Bass Player UK Magazine 108 September 2014 Back Issue

You may laugh, but when we heard that Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo was financing a film about the late Jaco Pastorius, the image popped instantly into our heads of him holding Jaco’s self-titled LP on the cover of this hallowed magazine. There was no other way of conveying what it means when an unstoppable force (Metallica, the biggest metal band ever) meets an immovable object (the legend of Jaco, to whom we all owe so much). Actually making it happen was a serious undertaking. First, we had to get Trujillo to agree, which to his immense credit, he immediately did. Then we had to find a slot in Metallica’s UK schedule – which we managed, right before their recent Glastonbury slot. After that we had to get the LP (did any of BGM’s writers have one handy? Gah!), book a hotel room in Kensington (it’s OK, we just won’t eat this month, ho ho), get our ever-awesome snapper Tina K booked in and off we went. Trujillo, cool guy that he is, even got his entire Jaco collection ready to bring to England just for the shoot – before forgetting it at the last minute. Find out how you could nab the album he’s holding on the cover – and signed afterwards – for yourself.

And that’s just the start of the fun in this frankly ace issue of Bass Guitar Magazine. As well as the usual epic collection of gear reviews (where else would you find a £2100 Fender Jazz rubbing shoulders with a £379 BC Rich Mockingbird?), we’ve added to our all-budgets, all-abilities roster this month by welcoming two new columnists on board. You’ll probably know loop guru Steve Lawson already, but if you haven’t had the pleasure now’s your chance. Meanwhile, BGM stalwart Mike Brooks debuts a column on covers bands and how to actually make them work. Read and learn! – and we’ll see you in September...