Contrabass Conversations

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"...

I love talking with audiiton winners .   Learning about how they designed and implemented a long-term plan is fascinating.  What went right?  What went wrong?  How did they adjust course?  What did they do to get through the low points?  When did things start to click? That's what Caleb Quillen and I dig into on this episode. Caleb is the most recent addition to the bass section of the Kansas City...

Chris Hanulik hit the ground running career-wise, landing a position in the Los Angeles Philharmonic after graduating from Juilliard. "Leaving New York to had out to Southern California... what was that transition like?" I asked. "I did not have too much trouble adjusting!" Chris said jovially. Chris and I dig into all kinds of topics like: studying at Juilliard with Homer Mensch the year he spent...

This show covers the latest and greatest in the world of the double bass!  Learn more at http://contrabassconversations.com/news . George Mraz Rally for Recovery George Mraz, a world class bassist with decades of exceptional musical work as both a soloist and alongside others such as Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Henderson and many many more ( www.georgemr...

Bill Merchant just had the mildest winter in his 40 year career.   For decades, double bassists would come in to get their winter posts set during November.  Now this is happening in January.   "Global warming is real, people," says Bill. That was one of probably 50 topics that we covered in our conversation! Other topics we covered: why most people set sound posts too tightly the difference betwe...

Ben Allison  is the ultimate DIY jazz artist , blending jazz, rock, folk, and 20th century classical music into sonically compelling tapestries.   His 11 albums have garnered considerable critical acclaim, and he has toured the world extensively with his groups The Ben Allison Band, Think Free, The Easy Way Trio, Peace Pipe, and Medicine Wheel. For his latest album with Think Free, Ben decided to...

Here's the latest in the world of the double bass!  Visit contrabassconversations.com/news for all episodes, and submit your news at feedback@contrabassconversations.com .  Ben Allison Crowdsourcing New Album Ben on Contrabass Conversations this week  http://contrabassconversations.com/benallison   Ben's website:  http://benallison.com   pre-order new album at  http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/...

"What else do you do?" said the neurologist to Scott Devine . "Because you'll never play bass again ." How would you feel after hearing that news? What would you do? Scott was making his living as a gigging bassist when he began having problems with his hands.  These problems grew progressively worse, prompting Scott to seek medical advice. The diagnosis was focal dystonia , a neurological conditi...

Welcome to the weekly update from Contrabass Conversations! Visit contrabassconversations.com/news for all previous episodes and more information. News of the Week Giving Tuesday from the International Society of Bassists For your gift of $100 or more today, we'll send you a very special thank you in return, a copy of Gary Karr's latest CD, Bass Brothers, Gary's tribute to his sister and harpist,...

As the bassist for Jools Holland's band for over two decades, Dave Swift is likely the U.K.'s best-known bassist.  He has performed with an astonishing array of artists, including: Paul Simon Eric Clapton Paul McCartney Chaka Kahn Smokey Robinson The list goes on and on ! He and I got a chance to sit down over Skype earlier this fall and dig into all sorts of fascinating topics like: how Dave tran...

Radio Hour is a new idea that I'm testing out.   In each episode, I take one topic and explore multiple perspectives from past guests. Winning the Audition was my first experiment with this type of format format.  I'd love your feedback and ideas you might have for future topics! Today's topic: Fitness and Healthy Living We hear from the following nine individuals: Alex Hanna (Chicago Symphony and...

News Hour is my new experiment—let me know what you think! Send me news and feedback at feedback@contrabassconversations.com This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings ! Check out their Zyex strings , which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut. Enter the D'Add...

When I got the podcast going again in 2015, I knew that I wanted to do "round two" interviews with past guests. Los Angeles Philharmonic bassist and USC Thornton School of Music professor David Allen Moore was at the top of my list. I had David on the show back in 2009 , which has been one of the most popular interviews from the first-generation podcast episodes (nearly 14,000 downloads at the mom...