Contrabass Conversations

Nick Scales and I have known each other for years, and it was great to finally get a chance to sit down and do an interview.   Nicholas has been on the faculty of West Texas A&M University since 2005 and is a frequent guest artist and presenter at various conferences. We cover some very fun memories of his time playing with Inez Wyrick and David Murray back in the Amarillo Symphony (where Nick is...

Fausto Borém is the Grand Prize winner of the 2018 International Society of Bassists Research Competition. His document, titled Intonation in the Performance of the Double Bass , was presented at the 2019 ISB Convention. Fausto has been on my "to interview" list for years, and it was great to have the opportunity to connect with him in person for the podcast!   We talk about his ISB presentation a...

I was introduced to Helen Svoboda by jazz bass mainstay and past podcast guest John Goldsby .   Helen is exploring a variety of interesting solo and collaborative projects on the bass, including her Vegetable Bass series , her bass and tenor sax duo Meatshell , her chamber-oriented Sprout project, and more. Helen is pushing into fascinating new territory on the bass and is a compelling and origina...

Vassilis Papavassiliou presented a session titled Vibrato Revisited part 2 at the 2019 International Society of Bassists Convention, and we had the chance to sit down for a few minutes and explore some of his new findings. Vassilis appeared on the podcast in 2018 to cover this topic, and he has created an excellent website that digs into his research and findings on the topic.   I hope you enjoy t...

Documentary filmmaker and bassist Nick Wells has assembled footage from nearly 30 of the most well-known names in jazz bass, including Dave Holland, Larry Grenadier, Ron Carter, and Christian McBride into a new project called Walking the Changes . Through the month of October, Nick is running a Kickstarter to take this mountain of footage and turn it into a completed film. The results are sure to...

Bert Witzel is the latest addition to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra bass section.   He served as principal bass of the Louisville Orchestra for many years prior to winning an audition for his current position.   Bert is also the author of Scales for the Double Bass . We dig into Bert's journey through the music world, the highs and lows of auditioning, and what Bert has learned in the proces...

Michael Trowbridge is a former public school orchestra director and an active bass teacher, presenter, and author.   He is the co-author of Measures of Success for String Orchestra and the author of Everybody's Electric Bass Method , both published by FJH Music. Mike and I dig into some of my favorite interview topics, like life in the trenches as an orchestra director, how the teaching world has...

The third annual Melbourne Conservatorium of Music Double Bass Day and Competition will be taking place Nov 26th.   Jason chats with University of Melbourne bass faculty Rob Nairn about the event.  Learn more on their Facebook page , and we'd love to see you at this event!

Andrés Martín is a longtime friend and collaborator of mine.   Even though we regularly see each other at events like his Latin American Bass Festival , the Golden Gate Bass Camp , the International Society of Bassists Convention , and Galicia Graves , it have been over three years since he appeared on the podcast . In this episode, recorded live at the 2019 Golden Gate Bass Camp , Andrés and I ch...

Elisa Janson Jones is an entrepreneur, author, educator and the founder of the International Music Educator Summit.   I was introduced to her through an appearance on Andrew Hitz's The Entrepreneurial Musician podcast , and I know that she's be a great person to have on this podcast. This is an honest, raw, and different kind of episode, and Elisa and I talk about successes and failures, how caree...

Brian Bromberg has been on my "to interview" list for years, and it finally happened in person at the 2019 Golden Gate Bass Camp .  In this conversation, we talk about Brian's early career, lessons learned from drums and how starting with drums affected his bass playing, what most people don't know about recording a bass, and much more.   Enjoy! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app...

I had the pleasure of meeting Jean-Philippe Viret in person and interviewing him during Cielito de Jesus ' wonderful Rabbath Institute Los Angeles .   Jean-Philippe is one of the founding members of l'Orchestre de contrebasses and has had a rich career as a jazz bassist and composer in Paris for decades. We talk about his early years, the founding of l'Orchestre de contrebasses, exploring creativi...

