Review by Brent-Anthony Johnson Bass Frontiers Staff Contributor Wichita, KS based (and bass guitar instructor at Butler Community College) bassist Roberto Bernardinello offers his impressive brand of ambient Latin jazz. Propelled by Roberto’s singing fretless and beautifully crafted lines, this is the “kick back bass release of 2011”! I have to comment that this is [...]

Review by Brent-Anthony Johnson Bass Frontiers Staff Contributor Bassist Kyle Eastwood’s latest release is a collection of really good contemporary jazz tunes, and a musical journey you don’t want to miss. The beautifully live-sounding recording by this well-traveled group features keyboardist Andrew McCormack, saxophonist Greame Blevins, one of my favorite drummers Martin Kaine, and the [...]

Review by Brent-Anthony Johnson Bass Frontiers Staff Contributor Groove Central! Yeah! Dominique di Piazza has been a friend for many, many years. So, when he asked if he could send his latest recording with guitarist Eric Sempe, I was (naturally) all in! This is a smooth and pretty thing, and Dominique’s playing is deep in [...]

Review by Brent-Anthony Johnson Bass Frontiers Staff Contributor Damian Erskine continues his onslaught of all things bass with this technique and groove-oriented book. There are so many lessons and examples (over 100 audio clips) in this book it feels a lot like getting a personal one-on-one with Damian himself! Throughout Right Hand Drive, Damian covers [...]

Review by Brent-Anthony Johnson Bass Frontiers Staff Contributor Accomplished jazz bassist/composer, bandleader, and author Chris Tarry presents his latest offering, The Rest of the Story as both a CD and a collection of short stories that also masquerade as the disc’s cover. Nicely done and very enjoyable, Chris! The four stories are brilliantly crafted, and [...]

Review by John Howard, Bass Frontiers Contributor From the very first notes of the Middle Eastern tinged opener “Blast”, Marcus Miller’s legendary big sound and musicality take center stage on his new release “A Night In Monte Carlo”. Recorded live in Nov. of 2008, the album features the Monte Carlo Symphony Orchestra along with Marcus’s [...]

Published by Hal Leonard-Backbeat Books Review by Brent-Anthony Johnson, Staff Contributor Master bassist Ed Friedland submits a great study of the most notable R&B bassist who wrote the lexicon of modern music. The 80-page/plus CD “the way they play” study book explores the vastly different styles of James Jamerson, Chuck Rainey, Duck Dunn, George Porter, [...]

Published by Voyage Press Review by Brent-Anthony Johnson, Staff Contributor This is a Fender bass enthusiast “must have” hard copy book to be sure, and THE guide for owners and shoppers alike. In its 198 pages, The Fender Bass Handbook covers in great detail every aspect of finding the Fender bass of your dreams, and [...]

Released by Cherrytown Records Review by Brent-Anthony Johnson, Staff Contributor Bassist Christoph Victor Kaiser and his cohorts in “Energy Jazz” trio, Germany’s Jazz Pistols, offers their best release to date with Superstring, the band’s 5th release! This is an incredibly well-produced and equally well-played set of original and cover material that touts ‘the Pistols’’ ability [...]

Published by Sher Music Co. Review by Brent-Anthony Johnson, Staff Contributor Chuck Sher has been publishing great material for the improvising and reading bassist for many years, and this book is yet another great addition to any studying bassist’s agglomeration of scattered learning materials with this book! In Foundation Exercises for Bass, Chuck covers important [...]