Contrabass Conversations

We're chatting about the International Society of Bassists today with ISB Membership Chair Patricia Weitzel. Learn more about the ISB and join today by following this link. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

It's great to get a chance to sit down again with Danny Ziemann, one of my favorite podcast guests. Danny recently put out a book titled Topics in Jazz Bass Vol. 1 - Harmony. We dig into harmonic considerations for bassists, the dangers of trying to make lines unnecessarily hip without really understanding the harmony, practicing, and much more! Follow along with Danny's adventures on Facebook, and check out his online courses here on Discover Double Bass. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Rex Surany is the new Principal bass of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He is also working as an assistant teacher in cooperation with Harold Robinson, the Principal Bass of the Philadelphia Orchestra, at the Juilliard School. His musical education began with piano lessons when he was 7 years old. After two years of piano, he switched exclusively to double bass with Robert Peterson of Trenton, New Jersey. In 2002, upon completing the Vance repertoire with Peterson, Rex then started to study Rabbath Method with Nicholas Walker, double bass Professor at Ithaca college, and joined the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra under maestro Joseph Primavera's direction. Rex's first year of college, in 2006, was spent at The Colburn School in Los Angeles. There he studied with David Moore and Paul Ellison. After a year, he was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music, where, in addition to studying double bass, he found and pursued interests in composing, transcribing, and arranging that continue today. A few weeks after graduating from Curtis, in May 2012, Rex became a temporary member of the New York Philharmonic with Alan Gilbert as Music Director. While Rex was working at "The Phil", he spent a lot of his relief and vacation time traveling to Berlin to study the Berlin Philharmonic tradition and German bow technique with Matthew McDonald and Janne Saksala; first principal basses. After two years of working in New York, studying in Berlin, and auditioning in North America, Europe, and even Scandanavia, Rex finally won his first audition for a section position at the Metropolitan Opera in 2014. And only one year later, he won the principal position. Rex has won numerous accolades in both solo and orchestral bass realms. In June 2009, he was awarded 2nd prize of the ISB (International Society of Bassists) Orchestral Competition. The following summer, he was and the 3rd prize-winner of the 2010 Bradetich Foundation International Solo Competition. In 2011, Rex was the 2nd prize-winner at the ISB Solo competition. Rex has performed with many orchestras including: the Pittsburgh Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Haddonfield "Symphony in C", the Boston Symphony, the American Ballet Theatre, the New York Philharmonic, and the Metropolitan opera. He has given master classes and recitals at Ithaca College, Brigham Young University, and Fort Lewis College. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, aud

