Bass Player Live two-day clinic comes to S.I.R. Studios on Sunset Blvd. Nov. 8 and 9
Bass Player Magazine’s seventh annual Bass Clinic and Convention “Bass Player Live!” returns to Los Angeles at S.I.R. Studios on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood Nov. 8 and 9. This year’s event features two full days of clinics and exhibitions from System Of A Down’s Shavo Odadjian, Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot, Whitesnake, Blue Oyster Cult), and Rhonda Smith (Prince, Jeff Beck) and a special appearance by Gary Willis.
Saturday’s sessions run from 10 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. and Sunday’s from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Bass players of all ages, levels and styles are invited to attend.
“The first rule of the event is to have a variety of players from different genres come together to support the bass player’s community,” said Senior Editor of Bass Player Magazine Chris Jisi. “It is great to see the respect and dynamics that comes together when bassists from different styles share their talents with each other and their fans.”
Saturday evening will be highlighted by a special session from 6:30 – 9 p.m. featuring the presentation of Bass Player’s Young Gun Award to Henrik Linder of Dirty Loops and the Lifetime Achievement Award to session legend Abraham Laboriel.
“Every year it’s a unique event and you never know who is going to show up to play. Many musicians like guitarists, drummers, keyboardists around LA show up to jam with either a bassist from their band or to get the chance to play music with a bassist they want to play with but normally would not get the opportunity to do so,” Jisi says. “We are always at the whim of the artist and the industry with regards to who is available to attend the clinics.”
During the evening, award recipient Linder will perform with Tribal Tech’s bassist Gary Willis, keyboardist Scott Kinsey and drummer Kirk Covington. In addition, Abraham will perform with his group Open Hands, also featuring keyboardist Greg Mathieson, saxophonist Justo Almario and drummer Bill Maxwell. Additional special performances and jams will be announced in the coming weeks.
“It has always been the goal to get the public involved in the events and participating in the clinics with some of their favorite bass players,” explains Jisi. “We really credit drummers and the New York City Drummer’s Collective who partnered with us in the late 1990s in NYC who helped give us the idea to do a two-day weekend clinic event.”
According to Jisi, the New York event became too expensive to find a suitable location in the city and a lot of the players lived in LA so it seemed like a better fit to move the event to California. Although he is based still in New York and the Bass Player Magazine is ran out of San Francisco, the LA event produces a good turnout and has done really well providing the general public access to some of the world’s best bass players.
The wide-ranging clinics for bassists of all styles and skill levels also include the Bass Player LIVE! debuts of Gary Willis and Chuck Rainey, TV’s “Face of Bass” Rickey Minor, prog/metal hero DUg Pinnick, a bass education roundtable led by Steve Bailey, a bass set-up panel clinic that includes master Luthiers (string instrument makers) Roger Sadowsky and Mike Tobias, and more.
Among the participating manufacturers at Bass Player LIVE! 2014 are Warwick, Aguilar, Sadowsky Guitars, Tech 21, Kala, Ashdown, D’Addario, Ampeg, Paul Reed Smith, Dunlop, Eden, GHS, Ibanez, Lakin Basses, N.S Design, Spector, TC Electronic, EBS, Carvin, and Mayones Basses.
“We are happy with what we are doing with the clinics and jams,” said Jisi. “We give the general public the opportunity to see musicians play together in a once in a life concert setting and have even made history with bringing players together for a show in front of live audience that would not normally happen.”
Tickets are on sale now at http://bassplayerlive2014.eventbrite.com. Both single day and weekend packages for the Bass Player LIVE! clinics and exhibits are available and priced as follows; S.I.R. Studios day pass for Saturday or Sunday –$37.50 plus fees and S.I.R. Studios weekend pass – $52.50 plus fees. Sunday only special is kids 13 and under get in free with each adult ticket purchase. (Limit one child per adult ticket)
Each day pass purchase includes a complimentary subscription to Bass Player magazine. All Saturday and weekend passes include access to all award presentations and performances during the special Saturday evening session.