Angeline Saris will be performing with reggae legend Ernest Ranglin for two Northern California shows.  Dates are:

May 2nd, HopMonk Brewery, Sebastapol, CA

May 4th, Sweetwater, Mill Valley, CA

Check back for video and photos!

GHS released a new video this October featuring Angeline Saris.  In the video, Angeline demonstrates the versatility of  GHS’s Boomers line of strings through examples in rock, funk, tapping, open-hammer-pluck and chordal playing.   Watch the video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZERPETsJTk&feature=youtu.be

It was announced today that Bay Area legend Carlos Santana will be appearing with the Narada Michael Walden Band at the June 22nd gig at George’s in San Rafael.  Please see Calendar page for details.

Narada Michael Walden, Angeline Saris, Carlos Santana

About three years ago, I had the great opportunity to study with Kai Eckhardt.  Besides our weekly lessons, I also participated in his mentorship program, which I highly recommend to anyone wanting to take their playing to the next level.  For more information, visit: http://kaizone.com/mentorship.html

Without going into too much detail, the program is best summed up as committing to practice every day for 108 days, for a minimum of a half hour a day.  This doesn’t sound like much, but the real challenge here is the consistency of it.  Inevitably, there would fall a day when I would wake up, go to a rehearsal, teach all day and zoom off to a gig, then get home and realize I hadn’t put in my half hour.  This is truly where your commitment to the challenge comes in.

On the other hand, many days started at a half hour and turned into 2, 3, 4, 5 or sometimes even 6 hours of practice.  Having that happen a few times a week changed me as a player.  I remember I really started to feel a connection to my instrument and to my own personal voice on the bass.

Well, I’m hungry again.  I teamed up with Zepparella bandmates, Gretchen Menn and Clementine, and we are taking the 108 day challenge again.  (Sounds like a fitness program!  Ha!)  We decided to pair it up with reading a single chapter from Zen Guitar each day before we begin practice.  This way, there is a principle to help guide the practice to a deeper place of understanding.

Today is Day 4 and I am already asking myself why I just don’t do this year round.  It’s practically like a meditation for me.  I find I’m more grounded, happier and… improving! Imagine that.

“Addicted to that Rush” by Mr. Big is my first challenge.  Billy Sheehan and Paul Gilbert shreddddddding!  I’m having so much fun learning this one!  I’ve got the intro down and now I’m starting the middle tapping section.

Being equally in love with rock and funk, I’m also working on Graham Central Station’s “Earthquake.”  Stanky.  I’m hoping I can find an opportunity this summer to play this one live.  Somehow, playing it at home through my little practice amp just seems like an injustice to this tune.

I couldn’t just leave it at that.  I’m also hungry to work on my speed, so I’ve been shedding Chick’s “Got a Match.”  Mad props to Patitucci on this track.  Is it even humanly possible to play that fast?  Seriously.

OK.  Time to stop blogging and start my practice for the day.  I’ll keep you posted! 

Love and Low End,

Angeline

I have to say, I had a hard time writing this blog about my first trip to Japan.  Each time I sat in front of the laptop, I watched the cursor blink, wondering how I would ever capture in a simple blog post all that I had experienced during my first tour with the Narada Michael Walden band.

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Let’s start by saying Tokyo is a slick city.  Think of New York on steroids, minus the crime, the litter, and the general chaos.  Tokyo feels bustling, energetic and wild, yet completely in control at all times. Beautiful shrines and temples are sandwiched in between blocks of towering skyscrapers.  The subways are packed with impeccably dressed women, stern business men and tons of people wearing those funny surgical masks to prevent the transmission of germs.  The food is enough to bring you to tears.  I sliced kobe beef with a fork and made daily treks in search of the best ramen houses in the city.  Each one had a different take on ramen, with various broths that made me feel like I was sipping on my mother’s chicken soup.

Our schedule was busy, to say the least.  For those of you that know me, that’s just the way I like it! We got off the plane, checked into the hotel and within an hour we were in a taxi on our way to dinner with the owners of Act Square, the first venue we played.

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The next week and a half consisted of a TV Performance on NHK’s El Mundo, 8 shows at the Tokyo Blue Note and 2 shows at the Nagoya Blue Note.  Lobby call was at 3:00, so I tried to rally each afternoon to see something cool.  Daily treks included Harajuku (twice!), Sensoji Temple, getting lost walking around Tokyo and multiple excursions for killer ramen. As it seems with any trip to a new place, I wish I had had more time to explore.

The thing I loved most about Japan was how warm the fans are.  Looking out from the stage, I would see hundreds of some of the most attentive and appreciative people I have ever witnessed. It was great to have an audience that was excited and not too shy to show it!  There is nothing quite like watching this from the stage.  It made performing so much more fun.  We signed tons of autographs after each show and fans spoiled us with cute little gifts like chocolates, jewelry, kitchen towels, socks and bootleg CD’s of cool shows.  I even signed someone’s bass, which was a first for me.

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I’m hoping this trip will be one of many to Japan.  I already miss the ramen!

