From: Level42-request @ worldmachine.com (Level42 Digest) Subject: Level42 Digest V2000 #111 _ ____ _ ____ _ _ ___ // //__ // / //__ // /__// __// //__ //__ \\_/ //__ //__ // /__ D I G E S T Level42 Digest Volume 2000 : Issue 111 1309 subscribers Today's topics: Le Roy BHConrad Re: Level42 Digest V2000 #110 Dar4Bass Will Downing/Can't walk you home brian bacon Responses... DonZipf Acid Jazz bands and . . . Tom Trudell Chapstick, anyone? Mike Giusti Opinions on Fender Jazz Basses & Amps Tom Brown Favourite groove? Steve Robson FM Andrew_GOODWIN ------------------------------ Subject: Le Roy From: BHConrad @ aol.com Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 08:17:06 EDT <<2) what ever happened to Leroy Williams (percussionist)>> he's had a rather successful solo career as a percussionist, and here in the States he's currently more popular than Elvis. Bruce (Somebody Slap me!) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Level42 Digest V2000 #110 From: Dar4Bass @ aol.com Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 10:19:01 EDT In a message dated 6/11/00 6:05:02 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Level42-request @ worldmachine.com writes: <> << I don't agree. The Godfather of slap Larry Graham used an unmodified Jazz Bass in the seventies. Listen to "Hair" from GCS. Great slap-sound. >> Very true, but when Leo Fender first designed and built the Jazz, the slap technique wasn't around (Larry Graham is usually credited with being the first to use the technique). There inherent flaws with the bass, if you're a pure slapper, but it isn't a bad instrument. As for Marcus Miller, his is modified with a Sadowsky pre-amp. James Jamerson (whom I revere), Jaco and Duck weren't slappers-FYI. But I don't think Fenders are crap (except the Mexican) if the bass fits what you do, cool. Bless the Bass... ------------------------------ Subject: Will Downing/Can't walk you home From: "brian bacon" Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 17:56:26 GMT In Response to Deans piece on Will Downing. I have a video of the 1989 Princes Trust concert at the NEC Birmingham ( which I attended), where Level 42 were the backing musicians for all the acts including a duet with Will Downing and Mica Paris called "Where is the Love". Other acts included John Farnham, Andy Bell from Erasure, Alexander O'Neal and Tony Hadley from Spandau Ballet. Level42 did two songs of their own, "Heaven in my Hands" and "Lessons in Love". It was a fantastic gig and great to see just how acomplished our heroes are as all round musicians having to learn the music to all the other artists songs. The line in "Can't Walk You Home" is: "All Your Men are Manly" Keep Funkin' Brian. ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Subject: Responses... From: DonZipf @ aol.com Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 14:13:55 EDT > Staying with the guess the lyric theme, on that fantastic track "Can't walk > you home" what does Mark say in one of the opening lines...."All your men > are ..." it sounds like mammy ? "Manly". All your men are manly, Richard. ;o) > (just kidding about the bass talk, i know how to scroll, so please > dont start famling me. this was a JOKE, ok?) That's right! Anyone caught famling Winston will have to anwer to me, as he is my very good firned. > From what I can see, Mark often uses electrical tape around his > thumb because of his energetic slapping technique. Actually, it's some kind of hard plastic tape. I tried the electrical tape years ago, and found that it just got gooey adhesive all over my bass. He seems to experiment with different kinds of tape, as we've seen in our experiences during the One Man tour. > If 98% of all Fenders are crap why does the majority of bassist still play > them? > > What about all the great players who preferred Fender basses? What about > Bootsy Collins, James Jamerson, Duck Dunn, Marcus Miller, Jaco Pastorius? > Where they all playing crap instruments? > > I've been playing a Fender bass for many years and I love it. > I would recommend it to everyone who wants to buy a bass. Obviously, you - like the big-time stars you mentioned - lucked out and got one of the good ones in the 2%. I didn't say they were ALL crap - I said 98%, and I stand by it. Fender's problem is consistency and quality-control. A visit to any Fender dealer will prove my point. The people who own the Fender trademark now are marketing guys - they don't give a damn about the venerable art of bass-making, only about the profits in whoring out a classic American trademark. >> It doesn't matter which model of the Jazz you use (Mexican, >> American, Custom), that bass was not designed with slapping in mind. > > I don't agree. The Godfather of slap Larry Graham used an unmodified Jazz > Bass in the seventies. Listen to "Hair" from GCS. Great slap-sound. I'm with you on this one, JWC, insofar as no bass conceived in the 1950's was "designed" for slapping. You can slap on just about any bass, and the Fender Jazz is no exception, provided it was manufactured and set-up properly. BTW, Larry Graham has for years used a Moon Jazz bass, almost identical to the one I have which formerly belonged to Mark King (http://members.aol.com/donworld) - except that his is completely white, fretboard and all, and has Bartolini electronics instead of Alembic. The Jazz bass was and is a brilliant design. The GB I play now, like Mark's GB's, is a J-type bass. But the point is that if you want a J, get a good one - NOT a Dreadful Abomination (aka. Fender). There are many companies which make Jazz basses the way they should be made, with care and quality-control. Fender's quality is spotty at