Contrabass Conversations

The first-ever Audition Breakthrough Summit will start on March 15, 2017.   I sat down with event organizer Will Timmons  of mockauditions.com  to chat about all the details. Join former podcast guest and National Symphony bassist Ira Gold , Dr. Noa Kageyama of The Bulletproof Musician , Colin Williams of the New York Philharmonic, and several others for this unique and powerful event. We have a s...

I first met Patrick Neher when I was an 18-year-old student at Northwestern University, and I've followed along with his career ever since.   Honestly, I can't believe that it has taken me this long to interview him for the podcast! After teaching at the University of Arizona for 28 years, Patrick has relocated to Bellingham, Washington.  He is immersed in composing new works... including two new...

Sometimes I get a guest recommendation repeatedly, which is a sure sign that I need to sit down with them and do an interview. This is completely  the case with Tracy Rowell .   Tracy is an active performer and teacher in the Cleveland area. Formerly the Assistant Principal Bassist of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada, Tracy currently serves as Principal Bass for CityMusic Cleve...

Emilio Guarino has just launched a Kicksarter campaign for his chromatic.  Support has been great so far, but clock is ticking, so be sure to check out the campaign and pre-order or pledge your support! Check out Emilio's full Contrabass Conversations interview  if you haven't--it was a great conversation!

Originally from Ireland, Bernard O'Neill has been a bassist, arranger, and educator for over 30 years. He works regularly with Sinead O'Connor and Rufus Wainwright, and he recently put out a project called Syriana: The Road to Damascus . We cover a wide range of topics, including: how double bass has actually been in Middle Eastern music for a long time how North African orchestras always had doub...

It was a ton of fun to sit down with Clarineat podcast host Sean Perrin!  Sean is a fellow music podcaster and just hit his one-year anniversary of podcasting, and we got a chance to sit down and dig into what he has learned in the process. We talk about: formulating good questions doing research booking guests keeping the flow of conversation going where he sees the podcast going in the future Su...

Today's episode features Ted Botsford.  Ted is currently a bassist in the Seattle Symphony and just won a position in the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  Ted played in the Oregon Symphony prior to joining the Seattle Symphony. Ted studied with George Vance while growing up in the Washington, D.C. area and continued his studies with Paul Ellison in college. We talk about all sorts of topics, including:...

I had the chance to sit down with John Beder and Katie DeRoche to chat about their new documentary Composed , which tackles the topic of performance anxiety. John and Katie are on a tour screening the movie in various cities.  Check out their tour dates , and if it's not playing near you then contact them to see if you can help arrange a screening! Links to check out: Composed trailer video versio...

Here's the latest Weekly Update episode!  Check out all past episodes at contrabassconversations.com/news , and send me any stories you'd like shared at feedback@contrabassconversations.com . Stories Covered: Quote of the Week Matthew McDonald News of the Week Acoustic Image amp giveaway from Discover Double Bass Paul Cannon's video "What it's like to rehearse with Ensemble Modern" John Schimek co...

I had a wonderful time chatting with Detroit Symphony principal bassist Kevin Brown .  Kevin studied with Peter Lloyd , Paul Ellison , and David Allen Moore  prior to his appointment with the Detroit Symphony and also won the 2009 International Society of Bassists  Orchestral Competition. We dig deep into a number of topics: growing up in Minnesota and starting the bass at age 3 studying with Pete...

I have had a great time following along with  Eric Steffens  and his remarkable career over the years. Starting off at Eastman studying with James VandeMark and then heading to Vienna to work with Alois Posch in Vienna, Eric won a position in 2012 as principal bass of the Philharmonie Südwestfalen . What's extra-cool to me is that Eric was my very first serious bass student.  We worked together in...

Here's the latest Weekly Update episode!  Check out all past episodes at contrabassconversations.com/news , and send me any stories you'd like shared at feedback@contrabassconversations.com . Stories Covered: Quote of the Week Hans Sturm Link of the Week Annotated Chamber Music List from Jeremy-Kurtz-Harris list includes recommendations from Kurt Muroki , Scott Pingel , Volkan Orhon , and Jeff Wei...

