Meet Tal Wilkenfeld
Bassist Tal Wilkenfeld has been featured in Gibson’s Lifestyle section in a piece by Jerry McCulley titled “Meet Tal Wilkenfeld, Jeff Beck’s Young Aussie Bass Prodigy.” The piece covers a brief history of Tal’s career to date, including her stints with Chick Corea, the Allman Brothers, and of course Jeff Beck:
By 20 she’d become variously a band leader and in-demand session/live player who’d gigged with the Allman Brothers and recorded Transformation, a well-received debut solo album she cut in two days of hectic NYC sessions, recordings which she also composed and arranged. At 21 she was touring Australia with Chick Corea, who she says “had heard about me and was looking for a bass player and so I sent them some of my stuff. Then I got this call from his people and they said: ‘Hey, do you want to do these gigs in Australia?’ And I was like, ‘Yes, sir!’”
I think we’ll see some great things from Tal in the future!
* Photo credit: Gibson.com
Jaco Pastorius
Twenty years ago on September 21, 1987 the world of music lost bass legend Jaco Pastorius. His death was a tragic result of a violent confrontation that occurred outside a Florida club on September 11, 1987, during which Jaco sustained critical injuries. Although Jaco had suffered health problems later in his life, he made a tremendous impact on the world of bass guitar, both as a solo musician and as a member of Weather Report.
I must confess that I’d never heard any of Jaco’s music until last week. I finally picked up and listened to a bit from his solo album, Jaco Pastorius, and Heavy Weather by Weather Report. I’m amazed at how good he really was. I see why he was called The World’s Greatest Bass Player. In addition to his solo work and his work with Weather Report, Pastorius played on many other albums, including albums by Joni Mitchell, Al Di Meola and Mike Stern.
Jaco was well known for playing Fender Jazz Basses. On one Fender Jazz Bass, he removed the frets in order to make a fretless bass. According to Wikipedia, he felt that frets were “speed bumps” that got in the way.
I encourage you to add Jaco Pastorius to your musical playlist this week in remembrance of one of the greatest bass players to ever play the instrument. Below is a video of Jaco Pastorius playing “The Chicken.”
* Photo credit: JacoPastorius.com
Fender Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Bass
I realized recently that although I’ve been playing guitar for over 15 years now I’ve actually played the bass more in concert than the guitar. This is mainly because I’ve rarely played in concert and each time that I have played in public it’s been to fill in for someone else or for a band that didn’t have a bassist. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this realization is that, until recently, I’d never actually owned a bass guitar. I decided earlier this year to finally purchase a bass, and not needing anything more than a fun practice instrument, I purchased the Fender Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Bass. In researching basses, I found this positive review of each of the Vintage Modified Series basses in the November issue of Bass Player magazine. I’ve had the bass now for several weeks, and I’ve been pretty impressed with it so far. It’s an excellent value for the money. Additionally, I purchased a Fender Rumble 15 bass amplifier, and have been pretty impressed with it, as well, although I must admit I have my eye on the Fender B-DEC 30 bass amplifier.
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About
Welcome to my guitar blog! My name is Josh, and this site is my attempt to celebrate the guitar, its history, and its players. Read more...
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