I had a great time chatting with Gareth Montanarello, who recently released a cool new service at orchestralrentals.com. Orchestral Rentals is a community that makes it easy for musicians to rent high-quality, professional-level instruments anywhere in the world. You can create an account for free and can look for an instrument or list your own instruments for rental. All payments are handled through their secure system. Gareth is an International Society of Bassists member who lives in Arizona, and it's great to see this exciting new development toward making bass travel an easier process! Check out orchestralrentals.com here, and you can also follow along with Gareth on Instagram. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Today's episode is a rebroadcast of a conversation with Megan McDevitt about bass, gender, and women in the bass world, plus a live recording of her Bass and Gender talk from ISB 2017. Megan McDevitt has been covering a topic that is of critical importance: The Bass and Gender. She presented a session on it at the 2017 International Society of Bassists Convention, and she had a session scheduled for the 2018 Golden Gate Bass Camp as well. Megan and I dig into femininity, masculinity, and the bass, and a whole variety of topics are covered through this conversational journey. Thank you so much to Megan for enthusiastically covering this topic—I really hope you enjoy this episode and find it valuable food for thought! Be sure to check out Megan's Bass and Gender slides here. Bass and Gender Talk Megan also shares her thoughts on why she has been motivated to dig into this topic and also details about the specific audience for this talk. She writes: This talk is very similar to the one I have given at the ISB Convention, College Music Society Convention, and Atlantic Music Festival. In all of those settings, most of the audience was made up of professional musicians and college students. With an audience of people with world (and music world) experience, the discussion seemed to give clarity and understanding to their personal history. Many told me they found it helpful and illuminating. But, for the Golden Gate Bass Camp version of it, most of the people in the room were high school and even middle school girls. I had considered adapting it, but ultimately made the decision that they needed to hear the truth. For this group, what I seemed to do was bring an ominous dark cloud over their future hopes. It was actually heart-breaking. You can hear me start to discover this as I muddle through to the end of the talk. At the very end, a young lady asks me "how often" I experience discrimination or micro-aggressions and in the long pause I take before I answer I'm asking myself, "do I tell her the truth and wipe that look of hope from her face? Or do I sugar coat it, only for her to discover it on her own later?" I decided on truth. I'm not sure what the effects of my talk will be on these young women. At best, they will be informed and prepared to face a world that won't always take them seriously. Or, they may quit the bass because they don't feel equipped to handle the gender dynamics. The latter possibility has bothered me for weeks. But, ultimately, I do think it is better to be over-informed than under-informed. I think I would have had an easier time if I had understood as a teenager some of the things I understand now. Hopefully, this will be true for them. And even more hopefully, maybe the world will have changed enough that their stories will be different. Thanks for everything you are doing, Megan—you're an inspiration! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A44

This episode is a rebroadcast of one of those astoundingly complex projects that I love digging into! We're featuring questions from double bass student Baylee Brown (still a high school student at the time of this recording and now a student at Boston University), which are answered by 27 noted double bass faculty members. This idea was suggested by University of Texas at Arlington bass faculty member Jack Unzicker, who help design and execute this project. A big shout-out to Baylee, Jack, and all of the faculty who took their valuable time to answer these questions! Here's the list of questions and the order in which they are covered: What are the advantages and disadvantages to attending a conservatory vs. a university? How many schools should I audition for? What are some common preparation mistakes that you see auditioning students making? Besides the bass teacher, what other factors should I consider when comparing schools? Other than Performance, Music Ed, and Jazz, what other options are available for undergrads? How early should students start preparing for their college auditions? I am interested in auditioning at six schools; is there any flexibility in audition requirements that could help lessen the amount of combined repertoire for all of the schools? How can I keep from getting overwhelmed by the audition repertoire requirements from the different schools for which I'm auditioning? How do I ask for a lesson with the teacher for whom I'm auditioning? Do I pay them/ask about payment? I play the German bow; how important is it that I study with a German bow teacher? Learn more about each of the faculty members and their programs through the links below: George Amorim - University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Andrew Anderson - Roosevelt University Adam Booker - Appalachian State University Jeff Bradetich - University of North Texas Susan Cahill - University of Denver Timothy Cobb - Juilliard School of Music Paul Ellison - Rice University John Floeter - Northern Illinois University Diana Gannett - University of Michigan (emeritus) Kieran Hanlon - State University of New York at Fredonia Chris Hanulik - University of California, Los Angeles Caitlyn Kamminga - University of Trinidad and Tobago Douglas Mapp - Rowan University Gaelen McCormick - Nazareth College Leigh Mesh - Bard College Orin O'Brien - Manhattan School of Music Volkan Orhon - University of Iowa Scott Pingel - San Francisco Conservatory of Music Andrew Raciti - Northwestern University Brian Perry - Southern Methodist University Catalin Rotaru - Arizona State University Tracy Rowell - Oberlin College Donovan Stokes - Shenandoah University James VanDemark - Eastman School of Music Nicholas Walker - Ithaca College DaXun Zhang - University of Texas at Austin Learn more about over 100 other United States college double bass programs in our colleges guide! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's

