Contrabass Conversations

I spoke with South African double bassist Zanelle Britz about her launching of the first ever double bass course in South Africa, which will take place December 9-12, 2018 in Cape Town.   Learn more about the event and donate to support it at givengain.com/cc/doublebass .   More about the South African Double Bass Course (from their website): The National Youth Orchestra is hosting our first ever...

When Jay Starkes of the Neo Bass Ensemble called me up to let me know about an upcoming performance, I knew that I had to check out this group.   Lisle Atkinson , the group's founder, has been on the jazz scene in New York for decades and has played with some of the biggest names in the business like Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Carter, Clark Terry, and Thad Jones & Mel Lewis Big Band. Lisle was in the...

When I heard from Rice University bass professor Tim Pitts that his former student Alanna Jones had won a spot in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra , I immediately dropped her a line and asked if she'd chat about this recent audition for the podcast.     She accepted, and we had a great talk, not only about the NZSO audition but also about her journey from Green Bay, Wisconsin to New Zealand, her...

Kenny Davis is one of the most in-demand bassists in New York.  You name it—he's played it.   From playing in the Tonight Show Band for several years to recording, touring, and performing with artists like Herbie Hancock, Cassandra Wilson, and Freddie Hubbard, Kenny has been in involved in an astonishing array of musical projects. We also happen to have quite a bit of shared background.  Kenny gre...

Blake Hinson serves as Assistant Principal Bass of the New York Philharmonic and teaches bass at Stony Brook University .  He previously served as principal bass of the Grand Rapids Symphony and was a fellow in the New World Symphony. Many podcast listeners have requested Blake as a guest, and as I was planning my trip to New York City, I knew that I wanted to connect with him and talk about his t...

Ron Wasserman has been a frequently-requested podcast guest over the years, and it was such a pleasure to be able to sit down with him in person and dig into all kinds of topics.  In addition to being the longtime principal bass for the New York City Ballet , Ron is the founder and artistic director of the New York Jazzharmonic, an active composer, and wears many other hats.   On his website, Ron...

I first spoke with Barrie Kolstein for the podcast back in 2008 with my frequent co-host John Grillo .  Barrie has been in the double bass business for nearly 50 years, and Kolstein Music is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. Barrie and I cover all kinds of new ground in this long-overdue "round two" conversation, including what it was like working with bass legends like Fred Zimmermann a...

One of my all-time top interview requests has been to chat with Gary Upton and Eric Roy of Upton Bass .  As I was booking my trip to New York City, I knew that spending a day at the Upton barn in Mystic, Connecticut was a must-do. Eric, Gary, and I had a great conversation about all kinds of things, like the unconventional way in which they established Upton Bass, how the company grew from selling...

Kieran Hanlon , bass professor at The State University of New York at Fredonia and also a past podcast guest , has been hard at work putting together a Bach project . Titled Practical Bach for the Double Bass , this project involves transcribing select movements of the Bach cello suites into the lower positions of the double bass. Kieran shares his inspiration for the project on his website : I ha...

Michel Taddei likes to keep busy with a wide variety of musical roles.   Michel is Principal Bassist of the Berkeley, Fremont, Symphony Napa Valley, and Pacific Chamber Symphonies, as well as the Mendocino Music Festival and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and serves as Assistant Principal Bassist of the California Symphony. That alone sounds like a lot of activity, but Michael also is the Admini...

Kristin Zoernig is one of the country's most in-demand early music double bassists.   In addition to being the bassist for the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra , Kristin performs with the American Bach Soloists , Oregon Bach Festival , Cantata Collective , and a wide range of other ensembles. Kristin and I got together in person in Oakland, California to talk about her path through the music world a...

We did a panel discussion at the 2018 European Bass Congress in Lucca   all about technology and the bass: what things looked like ten years ago, where we are now, and where we might be headed in the future. This session was co-hosted by my good friend Geoff Chalmers , the founder of the Discover Double Bass online learning platform.   We dig into Geoff's journey into creating online content, how...

