Bass Musician is proud to premiere The Low Sixes new video of their single, “Turn On The Night”.

Alan Hildebrandt, who lays down the low-end shares his gear and inspiration for the single…

“Turn Up the Night” is a super fun song to play live! The bass was recorded using a Precision bass through an Ampeg B15 for a warm, classic sound. At live shows, I play a ’76 Rickenbacker with a Sound City 150 and Sound City 4×12 cabinet, a great punchy and vintage tone! I grew up listening to pop, punk rock and metal, and so my main sources of inspiration and playing style are Bruce Thomas from The Attractions, Karl Alvarez of the Descendents, and Steve Harris of Iron Maiden. – Alan Hildebrandt, Bassist for The Low Sixes

Photo by Stacy Lee

More on The Low Sixes…

The Montreal four-piece — assembled from a hefty lineup of the scene’s indie veterans – began unassumingly enough as singers and guitarists Jonathan Cummins and Brendan Drouillard returned home from an extensive European tour with their other project, heavy psych rock band USA Out of Vietnam, and debriefed over some drinks at the local waterhole, Barfly.

The conversation quickly turned to developing a new project and, soon enough, the two were recruiting friends, drummer/singer John Milchem (Starvin Hungry) and bassist/singer Jon Asencio (from Cummins’ other band, renowned ‘80s/’90s Montreal indie punk band Doughboys), to form The Low Sixes. Asencio has since departed the band with mutual friend Alan Hildebrandt (Priors) taking over bass duties though Ascencio appears on the band’s debut. The album also features guest vocalists Olga Goreas, who is now a permanent member, and Jace Lasek (both of The Besnard Lakes), Chance Hutchison and Jackie Blenkarn (Private Lives) and keys from Patrick Watson. The Oshawa Tree releases on October 4, 2024 on Forge Again Records.

“The band was mainly put together to escape the job doldrums, it wasn’t until we decided to record four songs at Le Stuzzio with Ryan Battistuzzi that provoked a surprisingly positive reaction from our friends that we decided we would turn into an actual band and do an entire record; the band hopes to “erase the ‘cool’ factor” often associated with DIY underground music. Montreal has a very large experimental scene (Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Colin Stetson, Tim Hecker etc.) and although we love that music, we are sort of reacting against it as we believe everybody can appreciate a good pop song. We want to be as inclusive as possible and be the band that can bring entertainment back to small stages and DIY spaces again. Case in point: The quartet recently played a birthday party in Ottawa for friend and artist Dirty Donny who has created imagery for Metallica and Aerosmith. Realizing that all great songs have already been written, I sat down and just wrote ‘Ryan’s Favorite Song’ as an ode to the bubble gum music of the sixties. I would hope that the Ramones and 1910 Fruitgum Company influences shine through and serve as an homage. The ‘Ryan’ in the title is Ryan Battistussi who recorded the record – and no, this was not his favorite song and seemed oddly non-plussed at our tip o’ the cap. – Jonathan Cummins / Guitar & Vocals

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Mike Goodspeed’s new release “Family Truckster” is due out in September 2024. It follows his 2023 sophomore effort “Whistling Past The Graveyard”.

Boston-based bassist Mike Goodspeed continued releasing singles in 2023. Several of these featured guest musicians from across the eastern United States, helping to create his most varied sound to date. Pennsylvania-based post-classical composer and drummer Kevin Stahl provided his sublime brushwork on “The Longest Day” and funky stickwork on “The Pedantic Autodidact” and “Beyond The Oort Cloud”. New York post-rock artist Ever Onward contributed his rock-solid drum groove on “Vista Nonpareil”. New Jersey guitarist John DiStase and Nashville six-stringer Mike Valeras provided solos for “The Pedantic Autodidact”.

