Has Bass Player Magazie Turned the Corner?

[paul_wolfe]

So I just got October's version of Bass Player Magazine - and it seems that the recent dip in quality that's been noted on these pages is starting to be addressed.

First up there are great interviews with Mike Inez of Alice in Chains and John Patitucci. The transcriptions are eclectic - there's a Mingus piece and Jimmy Johnson's bassline from an Alan Holdsworth tune called Panic Station. John Goldsby's FUNK COLUMN makes its debut - and you can actually see and hear the examples on the bassplayer.com website (which I gotta confess I've not yet done - for beginners this is a major plus IMO) - and it's good to see John back. Back in the day BPM had some great columnists (Ed Friedland, Dave Larue, Adam Nitti,
Glenn Letsch) and John's columns are right up with the best IMO.

This issue even feels a bit heftier - some of the recent issues have felt a bit light - it weighs in at around 80 pages, so I'll have to check the previous ones to actually check that. But it just feels better.

Hopefully this won't be a blip and BPM will continue to improve and the summer dip in quality will soon be forgotten.

Anyone else think the same?

[nixdad]

I'm right there with ya. I thought this was the best, most well rounded issue I had seen in some time. I dug the wide range of the artists, the equipment reviewed, etc. With the light issues due to the economy aside, there is still more that BP can be doing to improve the mag, but this was definitely a step in the right direction.

[bassnut14]

it was a pretty awesome volume I especialy loved the musicman 25th anniversary but thought it could be longer, it's the best bass mag out there no competition.

[jollygiantchris]

Better issue but I still miss Bass Guitar due to the fact that the majority of players covered in BPM are in styles I find boring.

[Vanceman]

October was a good issue.

One complaint... Couldn't read the Retro-Rama. The font was too small, and the background was shaded. Maybe I should leave my glasses in the bathroom?

[bassnut14]

Originally Posted by jollygiantchris

Better issue but I still miss Bass Guitar due to the fact that the majority of players covered in BPM are in styles I find boring.

what kind of style do you find interesting because they have quite a wide variety? But I am annoyed that they interviewed the bassist of the hated jonas brothers!

[jollygiantchris]

Originally Posted by bassnut14

what kind of style do you find interesting because they have quite a wide variety? But I am annoyed that they interviewed the bassist of the hated jonas brothers!

More of a hard rock/metal/prog kinda guy. And yes I am aware Mike Inez is on the cover. However, generally BPG has a page or 2 blurb about that style of music and the rest of the magazine is jazz-orientated. I find jazz incredibly boring (thats my opinion) so I usually find a large percentage of the magazine covers musicians or music I do not care about. It also seems like a lot of the time they will cover a more mainstream player for say 3-4 pages then have 2 jazz guys with 4-6 page spreads.

It basically boils down to me not liking jazz in any form. (except miles davis, because hes miles davis)