Contrabass Conversations

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...

Rob Anzellotti and I had been planning on doing an interview.  When we realized that we would both be in Prague for BASS2016, we made plans to meet up and chat about capos, extensions, and other sorts of bass geekery. Rob and I are joined by Chris Mathers for a freewheeling talk about bass, living in New York, life as an expat, getting into fabrication and how that led to making bass capos. Did yo...

Florian Pertzborn launched the European Orchestra Experience Award for the BASSEUROPE Orchestral Competition this year in Prague. The recipients were: 1st prize: Luzia Vieira 2nd prize: Zuzana Blahova 3rd prize: Andrea Cocco Florian and I got a chance to sit down in the beautiful courtyard of the HAMU in Prague to discuss this competition.  We talk about why Florian launched this and what benefits...

It was such a pleasure to catch up with Petia Bagovska in Prague for BASS2016 !  I've known her for years.  We used to play in some orchestras together when we were both living in Chicago.   When we both realized that we would be in Prague together for the European Bass Congress , we agreed to find a few minutes to catch up and record an interview. Let's set the scene... We're sitting in the court...

I'm so thrilled to announce that Winning the Audition is now available! You can get it in paperback, ebook, and Kindle formats, and links to all of this are available at winningtheaudition.net .  More formats (including audiobook) coming soon! Today's episode covers: what people are saying about the book Ira Gold 's complete foreword to Winning the Audition (it's great!) highlights from all four e...

I had the good fortune to meet Yung-chiao Wei back in 2000 at the Pacific Music Festival in Japan.  She was wrapping up her time with the New World Symphony and was just about to start new new position at Louisiana State University . The rich double bass culture she has created the past decade-and-a-half is remarkable .   In addition to creating the Louisiana Bass Fest , Yung-chio has propelled he...

I'm thrilled to announce that my new book Winning the Audition  will launch on Thursday, November 17th.  This book expands on the content provided in the Winning the Audition podcast series . You'll learn: Why thinking of your audition preparation as a scientific experiment unlocks your potential. How charting your audition progress keeps you from making the same mistakes repeatedly. How you can t...

Reuben Rogers and I got connected through our mutual friend Allan Santos . I wasn't even sure where to begin with a player like Reuben.   I mean, he has played with Charles Lloyd, Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Roy Hargrove, Marcus Roberts, Nicholas Payton, and a long list of jazz luminaries.  He's played on some of the best jazz albums of the past 20 years. Where to even start? So I reached out...

Alexandre Ritter has become a champion of Armando Trovajoli's work  Sconcerto . Once you hear this amazing piece , you'll understand why.   Written for Franco Petracchi, this work has been largely unplayed  until Alex got his hands on it. The process was complex, but Alex worked it out to record the entire piece and publish it on YouTube.  This piece is destined to become one of the major concert...

Dennis Bergevin and I have a lot in common. He's a bass player.  Me too. He taught public school orchestra.  So did I. His career has taken an unexpected turn. I totally identify with that. For Dennis, it was the interactions with the students that he found most valuable.  Not that the music wasn't important, but helping young people to find their path in life was what really mattered to him. I ag...

I first learned about Cornelia (Corky) Watkins through my friend Jeremy Little .  Jeremy and I used to teach together in Illinois.  He is a proponent of a style of music teaching called Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP). Teaching music through this model is interesting .  CMP teaches the complete musician.  The intent is to provide music students with  deeper understanding and m...

Johnny Hamil has dedicated his life to teaching bass . Starting out as a music education student, Johnny met George Vance at an International Society of Bassists Convention, and his life has never been the same since. After years of prodding from George, Johnny started the Kansas City Bass Workshop .  This event has grown into one of the most vibrant double bass events in the country . But Johnny'...

I love episodes like this. Garrett Hope of The Portfolio Composer and I wanted to feature each other on our podcasts. But we couldn't figure out the best way to do it. So we chucked the script, flipped on the mic, and riffed for an hour on the subjects that interest us the most .   We're both bass players .  We're both podcasters .  We're both building our careers around this crazy podcast model....

Szymon Marciniak played a killer recital in Prague for BASS2016 . Here's a great photo from that standing-room-only event. The centerpiece of this recital was Frank Proto 's compelling new Sonata No. 3 .  Frank wrote this piece expressly for Szymon, and it is--to say the least--epic in scope. Along with pianist Evan Mitchell, Szymon recorded a CD and DVD called New Music for Double Bass for Liben...