Check out my gallery page for photos from the trip.

Love and Low End,

Angeline

Angeline with Gretchen Menn

It’s Sunday, January 29th, and I’m sitting here in LAX waiting for the connector flight to Tokyo and reflecting on these last two weeks.  Such a jam-packed blur of activity!

First off was the NAMM show a week ago.  I had a blast hanging with Stu Hamm and Gretchen Menn on Friday for our GHS artist signing.  Such a family vibe at GHS, which is a nice feeling to have amongst the insanity of the NAMM show.  Other highlights included meeting up with fellow bass-players and old friends, Lane Baldwin, Uriah Duffy, Brian Dean and Adam Theis.  A group of us cruised out Saturday night to see Paul Gilbert (one of my all-time favorite guitarists), Steve Vai and Steve Morse at the Hilton.   I was super stoked to see that Randy Jackson was on bass for the show!  I’ve been learning some of his bass parts for this tour to Japan and totally LOVING it!  Randy’s feel and blazing bass fills are the real deal… so tasty!

I got back from NAMM Sunday night and immediately started rehearsals with Narada on Monday.  We were down at Tarpan Studios everyday this week from 11 – 7 shedding the set for Japan.   A whopping 35 songs we’ve been working!  Yup!   Narada’s keeping us on our toes!  I’ve been getting nice and comfy on the electric upright I just purchased and am absolutely loving the tone of this instrument.  Diggin’ on the Clevinger!

Well, I’m going off 2 hours sleep and about to board the flight.  More mental shedding on the 13 hour flight and hopefully some sleep too!

Love and Low End,

Angeline

Happy New Year to everyone and welcome to the first blog posting on my brand new website!  Special thanks to FVR Pro and Lane Baldwin for the site’s brand new look!

I will be kicking off 2012 with a tour to Japan with the Narada Michael Walden Band.   I spent much of the second half of 2011 recording with Narada on 2 new albums.  The first is an EP of fusion tunes including remakes of songs that Narada wrote during his days with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Jeff Beck.  The second album titled Thunder, kicks off with an EXTREMELY funky track featuring yours truly and is due for release any day now.  As everyone knows, Narada is a force to reckoned with on the drums. Getting to spend these last 6 months recording and jamming with him has proven to be one of the greatest learning experiences of my musical career.

When we started discussing what tunes were going on the set list, I realized that bringing just a 4 string wasn’t going to cut it.  I wanted to add some texture to the set.  It was the perfect reason to make two purchases that were long overdue:  an upright and a fretless.  For travel purposes, I ended up opting for an electric upright and found a beautiful ’83 Clevenger that sounds just like the real thing.  Seriously.  This is the kind of instrument whose tone inspires you to play things you wouldn’t normally play.  As far as the fretless electric, I was on the fence between a Pedulla and a Fender.  I tried a Pedulla Pentabuzz years ago and instantly fell in love with it.  I never shook the memory.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t in the budget this time around and with the help of good friend, we found a fretless Fender Jazz that is making me very happy.  Now if I can just get my intonation up to speed!

Before delving full steam ahead into 2012, I had to pause and take a look back at 2011.  Being a full-time musician is incredibly rewarding on so many levels, yet it can also have its more challenging moments.  Each year, it seems to get better and better though.  The projects that roll in are more and more interesting and my joy and appreciation for playing is stronger than it’s ever been.

In 2011, I joined Zepparella- an all female Led Zeppelin tribute band.  Having spent much of my career playing in original projects, this was a new thing for me.  Studying John Paul Jones was epic.  A genius mix of rock and Jamerson styled bass that I both relate to and admire.  Also, having the opportunity to play with all women was a new experience for me.  Unfortunately, girls can be catty at times and I was a little concerned about this before having met everyone.   This was definitely not the case.  The ladies of Zepparella are a more down-to-earth, supportive and musically determined bunch than I could have ever wished for.  Someday, I’d love devote an entire blog to what my experience has been playing in this band.  It has been enlightening on so many levels, not to mention the number of highly entertaining stories we all have.

Aside from Zepparella, I also had the opportunity to record on Gretchen Menn’s new album Hale Souls.  When I first heard the track, I was immediately thankful I had played with Flametal for all those years.  Otherwise, I’m not sure I would have had the chops for Gretchen’s very technical and totally shredding composition, “Scrapmetal.”  The musical fit was pretty obvious and we played a few shows opening for Y&T that ended up at the top of my list for Most Fun Gigs Ever.   I’m looking forward to more of that in the coming year!

To top off the year, the Eoin Harrington band was invited to play Alice’s 97.3 Now and Zen Festival in Golden Gate Park.  It was perfect timing considering we had all been in the studio a few months earlier recording Eoin’s new album Confess, which was released just weeks before the show.  I have played with Eoin for a number of years now and the band is like family.  I love it.

Well, this first blog is way too long but there was so much to say!

Stay tuned for more details on my new GHS string endorsement as well as pictures and stories from the Land of the Rising Sun.

Love and Low End,

Angeline