Contrabass Conversations

This special 500th episode of the podcast was recorded live at the Golden Gate Bass Camp in San Francisco on June 20, 2018.   It features conversations and performances from the following people: Richard Duke , camp director Michael Manring and Cody Wright Alex Friedman , The Acoustic Bass Shop Joe Conyers , Philadelphia Orchestra and Project 440 Steve Swan , Steve Swan String Basses Bill Gould ,...

Marek Romanowski and I were housemates during the Bradetich Competition back in the fall of 2017.   He and I spent some great nights with our hosts chatting about bass, music, Texas, Poland, and all sorts of other topics.   Ever since the competition, I have become such a fan of his playing.   Marek won the Sperger Competition in 2016 and was one of the finalists for the Bradetich Competition in 2...

I first met Steve Tramontozzi back in 2000 at the Pacific Music Festival.   Steve was our bass coach that summer, and it was such a pleasure to work with him on solo playing, orchestral repertoire, and bass ensembles.   Steve is assistant principal bass for the San Francisco Symphony and also teaches bass at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.   Steve is also one heck of a solo player, and I'...

Today, we take a look at the state of young bass education.   This episode is based on a recent blog post written after attending the Suzuki Association of the Americas' 2018 Conference .   Enjoy!   Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Robertson & Sons Violins For more than four decades, Robertson & Sons has sp...

Today, we dig into some thoughts that past podcast guest Colin Corner shared about the recent Oregon Symphony Assistant Principal Bass audition .   Check out Colin's most recent interview here , and check out his complete recital from the 2017 Pittsburgh Double Bass Symposium here !   Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is spo...

Today's special episode is Mike Forfia 's conversation with Victor Wooten .  An edited version of this conversation appeared in the June 2018 edition of Bass World magazine from the International Society of Bassists .  Enjoy, and be sure to join the ISB if you're not a member already!

Today's special episode is a round table discussion with over two dozen of the world's top double bass luthiers. This discussion took place at the 2018 Violin Society of America Double Bass Workshop at Oberlin College and features the following luthiers: Jay VandeKopple Greg Smith Brian Gencarelli Joey Naeger Thomas Helton Robbie McIntosh Vince Jesse Andrew Stolfa Arnold Schnitzer Elinore Morris A...

I first met Geoff Neuman when I was teaching high school orchestra back in Illinois, and ever since then I've admired how Geoff manages to operate at such a high level as a gigging bassist, music educator, and ensemble director.   Geoff is up to so many things in the music world: He's the Instructor of Instrumental Music at The Alexander Dawson School in Las Vegas He brought the Green Valley High...

Joseph McFadden has led a remarkable career in the music world.   Joe's journey from Southern California to his current role as principal bass of the Atlanta Symphony is full of valuable life lessons.   We dig into a ton of great topics like bing true to yourself as an artist, what taking a chance really means in an audition setting, dealing with frustration and discouragement, organizing your tim...

When Mitch Moehring , one of our producers for the show, recommended that I get in touch with Lois Robinson for an interview, I had a weird sense of deja vu…. I knew that name from somewhere in my past.   After reading a few emails, I realized that Lois and I go way back.   In fact, she was the Executive Director of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago back the I was a member in the late 1990s.   I even...

Thomas Zera has undertaken a fascinating project these past couple of years: play in the bass section of many of the United States' major orchestras and learn the differences between how these sections approach their craft.   For this project, Tom performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Oregon Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Utah Symphony, and many others...

I was driving from Santa Cruz to San Jose with Barry Green recently.   We were talking about folks I should connect with for the podcast, and Eric Hansen was the first person Barry suggested.   Eric teaches bass at Brigham Young University and is the former principal bassist of the Winnipeg Symphony.   Eric and I met in person for the first time in December of 2017 at the Midwest Clinic . He's gre...

Like so many great artists, it's hard to pin down the artistry of Matthew Golombisky .   His website states "Bassist, Composer, Educator, Ideator."   That's an intriguing tagline for a fascinating and multidimensional artist.   Matthew runs ears&eyes Records and is the founder and conductor of the Tomorrow Music Orchestra.   AllAboutJazz writer Jakob Baekgaard called Matthew a modern "renaissance...

