Hi,
One day in July I got the news that one of my bass heroes would come to Sweden for one gig. We are both Kala Ubass Endorsees (which is pretty amazing to start with) so I managed to hook up with him through the company.
The meeting/concert was in the southern parts of Sweden and I traveled there with two of my Kala solid body ubasses.
Who is Abraham Laboriel?
Some of you may know about him and some don’t so I’ll give you a brief background here.
Let’s start with some of the artists he has worked with as a session musician in Los Angeles:
Al Jarreau, George Benson, Alan Silvestri, Alvaro Lopez and Res-Q Band, Alvin Slaughter, Don Felder, Andraé Crouch, Andy Pratt, Andy Summers, Barbra Streisand, Billy Cobham, Carlos Skinfill, Chris Isaak, Christopher Cross, Crystal Lewis, Dave Grusin, Djavan, Dolly Parton, Don Moen, Donald Fagen, Elton John, Engelbert Humperdinck, Freddie Hubbard, Hanson, Herb Alpert, Herbie Hancock, Johnny Hallyday, Keith Green, Kelly Willard, Lalo Schifrin, Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Leo Sayer, Lisa Loeb, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Nathan Davis, Paul Jackson Jr., Paul Simon, Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, Ron Kenoly, Russ Taff, Stevie Wonder, and Umberto Tozzi.
Abraham Laboriel Sr. (born July 17, 1947) is a Mexican bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks.[1] Guitar Player Magazine described him as ”the most widely used session bassist of our time”.[2][3] Laboriel is the father of drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. and of producer, songwriter, and film composer Mateo Laboriel.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Laboriel
Meeting Abraham was such a joy. He’s a wonderful, warm human being with such a big heart. Hearing/seeing him play live has knocked me every time. He is an ”all in” performer that really speaks to you from heart to heart. He has been in my musical life for quite some time. I told him about hearing/seeing him at concert in the mid 80’s and even in the town where I work now on a gig probably more then 10 years ago.
We started talking and I showed him what I have done on my blog, video lessons and recordings. What was supposed to be an interview became a nice chat about music and life, almost as we had known each other since the mid 80’s…
I really hope we can meet again soon and continue of talk and I might even get around to ask him my prepared questions! 🙂
As I wrote earlier my two solid body’s were on the trip with me and I wanted to show Abraham these. You might have picked up that I have experimented with ”new” strings on these two 5-strings. (I will do a proper blog post about these tests soon!) Anyway, Abraham started playing on the fretted one, unamplified, and after a while I grabbed the fretless one and join in on the quiet jam. It sure was nice to get to play with one of my bass heroes!
Here’s a little snippet of that jam…
All the best to all ubassists out there,
Magnus
Some youtube videos featuring Abraham:
Play UBass! 
Hi, I just joined and wanted to know how to buy your book Learn to Play the Ubass. Can you send me a preview of it? I’m enjoying your blog, keep it up! Thanks Roberta
Sent from my iPad
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Hi Roberta,
I’m glad you enjoy my blog and is interested in my upcoming iBook.
I have just filmed the last videos and will edit these asap.
Will make some ”teasers” that shows how the iBook will work and also
tell about how the different lessons work!
My goal is to do a proper launch of Learn to Play the UBass in January!
All the best,
Magnus
playubass.com