Contrabass Conversations

Stuart Riley has led a multifaceted and inspiring musical life as a bassist.   Both in the United Kingdom, Stuart moved to Melbourne, Australia in 1999 and worked as a freelancer in all sorts of ensembles.   He took a permanent position with Orchestra Victoria in 2017 as Principal Double Bass .   Also, Stuart has a wide array of interests, and he has provided a wealth of information regarding orch...

Melbourne bassist Ben Hanlon lives a vibrant musical life as a classical and jazz musician.   In addition to his job as a member of the Melbourne Symphony bass section , Ben enjoys a thriving career performing in Melbourne's many jazz venues.   He often works with guitarist James Sherlock and has released an album featuring several of their duos . We got together in person during my trip to Austra...

In October 2018, Sebastiano Dessanay embarked on a humongous adventure: cycling between all 377 towns of his native Sardinia in 377 days .   This project, which he called 377 , involved him putting his bass ukulele on his back, chronicling his travels via photo, text, and music on his blog . We talk about how he worked up the courage to make this tremendous journey, the logistical planning involve...

I've been following along with Lila Horovitz and her multidimensional career for well over a decade, and it was a real pleasure to finally have her as a guest on the podcast.   Lila's album Preludio del Primer Dia and her video Alone... All one was groundbreaking in highlighting the bass as a solo instrument, and the influence of her Argentinian upbringing is evident throughout her compositions. W...

Kees Boersma has had a remarkable musical career.   In addition to serving as Principal Bass of the Sydney Symphony since 1990, Kees teaches at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and is an active clinician and guest artist. I had the opportunity to catch up with Kees in person during my trip to Australia.   He was one of the headliners for the Melbourne BassDay , and we met up in a charming Fitzro...

Cécile-Laure Kouassi has had quite a musical journey so far.   Growing up in the French Alps, she moved to New York to study with Albert Laszlo at Juilliard.   She went on to study with Tim Pitts at Rice University before taking her current position as Assistant Principal Bass of the Oslo Philharmonic . We talk about her upbringing, the decision to study in the United States, favorite memories of...

Yuriy Galkin 's latest album ...For Its Beauty Alone has been turning heads since its release last year, getting warm accolades in All About Jazz , Jazz Weekly , and several other publications. On today's episode, we chat with Yuriy about growing up in Russia, moving to the United Kingdom, and his eventual relocation to the New York City area in 2017.   We also talk about composing, work flows, ho...

Sasha Witteveen caught my attention with her wonderful recent rendition of Paganini's Moses Fantasy .   At age 16, she has established herself as a rising star in the world of classical music. We talk about her background in music, discovering the bass, what it's like balancing her studies with her musical aspirations, how groups like the LGT Young Soloists are creating opportunities for young mus...

After 30 years as Principal Bass of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra , Steve Reeves decided to retire and move on to other projects.   This happened to coincide with my trip to Australia for Rob Nairn's Melbourne Bass Day , and I had the chance to meet up with Steve over coffee and chat about his career, why he decided to retire, and what he has learned serving as a principal player for three deca...

It was such a pleasure to meet and spend time with Kirsty McCahon during my trip to Australia in late 2019.   Kirsty has worn many hats as a musician over the years, from holding the position of Principal Bass with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra for 20 years to her current roles as Principal Bass with Pinchgut, Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra, Bach Akademie Australia.   We also c...

I had a wonderful time meeting and spending time with Australian Chamber Orchestra principal bassist Maxime Bibeau during my trip to Australia in late 2019.   Max has had a fascinating career path, and he plays with a power and subtlety that is truly remarkable. We talk about his path from Quebec to Australia, what it's like playing on a 1585 Gasparo Da Salo bass, the unique experience of playing...

It was such a pleasure to chat with renowned Australian jazz bassist Ben Robertson in person during my trip to Australia in late 2019! Ben is an outstanding musician with a remarkable career path and musical background, and we had a fascinating conversation into all kinds of subjects revolving around bass, learning, developing listening skills, the subtleties of working on improvisation, and much...