Goodspeed’s compositions and bass playing continue to combine rock, jazz fusion, and cinematic musical styles. A reworked rendition of his 2022 piece “Oort Cloud”, retitled here “Beyond The Oort Cloud”, follows a peaceful acoustic guitar prelude. Goodspeed’s Zon Sonus 5-string melds perfectly with Stahl’s Vinnie Colaiuta-like groove. The funky Medeski, Martin, and Wood-inspired “Flaky Pastry” follows, along with the collaborative “The Pedantic Autodidact”. “Vista Nonpareil” finds Goodspeed threading the needle of post-rock and jazz fusion, his upright taking soloing duties and his fretless Carvin performing the melody. The beautifully pensive “The Longest Day” follows, with the cinematic “Spelunking” and “Surreal Countdown” closing out the album.

Mike Goodspeed’s other releases are available on all major platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, and are in rotation on Amazing Radio’s genre streams. For more information, visit www.mikegoodspeedmusic.com.

“Placentia Bay: Summer of 1941” is the final installment of what Vancouver-based composer and double bassist Mark Haney regards as his “storytelling trilogy,” which began with his acclaimed 2010 album “Aim For The Roses.” Haney’s penchant for unique stories is a theme throughout his entire opus, though. And while many embed narratives into their music, what’s striking about his approach is the myriad ways that he does.

“Aim For The Roses” took the fateful jump of failed daredevil Ken Carter as its inspiration, and musically it seemed to sit somewhere between Harry Partch’s tales and the Rheostatics’ Music Inspired by the Group of Seven, with bits of sung and spoken text strewn throughout music that spanned folk to hovering bass drones. The album was subsequently rendered into a noted documentary film. His collaboration with the beloved cartoonist Seth, “Omnis Temporalis” (2022) went somewhere different entirely. The eccentric, multi-form work deconstructs Seth’s graphic novel George Sprott: 1894-1975 and its explorations of identity, time, change, loss and memory in what Haney dubbed a “chamber novella.” The piece employed a trio of musicians and actors Richard Newman, Dorothea Hayley, koralee, and Jovanni Sy, and was brought to life as an elaborate installation performance over ten days at the Richmond Gallery and as a deluxe LP package.

The atmospheric “Placentia Bay” veers considerably from its predecessors in several ways. The forthcoming LP is a chamber concerto for Haney’s longtime friend the gifted Canadian double bassist Meaghan Williams. Its underlying story: the secret meeting between British PM Winston Churchill and American President Franklin D. Roosevelt off the coast of Newfoundland on August 9, 1941, that resulted in the so-called “Atlantic Charter.” Said charter cemented the British-American allyship during World War 2 while formulating a post-war outlook with an emphasis on peace.

Both of Haney’s earlier recorded efforts featured him as a performer and also foregrounded their narrative features (whether more linear or more fragmentary) through copious texts. “Placentia Bay” allows the storytelling dimension to reside someplace more oblique in favour of its radiant ensemble writing and a solo part demonstrates Haney’s deep knowledge of the instrument as well as Williams’ boldness and precision as a performer. There is still some voice, but it is limited to choral singing courtesy of the vocal ensemble music intima. All in all, it’s quite a bit more sporadic and diffuse than on the earlier records, its text feeling more textural than descriptive. Even Haney’s poetic liner notes assert a certain distance with respect to his subject matter; most of all, he’s adamant in them that the piece is not about war, and this fact is audible.

Haney traveled to Placentia in the summer of 2018, taking the overnight ferry from Sydney, Nova Scotia, to have the feeling of arriving by water. He rented a room above a cafe where he had Williams’ father deliver her student bass permitting him to write on the Newfoundland native’s own instrument. He spent five days there sketching and observing his surroundings—the shore at dawn, the mist on the water, the rusting American guns and bunkers.

With its richly lyrical ensemble colours and use of the bass’ full range of pitch and articulation, the work exudes a sense of the personal. It may not have the outwardly experimental spirit of some of Haney’s earlier output, but it’s hard to look at his treatment of the concerto medium as entirely straightforward either. It’s a carefully crafted piece that acknowledges the history of the form and its thematic content but skillfully brings this into the present moment.

Raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Meaghan Williams completed her undergraduate degree in performance at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto with virtuoso bassist Joel Quarrington. During that time, she also had the privilege of studying with bass legend Gary Karr. Williams earned her Konzertexamen with Michael Wolf at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. She also attended the Carl-Flesch Akademie in Baden-Baden, Germany, where she studied with Finnish double bass phenomenon Janne Saksala. Following her studies, Williams performed with the Neue Lausitzer Philharmonie in Germany, and she was a founding member of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Symphony Orchestra in Japan. Since returning to Canada, Meaghan has performed with ensembles from coast to coast including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, and the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. Meaghan is the Principal Bass of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra. A believer in diversity and innovation, Williams enjoys working with living composers and expanding the repertoire for double bass. In addition to premiering Placentia Bay with the Okanagan Symphony in November 2019, she also performed the debut of Concerto for Cello, Bass, Suona & Dizi by Dr. Ning Wang (Beijing) with the Nu:BC Collective in 2011.

Named one of the Globe and Mail’s “Canadian Arts Heroes” of 2020, Mark Haney is deeply motivated by issues of Canadian identity, culture, and community. Formerly the Composer-in-Residence at Mountain View Cemetery (2015-2024) and the Managing Artistic Director of The Little Chamber Music Series That Could (2012-2024), several of Haney’s compositions have earned him national attention including a Jessie Richardson Award Nomination for Composition (Small Stage) and extensive press coverage. In addition to the works represented in his discography, his major works include 3339, a retelling of the Terry Fox Story through the lens of the Hero’s Journey, Life Is Not a Horse Farm a 20-minute string quartet detailing his own journey on the Camino Santiago and 11, an 11-minute Remembrance Day-themed piece employing 11 brass instruments.

In 2016 producer/writer/director John Bolton and Opus 59 Films made a musical docudrama about his album Aim For The Roses and its creation, in association with Super Channel, and with project assistance from the BC Arts Council. In 2020, Haney spearheaded the Isolation Commissions project under the auspices of the Little Chamber Music Series, where patrons chose artists to film four-minute performances of themselves that evoked how the pandemic was impacting their artistic practices. As a double bassist, Haney has performed throughout North America in a wide variety of genres and continues to commission and premiere new works by Canadian composers.

Available Friday, August 9th from markhaney.bandcamp.com

In an exciting announcement for Rush fans and rock enthusiasts alike, Anthem Records in Canada and Rhino Records will reissue the first-ever solo albums of Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee. Lifeson’s 1996 album Victor and Lee’s 2000 offering My Favourite Headache will be re-released on August 9, 2024, in various formats, including a range of vinyl configurations.

My Favourite Headache, Geddy Lee’s only solo album to date, was initially released on November 14, 2000. This reissue marks its first vinyl pressing since a limited-edition Record Store Day exclusive in 2019. The fourth side of the album features two instrumental mixes. Produced by Lee, Ben Mink, and David Leonard, the album includes contributions from Mink and drummers Matt Cameron (Soundgarden/Pearl Jam) and Jeremy Taggart (Our Lady Peace).

Victor, originally released on January 9, 1996, marks Alex Lifeson’s solo debut. Lifeson took on the roles of songwriter, producer, and mixer for this album. For the first time, Victor will be available on vinyl, featuring a complete remix by Lifeson himself to enhance the audio quality. The fourth side of the album includes four instrumental tracks previously exclusive to Lifeson’s website. Guest artists include lead vocalist Edwin from I Mother Earth, Primus bassist Les Claypool, and Canadian powerhouse vocalist Lisa Dalbello. The 15-song collection is paired with striking 2024 reimagined artwork by Fantoons Animation Studios.

For more details on the Geddy Lee reissue and to preorder, https://lnk.to/MyFavouriteHeadache
For more details on the Alex Lifeson reissue and to preorder, https://lnk.to/AlexLifesonVictor

Acclaimed bassist and composer Ben Wolfe is thrilled to announce the August 9, 2024 release of The Understated.

