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I just purchased a new Aria EUB (Electric Upright Bass) which is still in the mail (shipped from Florida). The retail price for the Aria SWB-LITE stick bass is hard to pin down. The Florida shop says retail is USD$1900. I’ve seen US web sites selling the SWB-LITE for as much as $2850. I’ve seen it advertised on Australian web sites for AU$1800.

I was actually after the next model up but saw this brand new SWB-LITE on ebay for USD$775.  Given the state of the Australian dollar at the moment I think this was a good buy even with the added Postage and tax.

Here’s a snap of the Aria SWB-LITE bass with another bass I picked up, the Aria Sinsonido AS-690B/FL.

Rob

6-Jun-2007: Basses arrive 

Both basses arrives from USA today. So here’s a quick review.

Aria Sinsonido – Is very light. Great for beginner bass player. Good one for taking on holidays or travelling. I’d never play it on stage. I think this one is for my kids who are wanting to start playing bass as it happens. Interesting its output can be plugged into an Bass Amp or a pair of standard headphones. Aria SWB-LITE – For the price its a resonable bass. It did not arrived setup, and I prefer a lighter/softer string on the double bass. So there is some work to do. The treble control needs to be turned right down otherwise you hear too much hand movement noise. I think I will defer my judgement on this bass until I get it setup (watch this space). What I was looking for was a full 3/4 size stick bass that sounds resonable. I think it shows great potential. The fisherman pickups have a good sound.

Now to get my violin maker to tweak the setup. BTW if you need someone to work on your Bass (or other stringed instrument) and you are in Melbourne I highly recommend Ben Puglisi: 42 Church St. Hawthorn: 9853 9525.

Jazz musicians will know the “The Real Book”, a spiral bound stack of photocopies of all the most popular Jazz standards, which was sold under the counter. Book 1 (5th edition) and Book II (1st edition) came in C, Bb, Eb, Bass clef versions. Since the 70’s they have been an essential companion for all working musicians.

In 2004 Hal Leonard published legal copyright versions of these books. The books look much the same as the originals, and are usually cheaper. Book I (6th edition), Book II (2nd edition), and now Book III,  can be bought off Amazon for under US$20 each [see Amazon example]. I notice there is now a The Real Vocal Book – Volume 1 -Second Edition too.

A few songs didn’t make it into the 6th addition (couldn’t get the rights).  So some extra songs were added to the 6th edition. See Wikipedia for details.

But this is all history and Wikipedia tells the story better than I can
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Book

Illegal copies of the Real Book are still around. The Internet providing easy purchase and delivery of electronic PDF versions.

• Download Charts – http://www.realbook.us/

The electronic version is actually very useful as it also comes with recordings of all the songs (US$54.90). I must admit that I did purchase this version as it was so handy, but I also purchased the legal versions from Amazon as well.

• http://www.guitarrangements.com/RealBook.php

Other interesting links

• http://www.realbooklisten.com/ – Find audio music for Real Book songs
• http://www.leadsheetmusic.com/ – 21,000 charts from Real & Fake books on DVD (US$15)

Hal Leonard Jazz Play Along Series

Other books that caught my eye today are the Hal Leonard “Jazz Play Along Series”. There are around 60 Volumes in the series. Each Volume contains about 10 songs, charts for Bb, Eb, and C instruments, and a play along CD. You can tune out the Bass or Piano parts.

• Vol. 1 – Duke Ellington: Jazz Play-Along Series (Jazz Play-Along) by Duke Ellington
• Vol. 2 – Miles Davis: Jazz Play Along Series (Jazz Play-Along) by Miles Davis

I bought several off Amazon. At $10 a volume you can’t go wrong. We have Piano, Trombone, Flute and Bass in our family, as well as many musician friends so we should have great fun with these publications. Combined with Real Book chord and vocal parts I expect the kids and I should have some fun. I’ll report back once we have things moving along.

Rob

I want to review last nights Weird Al Yankovic concert help at Hamer Hall, Melbourne Australia (23rd March 2007).

Last time we saw Al live in Melbourne was Oct 2003. According to Wikipedia this was Al’s first overseas tour. It’s a lot of work to put on a show this size. Even more to transport it to the other side of the world and perform live while jet-lagged. We love you Al and team for making it to Australia yet again. We love that you always give 110% at all your performances.

(more…)

Just got back from a trip to Seattle (Microsoft 2007 MVP Summit). Paul O’Rear and I being “Yes” devotees went and saw the band “Parallels, The Music of Yes”  YES TRIBUTE IN CONCERT, Saturday, March 10th @ Roy’s Place, Lynnwood

• http://parallelsthemusicofyes.com/

Great band. Great performance. Their first gig after many months of rehersing. They did a fantastic job of interpretting the music of the great band “Yes”. Looking forward to seeing them again sometime.

And… I won a CD for travelling the furthest to the gig (Melbourne Australia)

Rob