Those who know me know that I have an eclectic taste in music. Some might go as far as describing it as eccentric. So today I thought I would share with you a few interesting selections from around the world.

NETTA – “Bassa Sababa” Israel

Israeli singer and recording artist, Netta Barzilai or simply just NETTA, launched her music career in 2017 as a contestant of HaKokhav HaBa during its fifth season. Having won the contest and earning the right to represent Israel at Eurovision, Barzilai’s career has been blossoming since. Her discography includes “Bassa Sababa” and cover of “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” for the Disney film Mary Poppins. She has also been featured on the Netflix Original Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga featuring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams.

The HU – “Wolf Totem” Mongolia

The Mongolian band The Hu is a distinct blend of heavy metal and traditional Mongolian throat singing. The band’s name is derived from the Mongolian root word for human being and they describe their music as “Hunnu Rock” citing their inspiration from the ancient Mongolian empire the Hunnu, or the Huns. (thehuofficial.com)

Otava Yo – “Timonia” Russia

Formed in St. Petersburg in 2003, Otava Ya is world-renowned. Together the band has played in many countries including the United States, Mexico, Germany, Finland, and India among other countries. While they originally set out to play Celtic punk, the band eventually turned its focus to traditional Russian music.

NINGEN ISU – “Heartless Scat” Japan

Formed in 1987, Ningen Isu took its name from the 1924 short story, The Human Chair by Edogawa Rampo. Guitarist Shinji Wajima and bassist Kenichi Suzuki first met at a concert and quickly became friends bonding over their musical interests. The two released their first album under the Ningen Isu name in 1990 featuring their favored heavy metal sound joined with classical Japanese literature.

Die Antwoord – “Enter the Ninja” South Africa

 Die Antwoord is a hip-hop group formed by Watkin Tudor “Ninja” Jones and “Yolandi Visser” du Toit in 2008. The due took root in the South African counterculture movement otherwise known as zef. Zef was first coined in the 1960s and used to describe working-class white people. Yolandi describes the movement as “you’re poor but fancy. You’re poor but you’re sexy. You’ve got style.” In addition to their musical talents, Die Antwoord worked as costars on the 2014 feature film Chappie.

Last week I released an episode featuring my double bass, so I thought I would take a moment to explain what the double bass is, and its history. Let’s begin.

What is a double bass?

A double bass is a stringed instrument also known as a string bass, contrabass, or bull fiddle. It is a member of the violin family and plays an octave lower than the cello. While the size varies at times, some double bass can stand just under 6 feet with the body itself ranging from 3.8 feet to 4.5 feet. There are typically four strings, pitched E – A – D – G, although a fifth string may be added to enable easier access to higher notes.

Double Bass History

The double bass’ story first began in Italy when Italian musician Silvestro Ganassi created the bass viola da gamba in 1542. Considered to be a predecessor of the modern violin, the instrument featured six strings with sloping shoulders and frets. Years later in 1585 Ventura Linarol made a bass viola da gamba with the lowest four strings tuned to E1 – A1 – D2 – G2 – C3 – F3, the same as double bass today. Although it was originally considered to be a violone, or large viola, as the term fell out fashion violoncello, then Violones became the terms that classified the large stringed instrument.

Despite its birth within the 1500s, the double bass had yet to find its rightful place in the music world. By the end of the 17th century, the bass found a spot in the twenty-four “Violons du Roi” and later made its way into an opera orchestra in 1700. Its inclusion is attributed to that of Neapolitan Giuseppe Aldovrandini, an Italian Baroque composer, and Marin Marais, a French composer.
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As the instrument continued to develop, so did its techniques, styles, and practical applications.  During the classical period, the double bass was introduced to jazz to accentuate the beat. Through jazz slap bass and walking bass techniques were created and the bass grew to become a standard in modern jazz music.

I’ve got some exciting news for you folks. You can now find me on Patreon and Rumble! This is an exciting opportunity for me to reach out and connect to even more amazing people while sharing my music with the world. I hope you’ll join me on these platforms and help spread the word about what I’m doing.

