Based on the past 17 days of being on the road, we have a definite winner for what I’m going to be using as my main flight case in the foreseeable future.

I’m recapping a little of the East Coast Vital Information tour in today’s episode as well as getting to some key points about traveling with a bass in anticipation of a new video I’m working on for the main YouTube Channel.

Our 4th of July sale is happening for the rest of today (July 5), so grab your 25% discount on books, book bundles, music and Stomp presets, using the coupon code “REDWHITEANDBASS” at checkout.

Private lessons are 50% off for the sale, and there is no limit to how many you can purchase, and then spread out over time to work at your own pace. No discount code needed for the lessons!

Enjoy,

Janek

As the sessions for the new album approach I’m hearing a few things that might be really suited to a 4-string, and since all my main gear is packed for touring as I’m recording these episodes, it’s a great chance to try and figure which second instrument I might take with me to Argentina.

I think the Henrik Linder Mattisson will win out in the end. It’s one of the best neck’s I’ve ever played, and the bass isn’t even finished. Like my main instrument, it’s still just a prototype!

Enjoy,

Janek

To fend off boredom and always be inspired to sit down in the instrument to work, I’m constantly updating the content of my warm-up and my practice routine.

I’m currently out on tour with Steve Smith and don’t have my studio to shoot in. This is one of a couple of episodes I banked at home before hitting the road, in an effort to keep our weekly chat consistent!

You can find all the things I talk about in todays episode at my website if your curiosity is piqued, and you want to dig a little deeper: Janek Gwizdala Website

Enjoy,

Janek

It’s both exciting and challenging to be playing this bass again. It is, after all, still a prototype. There are all kinds of intonation issues with it, the setup is not ideal, and it could probably do with an overhaul of the electronics.

But the fundamental feedback I get from it when I play melodically, chordally, and basically just the music I’m working on for the new record, is priceless. Well worth the struggles for the payoff of range.

As a result, I’m doing a little more playing in this episode than usual, and running you through some of the ways I’m preparing to go to Argentina in a few weeks to cut the new record.

Enjoy,

Janek

The video I posted to my main channel two days ago was neither clickbait nor a joke. I really am selling almost every bass I own, and keeping just the bear minimum I require to do my job to the highest standard. I’m also going back to a main bass I feel very connected to, and that kind of unintentionally torpedos the title of my recent appearance on the SBL podcast:Why Janek REFUSES to play a signature bass (ever again).

I’m not going back to trying to make a signature instrument, or to any of the chaos that the purchase of an FBass was meant to move me away from. But I am curious as to what a finished version of my Mattisson (I still only have a prototype) would feel like.

I go into a little more detail of this move in today’s episode, and also show one of the basses that didn’t make it into the main-channel video.

There are still a few left for sale at the website: https://janekgwizdala.com/store/basses

I have a mega trip to the post office today as a lot of these sold just hours after the video going live. It’s a beautiful feeling to step into space and not into clutter in the studio, and I look forward to updating you further when the transition is complete.

Janek

It never gets old interviewing your heroes. The bigger they are, the kinder and more focused on what’s important they seem to have been.

Steve all of that and more, and is one of the 9 people that inspired me to move to the US over 25 years ago. Between the two bands of the Brecker Brothers in 1992 and Steps Ahead back in 1986, there were nine musicians that changed my life forever and sent me on the mission I continue to be on today.

I'm lucky enough to have now played with (except the bass players of course) all of those cats, and find myself in Steve's band Vital Information as it celebrates 40 years of existence. Here are our upcoming tour dates https://janekgwizdala.com/tour and I hope to get to meet some of you out on the road.

Enjoy,

Janek

We all suffer setbacks in our music, and I just encountered a big one having written an album’s worth of music for one drummer only to find out he can’t make the sessions, and I have to start again from scratch.

This is my process for getting through something like this, and how I don’t let myself get too stressed as it works itself out.

Janek.

It’s a good feeling to be making progress with music again. Just to be able to sit and play a major scale without coughing up both my lungs is a huge step forward, and as you’ll hear in today’s episode, there’s a heck of a lot more than just major scales happening right now.

Here’s hoping I can get back to full fitness in the gym, and execute all the ideas my brain has been working overtime to produce.

Janek

Thanks to an incredibly generous gift from a subscriber here on substack, I once again have a working minidisc player and with it, access to bootlegs and sessions I haven’t heard in over 20 years.

One of my all-time favorites was a show I went to only weeks after moving to the US that featured John Scofield, Will Boulware, Marlon Browden and Matt Garrison.

I share some of that bootleg in today’s episode, and talk about the importance of not forgetting your process from early periods of your development as a musician.

Don’t forget the new Giant Steps book is out and the Pre-Sale for the new album is happening right now!

Janek

As August and the sessions for the new album in Argentina are rapidly approaching, the pressure to get some notes on the page is mounting. In today’s episode I’m working on a new idea and go over how I think about orchestrating a composition, and where some of the idea might possibly end up on the album.

I also came up with a new bonus for everyone involved in the pre-sale for the new album which I’m really excited about!

The bronchitis is still bugging me, but it’s heading in the right direction. I hope I can both be on time with next week’s episode, and have gotten rid of this hacking cough.

Janek