This evocative new album features a collection of new original compositions by Wolfe paired, with re-imaginings of some of the composer’s classic material, with a particular emphasis on the ballad song-form. The album features ten tracks, five of which are ballads – a bold move for any composer – Wolfe creates a cohesive narrative here that challenges the listeners perception of the classic ballad. The Understated features Wolfe alongside artists who make up the very frontline of modern jazz, including pianist Orrin Evans, tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover, drummer Aaron Kimmel, guitarist Russell Malone and pianist Sullivan Fortner.

Wolfe has always been drawn to finding beauty in subtlety. He perceives a certain tranquility and elegance in the Coltrane Quartet, Louis Armstrong’s Hot Fives and Sevens, the legendary Miles Davis bands and rhythm sections, and the music of Charlie Parker. While he, of course, revels at the immense world-building energy of this music, it’s the “other side” – the elusive, magical aspect that endlessly captivates him – the understated. The composer draws inspiration most from the ensemble work of these hallmark jazz ensembles. Despite the individual parts being extraordinarily beautiful on their own, the musicians in these archetypal ensembles play only what is needed to serve the music, paying particular attention to the band-sound more-so than their individual sound. The Understated embodies this ethos with a tremendously impactful ensemble-oriented approach.

Wolfe sought to continue the thread started by “Lullaby in D” from his previous critically acclaimed release Unjust. Wolfe indicates, “Something about that take was so perfect to me. It had been brought to life, and it had that ensemble thing.” Wolfe assembled the quartet who recorded “Lullaby” (including longtime collaborator Orrin Evans, as well as recent frequent collaborators Aaron Kimmel and Nicole Glover) and two very special guests, Russell Malone and Sullivan Fortner. The recording process took place in one room with no headphones or isolation booths, further emphasizing the group’s collective awareness.

This record succeeds in bringing Wolfe’s expansive music to life through extremely conscientious group playing. Nothing is forced or pushed; everything that needs to be stated is stated. The single from the album, “Waltz,” encapsulates the spirit of the project. Wolfe says, “I view albums like a complete painting, so singles have been difficult for me. This song is very much in the spirit of the whole but doesn’t give away the record.” The piece features a sentimental melody delivered with grace by tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover, before Glover and Evans embark on stirring solos dancing in and out of the tune’s harmony.

 Other new original compositions featured here include “Ballad in B”, which perhaps best demonstrates the group’s stunning cohesion. This tune is a refreshing diversion as it features a serene repeated melody without overt melodic improvisation. The following track, “Anagram”, begins with Kimmel’s rhythmic refrains and a unison melody played by Glover and Wolfe and is a true ensemble piece. On this track, Wolfe shines with a lyrical solo. The moody short interlude “So Indeed” is a lyrical masterwork that leaves the listener wanting even more.  “Beautiful You” features master guitarist Russell Malone on the track’s melody. The emphasis here on restrained lyricism is a prime reminder of the old adage “it’s not the notes you play, it’s the notes you don’t play”. Each pocket of space in between melodic moments leaves room for the listener to breathe deeper and deeper into the song. The driving “Triangle Man” features fantastic improvisation from Glover and Kimmel. The tender “Barely Spoken” concludes the album with a feature for pianist Sullivan Fortner.

 The album also weaves in references to Wolfe’s past works, creating a personal musical universe. “The Poet Speaks” is the opening track on his first record, 13 Sketches. “Occam’s Razor” was composed years ago for a collaboration with a choreographer and painter, and was a much different composition in its original form. “Love Is Near” was originally found on The Whisperer. With ballads in particular, Ben uses voicings and sounds that represent certain things to him, intentionally referencing his other compositions to generate connections between his songs.

 Wolfe’s tremendous compositions on this album are also influenced by the group of musicians that he assembled for this release. Wolfe remarks “One of the things these five musicians share in common is that not only are they true ensemble players, they will always play something unexpected and special.” Listeners will find calm and beauty within the ensemble performances throughout The Understated.

Visit online at benwolfe.com/