Patreon
For those of you who don’t know, Patreon is a membership platform designed to help fans help their favorite artists. At it’s simplest, Patreon is a crowdfunding site that enables fans to financially support their favorite artists and creators. Founded by Sam Yam and Jack Cont in 2013, the site reports having about three million active users.
I currently have six tiers of membership ranging from $3 per month to $90 per month. Each tier has its own set of bonuses and perks and was created to offer thanks for your continued support. Benefits include sneak peeks and bonus content, special subscriber-only posts, video suggestions, ask me anything private messages, and live video chats.

You can visit my Patreon page and show your support by following the link below.
https://www.patreon.com/stanfordlee?fan_landing=true

Rumble
Rumble has gotten a lot of attention lately as many conservatives have left social media giants like Twitter and Facebook in the name of free speech. The Toronto based YouTube alternative was first formed in 2013 to effectively verify and manage copyrights of uploaded video content. Since it’s beginning the platform has partnered with big names like MTV, Xbox, and Yahoo! offering monetization of video content “up to 90% of what the video makes on YouTube as well as another 60% of what the video makes through other partners.” (TechTimes)

I thought I would check out what all of the hoopla is about and set up my own account to see how it works. So far I like how it’s set up and I’m eager to see how it works to get my videos seen. You can watch my episodes of the Stanford Lee Show on Rumble now with the link below.
https://rumble.com/c/c-534247

What’s Next?
My new site is still in development, but I will be so happy when it can go live. Right now the hold up lies within merchandise development. I’ve got a few cool designs in the works and official Stanford Lee merch will be available when the site goes live. Make sure you subscribe to my newsletter so you’ll be notified when everything goes through!

Last Friday I filmed more episodes of the Stanford Lee Show at Ashcraft Studios. As usual Tessellation Media Productions came out to shoot, and they did another great job setting up and providing direction as needed. I thought this week I would share a little bit of the set and offer some sneak peeks at my upcoming episodes.

The Set

My wife carved out a portion of the studio to set up a nice set for the Stanford Lee Show. The cowhides on the couch make a nice touch for that extra country feel. She also hung-up pictures of the artists and legends that inspire me. We recently added two new additions to the wall when the studio’s promotional director gifted us two portraits of my wife and me.

Filming

In this session, we shot for three episodes. I can’t say much about what they’re about, but I can say that I did an interview and there are some props involved. We had a lot of fun filming and I truly missed being up in the studio.
Now that I’m able to walk around, I was able to get up the stairs and help out with the setup. I did get scolded a lot for doing too much though. Typical me, they told me to sit down and I would walk away and do something else.

I guess I may have overdone it in the end because I passed out on the couch after filming. It was worth it though. There’s something about sitting in front of the lights that make things exciting. We didn’t get to film everything we wanted as set up took a little longer than expected, but I am confident that the shots we got were great.

The next Stanford Lee Show episode will be released this Friday. Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel and turn on your notifications so you don’t miss the release. ​

First off, Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season and are safe and healthy going into the new year. We had a small gathering to celebrate the New Year. While my wife and I are known to host legendary New Year’s Eve parties, we decided to keep things small this year to stay safe. But even with the small group, we still had a blast. In fact, we were having so much fun we almost forgot to countdown. The champagne was uncorked a couple of minutes after midnight, but it’s the thought that counts right?

Last year I took it easy because what else could I do during a global pandemic? I used the time to reflect on my current situation, redefine what I want in my music career, and plan what I want to do in the future. There may have been a lot of soul searching and a few wacky chords along the way, but I am excited and determined to make something out of the new year.

Now nine episodes into my Stanford Lee Show, the show is one of my top projects. I have filming scheduled throughout the year and I’m excited for all of the fun content I have planned. If you haven’t seen it already, you definitely should. It’s a great mix of music, history, and a little bit of my special brand of wackiness.

Last week I celebrated the New Year with a special New Year episode with a Great Gatsby theme. I played “Hollywood” and added a bonus performance of “Auld Lang Syne” because what is a New Year without it? I can’t tell you what’s coming next, but I can tell you that you should check it out because it's going to be awesome.
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Also in the works is a website redesign and product development. The new site will boast a new look and a full catalog of original Stanford Lee merchandise. I’m excited about the new website launch and look forward to sharing my music and vision with everybody. Make sure you join my mailing list to stay on top of the latest news and updates so you don’t miss a thing.