I recently had the opportunity to attend a mock audition for the San Francisco Academy Orchestra. This program, led by conductor and bassist Andrei Gorbatenko, offers a one-year artist diploma and features an academy orchestra, weekly lessons, monthly auditions, and more. In addition to chatting with audition coordinator Joy Fellows about audition techniques, we chat with Andrei Gorbatenko, current academy bassists Michael Minor and Yu Chen Liu, and violin faculty David Chernyavsky. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

We were thrilled to have Dr. Don Greene back as our guest on the podcast. Don first appeared on the show in 2017–his first podcast appearance ever! Don is a performance coach with an amazing track record in music music, sports, and other specialties. Over 1000 musicians won auditions after working with Don, and he continues to expand into new projects. On today's episode, longtime co-host John Grillo and I dig into his TED Ed video (over 25 million views!) on how to practice more effectively. This leads us down all kinds of interesting paths, from mental rehearsal and centering to thinking of performance as play. We also cover his new book and website on college prep for musicians and all the other offerings on his new website. Links to check out: Don's website College Prep for Musicians Don's TED Ed video Don's 2017 CBC appearance Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Today, we're featuring San Francisco Symphony bassist Brian Marcus, who has been a member of the orchestra for 38 seasons. Brian overcame a serious playing injury several years ago through the Feldenkrais Method, and his discovery of this method transformed his approach to bass, music, and other aspects of his life. We dig into the hows and whys of Feldenkrais, how it changed Brian's approach to the instrument, staying healthy and inspired as you age, Brian's love of improv, and much more in this wide-ranging conversation. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Today, we're featuring Ralph Alcala, who has recently moved into building basses full-time. Ralph is a super-talented luthier. Check out past podcast guest Aaron Olguin playing Ralph's fourth double bass to hear these beautiful bass cannons that Ralph's building. Ralph has actually been on the podcast before as a part of our Luthier Roundtable at this summer's Oberlin Bass Workshop for the Violin Society of America. Ralph's a great guy and is making beautiful basses, and I'm sure that the wait list for one of his basses will be growing as more people hear how great they sound and how easily they play. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Aaron Olguin is truly one of the rising stars in the double bass world. As the winner of the 2017 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition, Aaron will be playing the opening recital for the 2019 ISB Convention. He is also the new principal bassist for the Trondheim Symfoniorkester. I had a wonderful time hanging out with Aaron at the 2018 Latin American Bass Festival. He is a truly magnificent solo player, and I had a blast performing Dani Chiva's bass duets with him during a recital that week. Aaron has actually been on the podcast previously as a part of his former bass quartet Bassinova. It was great to sit down with him for a deep dive into how he does what he does on the bass. Expect to hear much more from Aaron on the podcast in the future! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Today's episode features the following past podcast guests on the topic of recital preparation: Sam Suggs - James Madison University Diego Zecharies - Galicia Symphony Orchestra principal solo bass David Grossman - New York Philharmonic Marek Romanowski - Polish soloist and teacher Jack Unzicker - University of Texas at Arlington Listen to more "best of" episodes at contrabassconversations.com/highlights. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Today's episode features the following past podcast guests on life in the bass section and how to play well in it: Susan Wulff - San Diego Symphony Todd Coolman - Indiana University Michael Hovnanian - Chicago Symphony Brent Edmondson - substitute bassist for Philadelphia Orchestra Tom Zera - Utah Symphony Listen to more "best of" episodes at contrabassconversations.com/highlights. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Today's episode features the following past podcast guests on the role of musicality and technique: Mark Dresser - University of San Diego David Murray - Butler University Michael Klinghoffer - Conservatory Orchestra at JAMD Todd Coolman - Indiana University Miles Mosley - jazz artist Listen to more "best of" episodes at contrabassconversations.com/highlights. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Today's episode features the following past podcast guests on the role of the principal bassist in an orchestra: Alex Hanna - Chicago Symphony Orchestra Ju-Fang Liu - Indianapolis Symphony Chris Hanulik - LA Phil Colin Corner - Oregon Symphony and Grant Park Symphony Orchestra Orin O'Brien - New York Philharmonic Listen to more "best of" episodes at contrabassconversations.com/highlights. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

