I recently had the pleasure of interviewing guitarists Larry Carlton and Tak Matusmoto of B'z (Japan's biggest-selling band) about their new collaborative album Take Your Pick.

Both men were perfect gents and it was a real treat to rap with them both: Larry by phone (en anglais, naturellement…) and Tak face to face (in Japanese).

As a bassist, though, the icing on the cake is that Michael Rhodes is a part of the project, and boy -- he lays down some killer work on album's 12 tracks. Rhodes will also be part of the band when it kicks off its tour of Japan tomorrow. Hot diggety!!

The article, which takes up a full broadsheet-size page, is running in today's edition of The Daily Yomiuri (the English arm of The Yomiuri Shimbun, the world's biggest-selling newspaper) but if you can't be bothered to fly to Japan to buy a copy, you can read the article online here.

Michael Rhodes!

Can't wait.

As well as being one of the nicest guys I've ever had the pleasure to talk with, New York session ace Gordon Edwards is genuinely humble regarding his sparkling track record, which includes work with such names as John Lennon, Paul Simon, Donny Hathaway, James Brown, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Aretha Franklin, Joe Cocker, Hall & Oates, Carly Simon, Grover Washington, Jr., Van McCoy etc. etc...

Need I say more?

For an insight into how he turned a simple song like John Lennon's "Mind Games" into a mini master class in pacing and timing, check out the transcription and analysis contained in this month's Bass Player.

A recent interview I conducted with Take 6 prompted me to dig out all their music, which was -- inexplicably -- nestled somewhere near the bottom of my not-inconsiderable CD collection...

Needless to say, I fell in love with the lads all over again.

I was initially turned on to their stuff while still a music undergrad (thanks Vicky!) and their eponymous1988 debut album turned my life upside down: I started skipping such fun classes as Shenkerian analysis and 5-part Palestrina-style composition, and instead, spent most of my time transcribing this album and trying to figure what the hell these guys were doing...

Since then, it's no exaggeration to say I've probably listened to this album a few trillion times.

And, even though I'm a hardened atheist, when the music is this good, I've got absolutely no problem with the basic "God is great" message that underpins the tracks.

IMHO, this is without a doubt the greatest album ever made in the history of mankind. Period.*

(*Opinion is subject to change on a regular basis without notification.)

Though Noel Redding is usually the first bassist to spring to mind when Jimi Hendrix is mentioned, West Virginia native Billy Cox also played a not inconsiderable part in the Hendrix history books, appearing with him at Woodstock and on the seminal Band of Gypsys' recordings.

And while my transcription of "Izabella" for this month's Bass Player may look fairly simple at first glance, it takes a bit of effort to make it through to the end of the piece without breaking sweat. Give it a try using two plucking-hand fingers ala Cox and you'll see what I mean...

This month's magazine is also packed with cool interviews and top tips from a bunch of modern-day metal bass-meisters, including semi-fictional legend WIlliam Murderface!

I think I feel a new tattoo coming on. ;-)

Allow me to introduce to you Japanese bassist IKUO. As well as featuring regularly in various music-related magazines he also tours and records with some of the biggest pop and rock acts here.

Until recently, I'd never really paid that much attention to his bass playing as I don't operate in quite the same arenas as he does -- both literally and figuratively.

Anyway, the "books, covers, folly" headline is a reflection of a recent live show I attended in a small club/bar in Tokyo's Sangenjaya district. I'd originally gone along to hear guitarist Hiroshi Shibasaki playing in a band comprising "session players," and was therefore somewhat surprised when IKUO took the stage as part of the band, and even more surprised when said group began knocking out an evening's worth of pop-tinged jazz-rock fusion, with looooong solos.

Confounding my bass-related expectations, IKUO proceeded to set the low end on fire with his 4-string ESP, explosive technique, (I didn't even know what he was doing half the time as the hemidemisemiquavers exploded around my head and his fingers moved with cartoon-like speed), startlingly sharp harmonic awareness and no-nonsense in-the-pocket grooves. In short, a major dude.

The folly of preconceptions, indeed...