Alonza Bevan (ex-Kula Shaker)

garp7 · #1 05-23-2003, 06:01 AM

Heyas,

I'm a total newbie trying to do enough research before deciding on a bass... one of the questions that a bass friend asked was: What style do you want to play? Which lead me to: Which bassists do I seem to like (or... seem to notice

)?

Alonza Bevan is probably the first one that constantly comes to my mind. Now... here is the naive question: Does he play a particular style or is it just straight pop with his own individual style? Anyone here who has played some of the Kula Shaker bass lines and can give me some advice?

jane

alexclaber · #2 05-23-2003, 06:39 AM

He's a great pop/rock bassist who has a tendancy to head up the neck on the lower strings and plays some nice counter-melodies. I saw Kulu Shaker a few years back and they were awesome live - extremely tight, probably the tightest band I've ever seen, and had a great groove.

Alex

moley · #3 05-23-2003, 06:44 AM

Kula Shaker didn't last all that long, did they? Shame. "K" was their first album, if I recall? I liked Tattva, and Govinda, the other singles they released at that time, though never bought the album.

As I recall, they released a second, less successful album a couple of years later, and then faded away?

**David Wilson** · #4 05-23-2003, 08:14 AM

yup, second album divebombed and the lead singer split soon after.

Alonza is a very cool player, nothing complicated but great feel/groove and tasteful playing.

He now plays with Johnny Marr (ex Smiths guitarist) in the healers - http://www.jmarr.com

Dr Gonzo · #5 05-23-2003, 08:26 AM

Yeah, Alonzo is a decent bassplayer, I like his groove and style. Kula Shaker was one hell of a band, they were so dedicated and the fun they had during recording could be felt through their records.

It's a shame they fell apart. As mentioned before, Alonzo now plays with Johnny Marr and the Healers, while Crispian Mills strated The Jeevas (www.thejeevas.co.uk), who regularly play Kula Shaker songs during their gigs.

You mentioned something about deciding on a bass and that you're a beginner? If think Alonzo played a Fender Jazzbass (which is a nice bass, in my opinion). If your a beginner, you might want to start with a Squire Jazzbass or a Fender Made In Mexico (MIM) Jazzbass. You can get lots of different sounds out of them and they play really smooth.

Good luck!

muggsy · #6 05-23-2003, 09:51 AM

I've seen Johnny Marr & the Healers twice on their current tour, in DC last November and in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. Alonza plays a 70s jazz bass with blocks and binding. He's not flashy, but as others have said, he's very tasteful and a great groove player. He makes it look easy, but it can't hurt that he's playing with a guitar legend and one of the best drummers in the world. If you can't get out to see them live, the CD (called Boomslang) is well worth picking up.

garp7 · #7 05-23-2003, 04:58 PM

I just saw a used MIM Fender Precision in a pawnshop for Can$250 but chickened out of buying it because I wasn't sure if the neck was straight enough or not.. and one of the bolts for the strap were missing (but those can be replaced easily, or?).

Other than that, someone did suggest a Fender Jazz to me as a solid beginner bass, so thank you for confirming that!

As for Kula Shaker, it's particularly the groove that seems to get me going which I have not heard anywhere else. Especially Hush and Hey Dude has that groove that I would love to be able to emulate... they released a best of (plus some previously unreleased songs) just recently, so I've been having all 3 CDs on constant rotation. The drums and bass especially seem to go so well together - it almost frustrates me to know that it might be impossible to recreate anything like that