Contrabass Conversations

I'm so pumped to bring you today's episode covering the tonal differences of various woods with Seth Kimmel !  Seth is an awesome luthier located in Eugene, Oregon.  I had the chance to play some of his basses at the 2017 International Society of Bassists Convention  and was blown away. Seth uses a wide variety of woods for his basses, including: maple walnut myrtle spruce pine cedar redwood We di...

Barcelona-born Alexis Cuadrado is one of New York's most sought-after musicians . In addition to performing as a sideman with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo, Youssou N'Dour, Dianne Reeves, Omara Portuondo, Steve Wilson and Seamus Blake, Alexis maintains a thriving career as a composer and educator. I had the chance to see Alexis at the 2017 International Society...

What's the deal with strings anyway? We all play them, yet we often don't give much though to them. What , exactly, goes into a string?  What's inside those metal windings? Our chat today with D'Addario Orchestral Product Manager Lyris Hung answers these questions and much more! Our episode is divided into three parts: Part 1 - the mystery of strings eliminating confusion Part 2 - how strings are...

Jessica Valls has created a fascinating career as a double bass performer, educator, and free improvisor. She performs  regularly with the Austin Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, and the vocal group Conspirare .  She also plays chamber music , jazz gigs, and solo performances. Jessica teaches at Southwestern University , Austin Community College, and Huston-Tillotson University.  She is also the fo...

Stuart Pearce is an engineer by trade.   Three years ago, he sent his youngest child off to college and did a "rest of life" evaluation. What do things look like for the next 20-30 years? Golf and finishing would be fun... but it didn't have the appeal to Stuart. Playing an instrument came to mind.  Inspired by hearing Edgar Meyer, he decided to pick up the bass. He's three years in and is loving...

What's it like being a double bass student these days... and what's it like being a female bass student? These are two topics that should have come up a lot sooner on the podcast. Even though I've put out nearly 400 podcast episodes at this point, I've only had students on the show once before . During the 2017 International Society of Bassists Convention , I had the chance to meet Rebecca Lawrenc...

Playing outside of Aspen's Paradise Bakery was both a low-stakes and high-stakes affair for Louis Levitt and his friends . Low-stakes because... well, it was playing outside of a bakery. High-stakes because folks like David Zinman, Gil Shaham, and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg were walking by constantly. Louis was on the orchestral path that so many of us take.  But along the way, Louis started to ask...

As a married guy with no children, the thought of even one kid makes me break into a cold sweat. For bassist and educator  Jennifer Bradbury , it wasn't just one kid coming her way.  It was triplets ... and they came into this world 25 weeks early. The story of these three young children (dubbed the EduTriplets by Jennifer and her husband Jeff ) is inspiring, heartwarming, and totally compelling....

I've been meaning to chat with Gahlord Dewald  on the podcast for years.  He is forging new ground by fusing double bass playing with modular synthesis and is a unique voice in our community. He and I were both at the 2017 International Society of Bassists Convention, and we took a few moments to chat about: what Gahlord uses for his performances (Eurorack modular system and DPA mic or piezo mic)...

Kieran Hanlon is Assistant Professor of String Bass and Jazz at The State University of New York at Fredonia. In addition to his teaching, Kieran is a first call performer in both the classical and jazz idioms, and enjoys a diverse performing career in both genres across Upstate New York and Pennsylvania. We dig into all kinds of topics, including: what it was like starting college as a violin and...

John Davis is a great example of how musicians in smaller markets can create a vibrant career.  John runs his own business , providing string instrument rentals and repairs.  He also restrings tennis rackets! Additionally, John serves as principal bass of the Salina Symphony .  He teaches at Kansas Wesleyan University  and maintains a private studio as well. John's background in radio, television,...

Jon Liebman is the founder of For Bass Players Only , which recently published its 500th interview.  Jon is also the author of several titles for Hal Leonard and has a series of online bass lessons. Jon and I had been in touch about doing an interview for the past six months, and the 2017 International Society of Bassists Convention was a great opportunity to do so.  We chatted about what Jon has...

Rick Jones started Acoustic Image to solve the problem of hauling around a bulky amplifier that artificially colors the acoustic sound of the bass.  As an engineer, he came up with unique methods of construction that keep the weight down and eliminate the problem of cabinets changing the sound of the instrument. Rick had a prototype new amp at the convention and was getting feedback from conventio...