Valentina Ciardelli is one of my favorite young bass artists, and she and I share a passion for the music of Frank Zappa.   Valentina is launching her first CD , titled Zappa, Puccini, Tabakov, Ciardelli: Music from the Sphinx , on September 20th, 2019. We talk about a wide array of topics, ranging from her recent arrangements and recording of Cletus Awreetus Awrightus and many other works to how...

Christian Dillingham is a longtime friend and musical collaborator of mine.   He and I played together in a bass quartet when we were both living in Chicago, and he has continued to develop an interesting career in the classical and jazz worlds. We dig into our shared history, what it has been like living in Chicago, life on the South Side, and much more in this in-person chat at the 2019 Internat...

Erica Bramham is a critically acclaimed vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and composer from Melbourne, Australia.   She has recently taken up the bass and has been studying with Anita Hustas .   For her, playing the bass has been a uniquely challenging experience, and one that she has become deeply passionate about. Erica has developed several interesting projects in recent years, including: The Son...

Bassist and composer Ehud Ettun has been on a fascinating musical journey.   Originally from Israel, where he studied with Michael Klinghoffer , Ehud went on to   study at New England Conservatory. He has developed a thriving career as a jazz artist and also as an educator.   We talk about his path through the music world, starting a music school in rural Israel, the dramatic roots of his latest a...

Lloyd Goldstein is one of my favorite people on the planet.   I've been a huge fan of his ever since chatting with him back in 2016 for the podcast. Lloyd works as a certified music practitioner at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa.   He's also one heck of a composer, and I've played several of his pieces from his great collection The Way Back for the past few years. It was an honor to sit down w...

Departure Duo is an innovative collaboration between soprano Nina Guo and double bassist Edward Kass.   Eddie and Nina have dedicated themselves to performing, commissioning, and researching music for soprano and double bass, and the results have been fascinating. We talk about their 30 by '30 project (30 hours of soprano+bass music by 2030), how they became enthralled by this musical combination,...

Amanda Rice-Johnston and I finally met in person after over a decade of being online friends.   She has a vibrant career as a double bass performer and a down to earth perspective on what a life in music is really like. We cover a wide array of topics, from her path through the music world to how she balances working in a cheese shop with a performing career.   It was a pleasure to connect with he...

Larry Hutchinson recently retired from the Detroit Symphony after 34 years in the bass section.   A leading proponent of double bass education in the state of Michigan, Larry has organized countless bass events over the years.   He has also served on the faculties of Western Michigan University and Wayne State University and is in demand nationally as a clinician. We chat with Larry about his care...

Brett Shurtliffe is the Associate Principal Bassist of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.   Brett is a former student of the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with James VanDemark, and of Duquesne University, where he studied with Jeffrey Turner. In 2003, Brett was the Top American Prizewinner at the International Society of Bassists Solo Competition, and two years later took 1st Prize at...

Naj Qureshi of Ottawa Imports has an interesting business model.  Naj has made it his mission to get the highest quality hand carved Italian basses into the hands of bassists at prices that are unbeatable for the quality of Ottava's Inventory. His priority starting Ottava has been to make sure that any bassist has access to marvelous instruments crafted in the Old World Tradition at realistic, fai...

Chris Kosky is a former bassist for the Air Force Band and just came out with a book titled The Thumb Transition Zone .   Designed for intermediate and advanced students, this book focuses on the middle area of the double bass fingerboard, providing exercises for playing more effortlessly and musically in this region of the bass. You can pick up a copy of this new book at the International Society...

Hector Tirado can't hear, but uses the the technique of proprioception to play the double bass by feeling the vibrations of the double bass through his skin.  He has presented at several International Society of Bassists conventions, and he has a great collection of videos on his YouTube Channel demonstrating how he plays the bass Here's a video of Hector playing the introduction of the Bach Chora...

Tom Knific leads a full life as a bassist, composer, and educator.   He has taught at Western Michigan University since 1987 and was appointed Director of Jazz Studies in 2000.   He is also extremely active as a composer and touring musician. Tom has also been involved in the double bass community for many years as a past president of the International Society of Bassists and host of the 2005 ISB...