get acquainted and get to practicing.

Sunshine is coming out this weekend and I am really hoping that it will be playing somewhere out in O.C. We are so long overdue for a solid sci-fi film!

Allison recently suggested that I revisit the latest album by King’s X. It wasn’t that I bought it back in 2005 and didn’t like it, it was more that I was just distracted by other things at the time. Well two years flew by and there I was wondering why I didn’t pay more attention to “Ogre Tones”. After all, I’ve been enjoying the music of King’s X since I was 20 years old (heard “Black Flag” off of the self-titled album and was hooked). After pulling out “Ogre Tones” and letting it repeat in my car, I’ve come to realize just how freakin’ good it really is. I have a new favorite album.