Today we're covering the great double bass pedagogue George Vance and the influence he has had on bass education.   We're featuring clips from these past podcast guests on the topic: Ira Gold - National Symphony Nina DeCesare - Oregon Symphony Johnny Hamil - Kansas City Bass Workshop Ted Botsford - Los Angeles Philharmonic Tracy Rowell - Oberlin Conservatory Miles Mosley - jazz artist and composer...

This bonus episode features Jason Heath on the wonderful new Mind Over Finger podcast.  Be sure to subscribe to Mind Over Finger wherever you get your podcasts, and follow along with Renee's conversations on Facebook also.

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Principal Bass David Daly has released a true epic debut album with a great title: Titanic Double Bass .   The title track of the album is an Irish air my Great Uncle Eugene played on the deck of he Titanic (thats right—David's Great Uncle played on the Titanic!) as it left Ireland.   David also filmed an epic video at the crack of dawn on the cliffs overlooking wher...

Amy Baltzell is a sports psychologist that serves as Clinical Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Sport Psychology Specialization at Boston University.   The author of Living in the Sweet Spot: Preparing for Performance in Sport and Life and The Power of Mindfulness: Mindfulness Meditation Training in Sport , Amy has worked with many musicians over the years to alleviate performance anxiety...

Herbert Smith has had a remarkable career spanning a variety of musical genres.   Originally from Chicago, Herbert spent many years in Southern California prior to his move to São Paulo, Brazil eight years ago. We dig into similarities and differences between the musical scenes of Brazil and the United States, Brazilian musical traditions, language and how it affects the music of a specific cultur...

One of my all-time favorite podcast guests is Leon Bosch , and it was great to get a chance to sit down with him in person at the 2018 European Bass Congress and dig into some deep topics.   Leon is the former principal bass for Academy of St Martin in the Fields and has put out an astounding amount of albums and other projects since retiring from this group a few years ago.   This interview cover...

Anima Nova carbon fiber sound posts have been getting a lot of attention recently in the double bass world.   I had the chance to sit down with Pal Molnar of Anima Nova at the 2018 European Bass Congress to dig into the details bout this new type of sound post and the advantages that it can offer.   Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conve...

Vassilis Papavassiliou has been on my "to interview" list for years, and it was a treat to sit down with him over a coffee at the 2018 European Bass Congress and discuss his current topic of research: vibrato . Vassilis has presented a session on vibrato at past bass conventions, and I learned a lot chatting with him about the topic.   He also has an outstanding online resource on vibrato which s...

I've been looking forward to having Hagai Bilitzky on the podcast for years, and it was great to be able to sit down with him in person at the 2018 European Bass Congress and dig into his explorations of Middle Eastern music on the bass.  Hagai has a wealth of information regarding Middle Eastern music on his website , and this is must-read material for any bassist interested in exploring this wor...

I first met Jennifer Downing Olsson back in the early 2000s.   She was playing in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago at the time, and we also ended up playing in the Spoleto USA Festival in Charleston, South Carolina.   It has been great watching her career unfold.   Jennifer moved to Sweden several year ago to play in the Gothenburg Symphony, and she recently took a new position with the Swedish Radi...

After a recent podcast appearance from Lauren Pierce all about her Practiceology course , I was contacted by Elizabeth Li of Modacity .   Modacity is a practicing app developed by Marc Gelfo , a horn player who used to be in the Hong Kong Philharmonic and who is a regular extra with the San Francisco Symphony. Modacity has become my constant practice companion.   H onestly, I haven't been this exc...

I've been enjoying watching the career of double bassist Grace Lewis unfold.   A former student of John Schimek's at Oklahoma City University, Grace is currently completing her graduate studies with Dennis Whittaker at the University of Houston.   We dig into Grace's path through the music world, what she finds gratifying about bass events like the KC Bass Workshop , how to develop a bass studio f...

Today's episode features a conversation on music, psychotherapy, and double bass.   Bill Harrison and Judith Hanna are both Chicago-area double bassists and practicing psychotherapists.   We met up in Chicago to talk about their path from bass paying into the world of psychotherapy, how the two disciplines relate, and much more! We also answer a number of questions submitted by listeners, includin...