Exclusive FBPO feature
Once again, Warwick puts on the best bass hang in the world!
By Jon Liebman
September 16, 2016
It’s a late-summer tradition for the FBPO team to spend a week at the Warwick & Framus world headquarters in Markneukirchen, Germany, covering the annual Warwick Bass Camp.
This year’s event, kicking off Sunday evening, August 28, and capping off Saturday night, September 3, attracted 83 students from 16 countries, including Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United States and, or course, Germany. Warwick founder and owner Hans-Peter Wilfer, along with Bass Camp director Ove Bosch and the stellar team of Warwick staff, hosted a non-stop week of total immersion in all things bass, including classes, demos, sampling of an amazing collection of instruments and, of course, the legendary nighttime jam sessions.
The roster of “professors” at the Bass Camp always includes some of the best players in the world and this year was no exception. The 2016 lineup was made up of bassists Steve Bailey, Alphonso Johnson, Anthony Wellington, Felix Pastorius, Mark Michell (a last-minute fill-in for Billy Sheehan), Angeline Saris, Joe Hubbard, Neil Murray, Juan Alderete, Dr. Randall Kertz (via Skype), Gunther Gebauer, Scott Reeder, Yolanda Charles, Tetsuo Sakurai, Marius Goldhammer and Stu Hamm. Rounding out the list were guitarist Alex Skolnick and drummer Dennis Chambers.
Other artists on hand included Phil X, Stevie Salas, Ralphe Armstrong, Dave LaRue, Rex Brown, Bakithi Kumalo, Kai Eckhardt, Dana Hawkins, Steve Lawson and dozens more. Saturday’s all-day Reeveland Festival featured performances by Powerwolf, Doro, Candlemass, Kill Devil Hill, Entombed, Shotgun Valium, Sinister Icon and Selfmachine, followed by the VIP banquet and elaborate fireworks display.
Naturally, we got some killer interviews with many Bass Camp attendees. Watch for these exclusive, one-on-one interviews which we’ll be publishing in the coming months on FBPO: Juan Alderete, Steve Bailey, Bertrand Beruard, Kern Brantley, Jasmine Cain, Ariane Cap, Jeff Hughell, Bernhard Lackner, Neil Murray, Anais Noir, Tanya O’Callaghan, Scott Reeder, Tetsuo Sakurai, Angeline Saris and John B. Williams. We also happened to get a great interview with Alex Skolnick, which we’ll publish on ForGuitarPlayersOnly.com.
In the meantime, please enjoy the following once-in-a-lifetime performances and jams we captured on camera!
Felix Pastorius, Stu Hamm, Tetsuo Sakurai & Yolanda
Charles’ “Off The Wall” jam, with Dennis Chambers
Steve Bailey, Jonas Hellborg, Alex Skolnick and Dennis Chambers,
performing Billy Cobham’s “Red Baron” (with special guest Joe Hubbard)
Funk jam with Dennis Chambers on drums – then bass!
Japanese bassist Kiyoshi with a ferocious funk intro to her
solo bass and voice version of Janis Joplin’s “Mercedes Benz”
Phil X belts out “War Pigs” with help from Stevie Salas and Neil Murray