Today's episode features a "turn-the-tables" interview with David Heyes of recitalmusic.net .  We dig into topics like: Jason's career trajectory teaching bass making a life in music through multiple projects the evolution of double bass over the decades why Jason started the podcast continuing to learn as we get older Thank you so much to David for doing this! Thanks to our sponsors! This episode...

The Galicia Graves International Festival and Competition  will take place February 17-19, 2017.  Jason chats with Simón García, Diego Zecharies, and Gabriele Ragghianti about the upcoming event.   Check out the YouTube version of this conversation here . Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to your inbox! Learn how you can support the show at contrabassconversations.com/supp...

Here's the latest Weekly Update episode!  Check out all past episodes at contrabassconversations.com/news , and send me any stories you'd like shared at feedback@contrabassconversations.com . Stories Covered: Quote of the Week Ira Gold Link of the Week per service podcast (website) per service podcast (iTunes link) Events ( calendar link ) P. Kellach Waddle Trio Debut - January 22 Waddle conductin...

Dan Styffe is a man in constant motion.  It's astonishing the number of musical projects that he has going on: a new solo album coming this spring (his eighth album in 11 years!) appearances at events like BASS2016, RCM International Festival, and ISB 2017 serving as Co-Principal Bass of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra teaching at The Norwegian Academy of Music and Barratt Due's Institute of Music...

Kevin "Brandino" Brandon is a seven-time Grammy and three-time Emmy award winner.  He has performed with an incredible array of artists, including: Aretha Franklin OutKast (won Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album of the Year) Justin Timberlake (won Grammy for Best R&B Song) Mary J. Blige (won Grammy for Best R&B Album of the Year) The list of artists he has worked with is incredible ....

Today's episode is a short conversation between Jason and Jeff Bradetich about the upcoming 2nd International Double Bass Solo Competition taking place September 1-5, 2017.  The application deadline is February 1, and all details can be found here . Contrabass Conversations will be live on location at the event in September, so expect great coverage of this event in the fall! Check out Jeff's prev...

Here's the latest Weekly Update episode!  Check out all past episodes at contrabassconversations.com/news , and send me any stories you'd like shared at feedback@contrabassconversations.com . Stories Covered: Festivals and Competitions Fredonia 2017 BassFest - February 11, 2017 Galicia Graves Festival and Competition - February 17-19, 2017 Chicago Bass Festival - March 5, 2017 International Societ...

Ever wonder what it's like to be transplanted from balmy Texas and Louisiana to the coldest city in the continental United States? Ask Adam Booker . Here's a recent weather repor t from Duluth in case you're curious. How did he go from the gigging life in Texas to the US Navy and finally into a life in academia? We talk about this and much more, including: traditional jazz bass lines and what note...

Here's the latest Weekly Update episode!  Check out all past episodes at contrabassconversations.com/news , and send me any stories you'd like shared at feedback@contrabassconversations.com . Stories Covered: Giovanni Bottesini Double Bass Competition - April 18-24, 2017 Chautauqua Institution is accepting applications - deadline is 2/1/17 Brevard is accepting applications - deadline is 2/17/17 30...

Thank you. Really, I don't know what else to say. Thank you to each and every one of you who have taken your precious time these past ten years to listen to these episodes.  You've written in.  You've suggested guests.  You've shared your passion and energy with me and with the wider community. Thank you to the hundreds of guests who have lent their valuable time to this crazy project.  Through th...

I had a blast reconnecting with my old friend Tracy Friedlander! Tracy is the host of Crushing Classical , a new podcast about creating a career you love as a classical musician in today's world. I was fortunate to be one of her first guests ! Tracy also writes regularly on her Crushing Classical Facebook page , and she's in the process of writing a book as well. Tracy and I used to play together...

This is an inside baseball episode for sure. I love talking podcasting, whether its talking interview techniques or my biggest podcasting mistakes.   I also love talking with other podcasters about the nitty-gritty details concerning their craft. That's today's conversation with James Newcomb: a no-holds-barred geek-out on all things podcasting. James is the host of the MusicPreneur  and Trumpet D...

What a year 2016 has been!   This past year is when I kicked the podcast into  overdrive , and the stats bear this out: 125 total podcasts released 907,231 podcasts downloaded this year average of 2.4 shows released per week average daily listens: 2,486 This episode takes a look back at the guests featured this year and features a short quote from my conversation with them. Here's the "guest list"...