It seems like there’s been a spate of cases in recent months concerning pop artists being accused of plagiarising existing songs: Sam Smith had been listening to too much Tom Petty Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson hoped that people had forgotten all about The Gap Band Pharell and Robin Thick(e) failed to disguise their love…
This edition of Groove Of The Week focuses on the power of simplicity. The bassline that anchors Maxwell’s smooth soul ballad ‘Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder)’ contains only 5 different pitches and is largely played on a single string, yet it still provides the song with a powerful hook. View this post on Instagram A post…
Inspiration often strikes in the strangest of places. Earlier this year I had a rare Saturday night off from gigging and was at a friend’s wedding reception when I heard ‘Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now’ for the first time in years. Jimmy Williams’ slick groove has to be one of the smoothest basslines in the…
Metal is one genre of music that most people don’t associate with the word ‘groove’, but this series of posts is designed to explore the low end from a variety of sources and expose readers to bassists, basslines and techniques that they might not have encountered before. Tool’s ‘Forty Six & 2’, taken from their…
The bass line to Bruno Mars’ smash hit ‘Treasure’ borrows heavily from old-school 1970s funk outfits like The Gap Band, Commodores and Crown Heights Affair. On first listening, the main groove on ‘Treasure’ sounds as if it’s slapped throughout, but closer inspection reveals that it falls into the less common category of what I’d term…
Apologies for the serious time lag between posts – the last fortnight involved moving house and a series of gigs that included learning an entire set of Wayne Shorter tunes at short notice. Anyway, time to clear the Groove Of The Week backlog. This one comes courtesy of British soul singer Omar (who also played…
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