best, and often quite atrocious. Cheers! - Don Z. ------------------------------ Subject: Acid Jazz bands and . . . From: Tom Trudell Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 11:50:43 -0700 Hello all, I never get to chime in but enjoy skimming and occassionally reading. This teacher just got summer off so now I have time to post! ACID JAZZ BAND? Try "Junk" on the Faffco label. They are from the SF Bay Area, they put out three cd's before they broke up: Junk, A Continuation of Madness, and Kiss My Acid Jazz. It's a quartet of great bass, metronomic drums, tasty tenor sax, and Lesliefied guitar. I think they are the perfect blend of jazz and funk, hence the name. Anybody else heard of them? They apparently toured the Pacific Northwest cities at one point. WORST LEVEL 42 SONG? "Talking in your sleep". should have called this one "Songwriting in my sleep." . . . and any of you all into the Personal Home Recording Studio game, email me if you want to talk shop, recording techniques, swap songs, etc. What a great way to spend thousands of dollars on a hobby! Is this the end of the old guard? I wouldn't count on it!!! -T Squared ------------------------------ Subject: Chapstick, anyone? From: "Mike Giusti" Organization: The Magical Mayhem of Mike Giusti Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 18:04:10 -0700 I hate when people use forums like this for self-promotion, but I thought I would offer this to folks here before posting it on eBay. I am selling my Chapman Stick. Purchased in 1992 and played it off and on until about 1995. It has been collecting dust ever sice. I opened it to find it is still in beautiful shape, although a couple of strings need to be replaced. If anyone is interested, please e-mail me and I hope to have a digital photo available tonight or tomorrow. I am asking $600.00 US. Ciao for now = :o) Mike The Magical Mayhem of Mike Giusti http://www.magicalmayhem.com ------------------------------ Subject: Opinions on Fender Jazz From: Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 02:31:38 -0400 Winston, this is a post that might put you to sleep - it's about bass stuff, so I want to warn you in advance. Don Z - one thing I can count on you for, is you are not wishy washy about what we agree and disagree on. Cheesy disco songs are fun to play on bass - check Bartolini pickups bring out excellent best sound - yup Fender Jazz makes an excellent bass - Naaah! Sorry Don but I believe you are caught up in the commercial hype about Fenders. They are common, even saturated in the market, but I think for your taste they are just too mainstream. As JWC Bronski wrote, so many fine bass players choose the Fender Jazz. Even more interesting is artists choose it late in their playing careers, like Geddy Lee (Test for Echo) and Mark King (One Man). Is it good for slapping? Heck yes! Again JWC Bronski points out that Larry Graham did his slapping on a Fender, as does Marcus M. A good point is that the sound needs to be worked on. There's a lot of bottom end with a Fender Jazz, that for slapping needs to be controlled to get clean low end. Light guage strings help a lot. For sure you can get clean, satisfying slap tones from it. Bri, from someone with your bass playing experience, I am surprised at your point; 'So the MOST important thing you can get out of the bass it'self is feel'. For the longest time I searched for a satisfying bass tone, and concluded is that it all starts with the tone of the bass . The best amplifiers, pickups, equalizers and preamps cannot make a bad bass sound good. It's the tone of the instrument, which is the beginning of a long signal chain of sound, that is most important. Get the bass tone right first, then start to deal with all the other factors. About strings I agree; for me this is the second factor. Put on a new set of strings, light guage, roundwound and you may be amazed at the clarity of your slap tone. peace, love and clean low end, Greg J ------------------------------ Subject: Basses & Amps From: Tom Brown Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 08:31:17 +0000 Hi Folks, Quick word to say that it's great to hear all of the discussion about basses. There's often questions from digesters looking to buy a new bass and all of this stuff really helps. A few folks have said that is is also very dependant on the amp as well, so how about some comments about amps ? Finally, just like to wish any Portugese the very best of luck for this evening !!! That's all -T ------------------------------ Subject: Favourite groove? From: Steve Robson Organization: Cadence Design Systems Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 10:39:14 +0100 I was reacquainted with "The Adventures on the Wheels of Steel" by Grandmaster Flash, a track from prehistoric times. It features "The Good Times" bassline, you know, by Chic, the same one as Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust". And it's probably my all time favourite groove. Which of course made me think... what's YOUR favourite groove? If you pressed me for a fave L42 bassline, it'd be a toss-up between "Heathrow" and "Children Say". Regards, Steve IT Support - UNIX Cadence Design Systems Tel: +44 (0)1344 866523 Bagshot Road Mobile: +44 (0)7901 855046 Bracknell BERKSHIRE Fax: +44 (0)1344 866588 RG12 0PH UK ------------------------------ Subject: FM From: Andrew_GOODWIN @ europe.bd.com Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 10:52:22 +0100 > Subject: fyi: Steely Dan Europe tourdates > From: "Eric J. Hansen" It's exactly this kind of irrelevant, off-topic posting which ruins the Digest. I've got half a mind to e-mail the list administrator and ask him to unsubscribe you. AG