Jack Unzicker and Martha Walvoord have recently released an album of duos for violin and bass.   Titled The Diaries of Adam and Eve , it features new works for violin and bass by composers Michael Daugherty, Dan Cavanagh, Andrea Clearfield, Tom Knific, and George Chave. Check out this new album through the following links: Albany Records Spotify Apple Music Amazon Prime Music iTunes Amazon Michael...

Diego Zecharies is one of the most inspiring musicians I know. In addition to serving as principal bass of the Galicia Symphony , director of the Contrabajo de Montevideo festival, and director for the Orquesta Juvenil Sodre , he is in the process of releasing his latest album featuring a new concerto by Simón García , Diego's arrangement for bass and strings of Le grand Tango by Astor Piazzolla,...

Grace Lewis is starting an exciting new project in Houston called Collegia: Houston .   Grace and Jason talk about the idea for the project, its goals, challenges and rewards of launching a nonprofit, and much more. Enjoy, and be sure to follow along with Collegia: Houston on Facebook and Instagram !   Also, check out Grace's past podcast appearances from 2018 and 2019 .  Listen to Contrabass Conv...

Today's episode is a quick look back at 2019 in terms of travel, interviews, highlights, and most popular episodes.   Enjoy! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings! Check out their Zyex strings , which are synthetic core strings that produce an...

Today's conversation features Stephen P. Brown , a conductor of orchestras, choirs, concert bands and musical theater, and the founder of Concert University .   We cover how Stephen woks with musicians, what holds people back in their performing careers, and much more.   Enjoy! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored...

Today's conversation features a deep-dive with Clarineat host Sean Perrin about how both of our careers have evolved over the past several years.   Sean is a past podcast guest , and this chat was also published on his podcast on episodes 122 and 123 .   Enjoy! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Str...

This "best of" conversation with world-renowned jazz bassist Gary Peacock has been one of our most popular episodes ever since it aired in 2017 .   It is also one of the first times we crowd-sourced questions, so all the topics we dig into are suggestions from people that follow the podcast.   Enjoy! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conv...

This "best of" episode features a conversation with the wonderful jazz bassist Christian McBride .   This lighthearted and engaging conversation originally aired in 2018 and has become one of our most popular episodes. Enjoy! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings This episode is brought to you...

This "best of" episode features our conversation with the outstanding jazz bassist Larry Grenadier .  Larry recently released his solo album The Gleaners , and we talked about the genesis behind this album in this conversation, which originally aired in 2017 .   Enjoy! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Add...

Angela Beeching 's monumental book Beyond Talent has been hugely influential in the music world, and she's almost ready to launch her third edition.  As the former director of entrepreneurship and career offices at Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, and Indiana University, Angela has helped countless musicians to understand their potential and options and now works with clients o...

Los Angeles Philharmonic bassist Jory Herman is releasing a new album of pieces that combine narration and bass.   This album, which is an outgrowth of his community engagement work, features a mix of pieces geared toward children with other works like Frank Proto's Mingus - Live in the Underworld and Jon Deak's BB Wolf.   Many of the tracks feature actress and narrator Cloie Wyatt Taylor. Jory wa...

So many people will resonate with the musical journey that Don Messina has had.   He has been a proponent of the music and style of Lennie Tristano ever since meeting him in 1973, and he also spent 14 years studying jazz with tenor saxophonist Fred Amend. In addition to being part of the Kazzrie Jaxen Duo/Trio/Quartet , Don has session and performed with Sal, Mosca, Jimmy Halperin, Larry Bluth, Jo...

I've known Jeremy Baguyos for over 15 years, and I've always found it fascinating how he weaves together the double bass and computer music in his work.   After playing bass full-time with the Orquesta Filarmonica de GC (Spain) and Shreveport Symphony, Jeremy moved to Washington, DC to freelance.   I met him in the early 2000s while playing in the Des Moines Metro Opera, where he serves as princip...