Curtis Burris has taught bass for many years at the Chautauqua Institution .  I was with Kate Jones and ran into Curtis as he was chatting with Virginia Dixon on the streets of Ithaca.  Kate is a former student of Curtis, and she set up this interview for the following day. As it turns out, Curtis and I have a strangely large amount in common.  We both: went to Northwestern taught at DePaul played...

Gaelen McCormick  was heading up the Young Bassists Program for the 2017 International Society of Bassists Convention.  Gaelen is a past guest on the podcast, and we were able to find a few minutes to chat about her role at the convention as well as her new book Mastering the Bow, Part 3: Studies for Bass . Check out all three volumes from Gaelen below: Mastering The Bow, Part 1: Studies For Bass...

David Neubert was one of the early champions of the International Society of Bassists. He hosted conventions at UT-Austin (1986) and Interlochen (1993). He was the Principal Bass of the Springfield Symphony (Massachusetts), the Wichita Symphony and recently retired from the Austin Symphony Orchestra. He was a double bass professor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Wichita State Univer...

David Gage opened his shop in 1978 in New York City.  He has played an integral role in the double bass world ever since.  David has served on the International Society of Bassists  board of directors in the past and provides a wide range of products and services for the double bassist. We chat about many topics, including: studying with Dave Holland in 1976 working with Chuck Traeger the origins...

Today's episode covers details about the BASS2018 European Bass Congress  that will be taking place in Lucca, Italy. Follow along with the slideshow through this link , and be sure to keep up with current BASS2018 updates on the organization's Facebook page . Bass Europe Board Jimmi Roger Pedersen, President Gabriele Ragghianti, President-Elect Stephan Petzhold, Vice President Alberto Bocini, Vice...

Today's episode features a panel discussion with individuals that started the International Society of Bassists, guided it through the early years, and helped shape it to what it is today. The panel includes: Barre Phillips (via video) Lawrence Hurst (via video) Lucas Drew (thoughts read by David Neubert) David Neubert Gary Karr Tom Knific Barry Green Jeff Bradetich Paul Ellison Madeleine Crouch D...

I've been dreaming about having Gary Karr on Contrabass Conversations ever since starting the show.  We got a chance to sit down and chat during the 2017 International Society of Bassists  Convention, and that's what you're hearing today. Gary is the reason that so many of us (myself included) play the bass.  He and I chat about my first experience seeing him perform in Sioux Falls South Dakota.  ...

This is a "best of" episode from three classic Contrabass Conversations episodes. Back in the early days of the podcast, John Grillo and I recorded two episodes that dissected various excerpts. He and I talked through each excerpt and then played a recording of John performing it. These have been extremely popular resources over the years, but they came out not he podcast ten years ago. With so ma...

This listener-generated episode came from a question posed on Facebook in our Contrabass Conversations Community  group. You can view the original thread and add your own thoughts.  Also, be sure to join this Facebook group if you haven't already! Top 10 Gig Dos Leave at a time that would make you 45 minutes to an hour early given typical traffic. (Brandon Mason) Bring extra strings. You'll probab...

James VanDemark just celebrated his 40th year of teaching at the Eastman School of Music. His students have held positions with many of the world's major orchestras, including the Cleveland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Minnesota, San Francisco, Singapore, Taiwan, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, as well as the Rochester Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Oregon Symphony, and the orchestras of Syracuse,...

Tom Mendel  is currently playing bass for the Chicago production of Hamilton.  He has performed on over 100 musical theater productions like Wicked, The Lion King, Billy Elliot, and Book of Mormon.  Tom is also the President Emeritus of the Theatre Musicians Association . We also cover the gear that Tom is using for Hamilton.   Tom uses most of the same gear that  Richard Hammond  is using for the...

Derek Jones is the bassist for Cirque du Soleil 's show KÀ. He joined Cirque after spending time playing with Chris Thile and Nickel Creek and then with Jerry Douglas, and he has played over 5,200 performances of this show at this point. We dig into topics like: challenges of dealing with the low humidity in Las Vegas Derek's unexpected chance to see Gary Karr play live in Las Vegas recently his 1...