Contrabass Conversations

It was great to chat with Scott Lang for the podcast!  Scott is a music education leadership specialist and public speaker with an inspiring mission: enroll one million new music students in our schools each year. Scott has made the lives of music educators worldwide significantly easier with his Be Part of the Music initiative.  We talk about this, his wonderful book  Seriously?! , how to get stu...

It was great to chat with Marlene Rosenberg for the podcast!  Marlene is a Chicago-based jazz bassist and educator and is one of the most active players in the local scene. More About Marlene: Marlene Rosenberg has emerged as one of the most talented and multi-faceted bass players on the scene today. She has played professionally throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America and Japan, perfo...

This is a look back an an interesting conversation from 2009 that podcast co-host John Grillo and I had about my book Road Warrior Without an Expense Account .  Today we take a look back at: what has changed in the orchestra world what has changed for Jason personally and professionally since this original episode Check out the original episode here .

We chat with frequent podcast co-host John Grillo about a new project called Orchestra Confidential. This is a project that had been many years in the making , and if you'd like to be involved, contact John at grillo@contrabassconversations.com . Links to Check Out: The State of the Orchestra (podcast from 2009) The Orchestral Dream is Dead with Matt Waters past episodes featuring John John Grillo...

It was a treat to sit down and chat with world music bassist Elsen Price for the podcast!  Elsen is based in Sydney, Australia and is incredibly active as a solo and collaborative artist. More About Elsen: (excerpt from Elsen Price: Totally addicted to Bass by Samuel Cottell) Double bass player Elsen Price is making his mark on the music scene in a range of settings. He recently performed his orig...

It has been such a pleasure getting to know Charles Chandler  since moving to San Francisco!  In addition to playing in the San Francisco Symphony, Charles teaches at the  San Francisco Academy Orchestra and is an active soloist and chamber musician.  He is actively involved with the Golden Gate Bass Camp and other Bay Area double bass events and is a champion of new and previously undiscovered wo...

It is such a pleasure to bring you this conversation with Caitlyn Kamminga !  Caitlyn has had a fascinating journey through the music world, and we dig deep into her journey across the globe from New Orleans, Hong Kong, and London to her current home of Trinidad and Tobago. More About Caitlyn: Caitlyn Kamminga graduated cum laude, with both a BM and MM from the University of Southern California in...

In this special episode, we chat with Kurt Morrow about the time he spent with Milt Hinton .  Milt's wife Mona asked Kurt if he would live in faculty housing with Milt.  Kurt shares some of these life-changing experiences with us today. More about Milt Hinton Milt "The Judge" Hinton was regarded as the Dean of jazz bass players. He was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1910, and at the age of elev...

I had a wonderful time chatting with Patricia Weitzel  for the podcast!  Patricia is a dynamic and engaging performer and teacher, and we had a great conversation covering: competitions how a missed opportunity can lead to a better one Patricia's journey from Brazil to the United States being direct with students  ...and much more! More About Patricia: Patricia Weitzel holds a bachelor degree from...

I've been captivated by the massive and multifaceted YouTube videos that jazz bassist and educator Chris Fitzgerald has been putting out these past few years. Today we dig into the hows and whys of Chris' considerable undertaking. More About Chris: Chris Fitzgerald has been a member of the Louisville jazz community as both a teacher and a performer since 1985. During that time, he has performed or...

We're featuring thoughts and playing from the four 2017 Bradetich Competition finalists on today's episode: Szymon Marciniak Dominik Wagner Marek Romanowski Mikyung Soung Check out all four of these players in their semi-final and final rounds on YouTube.

The Bassinova Quartet is a revolutionary new force in the double bass world.  They have turned heads worldwide with their stunning performances of traditional string quartet literature, and they are commissioning new works and breaking new ground.   Jason sits down with quartet members Daniel Nix , Aaron Olguin , Lauren Pierce , and Harry Dearman for a spirited conversation on the origins of the g...

I had a great time talking with Kate Jones for the podcast!  Kate is a Suzuki bass specialist working in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford School District in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  She is doing remarkable things for young bass students! Links to Check Out: Kate's website Jason attempting to play a 1/32 size bass More About Kate: Double bassist Kate Jones studied with Jeff Bradetich at the University...