When Moulin Rogue bandleader and bassist Bernard Gallone reached out to me about doing an episode on the unique challenges of being a left-handed bassist, I was intrigued.   I am also a left-handed bassist, though like many other left-handed people, I was taught to play in the traditional, "right-handed" way.   Bernard plays the bass left-handed, with his right hand doing the fingering and his lef...

James Ham is a legend in the double bass luthier world.   After a multifaceted background that landed him in Victoria, British Columbia, James Ham created a series of revolutionary designs for the double bass.    His first instrument was commissioned by Gary Karr after a deep analysis of the various positive and not-so-positive traits of the Karr-Koussevitzky bass , Jim created a marvelous instrum...

Fellow International Society of Bassists board member Marcel Villaflor suggested that I get in touch with high school junior Haruki Gonai about winning the Yonkers Philharmonic Concerto Competition.   Haruki is the first bassist ever to win this competition!   Haruki will be performing the Koussevitzky Concerto on Sunday May 20th, 2018 at 3:00 PM at Saunders Trades and Technical High School.   The...

The Johann Matthias Sperger Competition is being held from 22 to 29 July 2018 in Ludwigslust / Germany. This competition is open to all double bass players with an age limit of 35. Applications are required to submit audio links. Deadline for applications: June 1st, 2018. Invitations and compulsory piece will be sent till June 15. The final round will be played with the Orchetra of Staatskappelle...

Gael McKeon saved my bacon in 2017 on the way to a gig.   I was headed out the door to rehearsal when I heard a worrisome wooden banging sound from my bass—never a good sign!   Opening up the case, I discovered to my horror that my tailpiece had cracked apart.   My soundpost was rolling around the bottom of my bass, and my bridge and strings were splayed all over the place.   In a panic (I only ha...

Charley Sabatino is on a mission to re-vamp the way people teach music theory.   There's a lot of wariness and confusion around music theory for many players, and it often comes down to the way it's taught. That's not all that Charley is up to these days, however.   He's a man in constant motion: composing new music, teaching clinics on improvisation, and working with the next generation of player...

Ole Wilson is the CEO of Wilson Pickup Systems , which have been making the signature Wilson Pickup for double bass for over 34 years.   Wilson provided the first commercially available piezo pickup systems for the double bass back in the 1980s, and it has been used by artists like George Mraz, Gary Peacock, and John Patitucci.   We dig into the history of the pickup, how the company has branded o...

Yoshi Horiguchi is a Baltimore -based double bassist and educator as well as a faculty member of Maryland's thriving Bass Works program.    In the fall of 2017, Yoshi got in touch with me about putting his analysis of George Vance's Progressive Repertoire Book 1 online.   We g ot it up on the blog , and it has proven to be a popular resource for bassists worldwide.   In this analysis, Yoshi interv...

As the son of Dominic Duval Sr . (Cecil Taylor's bassist for a decade), Dominic Duval Jr . grew up immersed in the world of avant-garde jazz.   Dominic attended the Eastman School of Music, working with James VanDemark and Jeff Campbell.   He has performed at venues like Carnegie Hall, Avery Fischer Hall, and many New York jazz clubs.   The classmate of former podcast guests Danny Ziemann and Eric...

It was a pleasure to connect with Cielito de Jesus and chat about the vibrant double bass educational scene she has built in Southern California!  As the founder of the Rabbath Institute Los Angeles , Cielito has dedicated her career to teaching Vance-Rabbath pedagogy to middle and high school students throughout the Los Angeles area.   She works with over 60 bassists each week. Cielito has worked...

What a pleasure to chat with Christian McBride for the podcast!   Christian just won his sixth Grammy for the Christian McBride Big Band's new album Bringin' It , and he has a course available titled Fundamentals of Jazz Bass and Beyond .   Christian and I dig into all kinds of topics (including many suggestions from podcast listeners!), like: the story behind his Benedict Puglisi bass what Christ...

Former Guildhall Strings solo double bassist Chris West has built a tremendous resource for learning thumb position, and he's finally unleashed it upon the world.   Titled Reaching the Heights - Thumb Position on the Double Bass , it's chock full of useful exercises and pieces that will have you navigating the upper reaches fo the fingerboard in no time.   Chris and I dig into all kinds of cool co...