Albums – FretlessBass.com

Mai Leisz Interview – Recording MaiGroup’s Metamorphosis and More

fretlessbass June 14, 2019 Albums, Articles, Interviews Tagged Tags: mai agan, mai Leisz, maigroup

Mai Leisz Interview – Recording MaiGroup’s Metamorphosis and More

As I was reviewing MaiGroup’s 2019 Metamorphosis album I was so blown away I had to ask a few questions about how it all came together. Mai Leisz was kind enough to answer a few interview questions about the album, the studio, the band, and more. To see the complete album review click here. Continue reading the interview below. …continue reading »

Album Review – MaiGroup Metamorphosis – Mai Leisz

fretlessbass June 6, 2019 Albums, Articles, Reviews Tagged Tags: mai agan, mai Leisz, maigroup

fretlessbass-album-review-square-maigroup-metamorphosis

Album Review – MaiGroup Metamorphosis

noun, plural met·a·mor·pho·ses [met-uh-mawr-fuh-seez] “a profound change in form from one stage to the next in the life history of an organism”.

MaiGroup is indeed evolving and growing, revealed in their latest 2019 release Metamorphosis. Formed by Estonian bassist and composer Mai Leisz almost a decade ago, MaiGroup has just released their third studio album, a well thought out and wonderfully told story, that keeps the album concept alive and well. This is not just another thrown together compilation that can be all too common in a content driven world. This is a well crafted project, beautifully written and arranged, with attention to detail and subtleties – a true band performance, where the power comes for the whole, not the individuals. The album features amazing musicians, the core consisting of Mai Leisz on fretted and fretless bass and background vocals, Björn Arkö on sax, Simon Berggren on piano, Calle Stålenbring on guitar and Jonathan Lundberg on drums. Guest musicians include three musical legends, David Crosby, Bill Frisell, and Mai’s husband Greg Leisz. Produced by Mai and Greg, this release is one that needs to be listened to in its entirety several times through to expose its true brilliance – the sign of any great album. …continue reading »

Mark Egan & Arjun Bruggeman “Dreaming Spirits”

fretlessbass January 31, 2018 Albums, Articles, Interviews Tagged Tags: Mark Egan

Mark Egan & Arjun Bruggeman “Dreaming Spirits”

This new release from Mark Egan and Arjun Bruggeman, featuring Shane Theriot, gets better and better the more you listen. Originally intended to be a bass guitar and tabla album, the project evolved to include guitar and more. Mark Egan was as generous as always answering my questions about how this project and trio came together, giving me thorough details of the project and the players that contributed. There is plenty of beautiful fretless bass work, and the complimentary styles that flow between the musicians are impressive. Read more to be brought behind the scenes of this unique project.

Basses – Mark Egan
Tabla & Drums – Arjun Bruggeman
Guitars – Shane Theriot

FretlessBass.com: How did this trio and project come together? What was the initial concept for this album, and did it change along the way at all?

Mark Egan: I met tabla player, drummer and percussionist Arjun Bruggeman in 2008 when we recorded and toured with master Kirtan singer-chanter, Krishna Das. Arjun is a world percussionist and session recording artist …continue reading »

Tony Levin Interview – New Album From LEVIN MINNEMANN RUDESS: “From the Law Offices of Levin Minnemann Rudess”

fretlessbass July 26, 2016 Albums, Articles, Interviews Tagged Tags: Tony Levin

Tony Levin Interview – New Album From LEVIN MINNEMANN RUDESS: “From the Law Offices of Levin Minnemann Rudess”

LMR - From the Law Offices Of — Levin Minnemann Rudess – From the Law Offices Of

It was an honor to catch up recently with Tony Levin, the legendary bassist, who is an extremely busy man. Tony was the first bassist to answer our “Fretless Questions” many, many years ago, and has always been very approachable and friendly to FretlessBass.com. We can’t thank him enough for taking the time to tell us about the new album from LEVIN MINNEMANN RUDESS: From the Law Offices of Levin Minnemann Rudess.

FB: I’ve been listening to the new album from LEVIN MINNEMANN RUDESS: “From the Law Offices of Levin Minnemann Rudess” which was released July 15, 2016. I am very impressed! Much thanks for letting me listen to it pre-release.

How does the writing and recording of this album compare to the last album?

Tony Levin: We took a lot more time on this album, for the writing process. Partly because we were all on the road much of 2015, with various tours. Also, we’d got a sense on the first album of how the other players would react to the pieces, and so, at least in my case, …continue reading »

Mark Egan Interview – “About Now” Album, Tour, and More – Part 2

fretlessbass February 2, 2015 Albums, Articles, Interviews Tagged Tags: Mark Egan

Mark Egan Interview – About Now Album, Tour, and More – Part 2
Article by Eric Larson, © Copyright 2015 FretlessBass.com

I recently interviewed Mark Egan, focusing on his latest solo album About Now, and also covering some new projects that he is working on. This particular project was released in the spring of 2014, and features long time collaborators Danny Gottlieb on drums and Mitchel Forman on keyboards.

This is Part 2 of the interview where we focus more on the songwriting process itself. …continue reading »

Mark Egan Interview – “About Now” Album, Tour, and More – Part 1

fretlessbass December 28, 2014 Albums, Articles, Interviews, Reviews Tagged Tags: Mark Egan

Mark Egan is a bass guitar veteran and a hugely accomplished and influential fretless bass player. His career spans more than forty years. In addition to solo albums, he has worked with many different artists and groups (the Pat Metheny Group, Sting, Arcadia, Roger Daltry, Joan Osborne, the Gil Evans Orchestra, Marianne Faithful, David Sanborn, John McGlaughlin and Sophie B. Hawkins, just to name a few), and has a list of accomplishments a mile long, including television and movie credits, and platinum and gold records.

Egan has been touring and supporting the About Now album for a good portion of 2014 …continue reading »

Mark Egan – On Recording “As We Speak”

fretlessbass December 7, 2006 Albums, Articles Tagged Tags: Mark Egan

Mark Egan – On recording his newly released CD entitled As We Speak

I have just finished recording a trio CD with drummer Danny Gottlieb and guitarist John Abercrombie. The session was at my studio, Electric Fields in Warwick, NY. The compositions were mostly written in the last few months specifically for these players. I’m a long time admirer of John Abercrombie’s guitar playing from all the ECM recordings and from touring opposite his group while with the Pat Metheny Group. Danny and I are longtime friends and have played together in various groups for over thirty years.
…continue reading »

Michael Manring – On Recording With Michael Hedges Aerial Boundaries

fretlessbass November 7, 2006 Albums, Articles, Interviews Tagged Tags: Michael Manring

Michael Manring – On Recording with Michael Hedges on his album Aerial Boundaries

I’ve been lucky in my career to have been asked to play on lots of recordings — over 200 at last count. One of the ones I get asked about the most is Michael Hedges’ Aerial Boundaries. Michael was one of those rare musicians who changed everything for his instrument. His creativity and vision led him to experiment with expanding the expressive scope of the acoustic guitar through extended tunings, percussive effects, two-hand tapping and new ways to amplify the instrument that allowed for a greater dynamic range. All these techniques and ideas are considered a standard part of the vocabulary today, but they started with Michael and the record of his that people seem to have been most touched by is Aerial Boundaries.
…continue reading »

Category: Albums

Mai Leisz Interview – Recording MaiGroup’s Metamorphosis and More

Album Review – MaiGroup Metamorphosis

Mark Egan & Arjun Bruggeman “Dreaming Spirits”

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