There’s this bass player Jean Baudin that does an amazing version of the Mario theme on an 11 string bass. (Have you seen that? Mario 11-String Bass) well, I found out that he’s also in a band called “nuclear rabbit” … there’s mp3’s on the site: Nuclear Rabbit
As a strange bonus, here’s a guy noodling on an 11-string bass hooked up to a midi system … “Al Caldwell with a brand new 11 string midi mass” (Isn’t “Al Caldwell” the name of the religious leader seen in the West Wing pilot?)
Of course, my all-time favourite bass players are Amy Denio and Paul Hinklin of older Sadhappy. I was in heaven when they played two venues together back in the day. I think I still have the flyer for those shows. The first night, Sadhappy openned for Tone Dogs at the Crocodile Cafe and then next night the Tone Dogs openned for Sadhappy at the OK Hotel.
Those were in the days before Sadhappy added Skerik to the band, so it was just Paul Hinklin and Evan Schiller. I think Paul was getting tired of playing it at every show, but seeing him play “Between Four Horses” was like a religious experience for me, or at least something mind altering. The way his hand moved over the strings like some crazed tarantula while layers and layers of sound played … a torrential flow of music all the while his hand rhythmically arrives at the four courners of the neck, in order, over and over again … like the march of the inevitable that pulses and powers through the chaos of a storm.
And, Amy’s music and voice … she’s an artist I cannot too often praise or too highly recommend. She should be a world religion. Plus, she introduced me to the actual Sound Garden in Seattle back in the day …
Doing a google to find out more about where Paul Hinklin might be now, I find a page about Magdalen Hsu-Li with whom Paul Hinklin performed some. On her page, on her new album she appears to be working with band members that have worked with John Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, Ani DiFranco and others. I’m not so charged up about the sample music that I listened to on the site, honestly. Maybe the older stuff is more my taste. This new stuff sounds a little too mainstream blah to me.