Spending time with Jack Unzicker was a major highlight of my trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  Jack is an assistant professor at The University of Texas at Arlington and is one of the most professionally active bassists in the region. We dig into all kinds of topics, like: what Jack's professional life looks like where the bass is headed what possibilities look like for music students private t...

I had a great time chatting with Dallas Symphony bassist and Southern Methodist University faculty member Brian Perry !  Brian is also on the Board of Directors for the Bradetich Foundation and the  International Society of Bassists , and he is the editor for the Bass World column "In The Zone." This episode is organized into three parts: Part 1 - the difference one teacher can make Part 2 - audit...

Former podcast guest Donovan Stokes recommended that I contact Zach Rowden and dig into what his musical journey looks like. I did just that, and the result was a fascinating conversation about careers, traditional music school mindsets, and how wide the possibilities really when you decide to do your own thing. Zach is a former student of both Donovan Stokes and Robert Black , and we discuss the...

It was great to chat with Miles Brown about what it's like playing with Alarm Will Sound , learning massively complicated music for this group, and how to be versatile in today's music world! Miles ran the after hours sessions for ISB 2017 , and he just took a new position at the University of Delaware after overseeing the jazz department at Oakland University in Michigan. More about Miles ​Bassis...

Cleveland Orchestra principal bassist Max Dimoff and Time for Three bassist Ranaan Meyer are the new teaching team at the University of Michigan!  Both Max and Ranaan have been featured on past podcast episodes as well as in my 2016 book Winning the Audition . Learn more about the program: University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, & Dance (Facebook) University of Michigan profile page on do...

Where do you even start when you're talking with John Goldsby ?  I mean, this is the person who literally wrote the book on jazz bass playing with his groundbreaking work The Jazz Bass Book . I've been reading articles by John in Bass Player Magazine ever since I picked up the instrument, and it was such a pleasure to chat with him for the show! More About John Since 1994, John Goldsby has been a...

It is an honor and a pleasure to welcome Orin O'Brien to the show!  I've been hoping to have Orin as a guest for years, and I want to give a big shout-out to Chris Mathers for connecting the two of us! We chat about numerous shared acquaintances, including  Greg Sarchet , Miloslov Gajdos, David Grossman , Ira Gold , Ed Barker , Hal Robinson, Max Dimoff , Michael Hovnanian , Douglas Mapp , and Ron...

What is it about the energy of Nashville? How has the technology surrounding us changed the way we musicians do what we do? How does a person go from being down to their last pot of coffee to touring the world with the biggest names in their scene? We answer these questions and much more on this episode featuring Todd Parks . Todd is one of the most active bassists in the Nashville scene and has p...

On September 22, Simply Three is releasing Undefined, their first album of all-original music.  You can pre-order it here . Jason chats with bassist Nick Villalobos about this new release and what the band was going for with this album.  Nick is a past podcast guest . Links to Check Out: Simply Three's website Simply Three on YouTube Maverick  (their first original song) Simply Three on Instagram...

Jennifer Rosenfeld is a leader in the world of music entrepreneurship and has been helping musicians "level up" their career since 2009. We go "inside baseball" on the whole podcasting thing.  I'll bet that there are a few people listening to this podcast that actually listen to all of the shows we reference! Obviously, I'm a bass player, and I'm deep inside that world: teaching performing, going...

What does a jazz education in the 21st century look like? And what should it look like? Why would a working bassist decide to drop it all and go to school? How does focusing deeply on contemporary music outside of jazz change the way you approach the instrument? We answer these questions and much more on this episode featuring Jeff Denson . Jeff is a professor at the California Jazz Conservatory i...

When you're playing, do you think about what you want to say , or what the music wants of you ? Do you remember the process you went through learning how to speak? What happens when you lose half your fingers the day of a big concert? We answer these questions and much more on this episode featuring Gary Peacock . Gary Peacock has spent the past 60+ years collaborating with artists like Keith Jarr...