I had the chance to chat recently with Denis Chang, who has produced a new four-part double bass course featuring Gary Karr! This course rocks. I've been using it for my own playing and with my students with great results. Here are links and details: In The Style Of Gary Karr, Vol.1 Lessons Warm-up Exercise 1 Warm-up Exercise 2 Warm-up Exercise 3 Warm-up Exercise 4 Holding The Bass Purpose Of Vomit Exercise Fingerings For Vomit Exercise Vomit Exercise Holding The Bow Role Of Fingers In The Bowing Hand Feeling The Bow Performances: Bach 1a - Prelude Bach 1b - Allemande Bach 1c - Courante Bach 1d - Sarabande Bach 1e - Minuet Bach 1f - Gigue In The Style Of Gary Karr, Vol.2 Lessons Left Hand Knuckles Using All The Fingers Left Hand Finger Contact Point Left Arm Elbow Standing Naturally Bow Hair String Crossing Preparation Spiccato String Crossing Exercise Preparation For Spiccato Tada Exercise Rosin Findeisen String Crossing Scale Exercise Performances: Bach 2a - Prelude Bach 2b - Allemande Bach 2c - Courante Bach 2d - Sarabande Bach 2e - Menuet Bach 2f - Gigue In The Style Of Gary Karr, Vol.3 Lessons Stretching 1 Stretching 2 Stretching 3 Vibrato Exercise Types Of Vibrato Vibrato Contact Point Learning A Piece Phrasing Thoughts On Technique Bow Distribution Shift On Upbow Balance And Bow Speed Extra - Stretching Routine (Uninterrupted) Performances: Bach 3a - Prelude Bach 3b - Allemande Bach 3c - Courante Bach 3d - Sarabande Bach 3e - Bourree Bach 3f - Gigue In The Style Of Gary Karr, Vol.4 Lessons Tuning The Bass Intonation And Overtones Size Of The Bass Practicing Feeling And Vibrations Pushing The Bass Into The Bow Dividing The Pulse Long Pulse Bowing Choices Double Stops Intonation Playing On One String Bow Angle Etudes Relationship To Bach Callouses And Thumb Projection And Amplification Final Thoughts Performances: Abendlied Amazing Grace Habanera Kol Nidrei Melodie Scherzo Sonnambula Valse Miniature When I Wake Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

I also had the opportunity to spend some time with Cleveland Orchestra bassist and Cleveland Institute of Music Strings Chair Scott Dixon during this recent trip. Scott has been on my "to interview" list for nearly a decade, and we finally made it happen! We cover what it was like growing up in Idaho, driving to Spokane for lessons, "ah ha" moments, rebuilding his entire way of playing bass while at the New World Symphony, what it's like playing in the Cleveland Orchestra, and much more. After chatting with Scott, I got the change to hear the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall. What a treat! After the concert, Scott and I headed out with a few other bass players for some food and bass geek talk. I feel so lucky to be able to do these kinds of trips, and getting to share it with you in podcast form is a major bonus! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

A funny thing happened to me in Cleveland this November during the Violin Society of America Convention. I had been chatting with bass luthier legend Arnold Schnitzer about the presentation that he was going to be doing on new double bass developments. Arnold mentioned that he was going to be meeting Bradley Lovelace, who was in Cleveland that week playing Les Miserables. As I was leaving the hotel to go grab some food, I ran smack dab into Bradley, who was wheeling his Arnold Schnitzer Ergonomic Bass into the hotel. He, Arnold, and I ended up getting lunch together and spending the better part of the day geeking out on bass stuff. Brad and I sat down the next day to chat about his career, how he made his way from Arizona to New York City, the sequence of events that led to him playing musicals, life on the road, staying in musical and physical shape, keeping inspired, and much more. Check out more from Brad on his website. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Micah Howard has just released a cool new app called iDouble Bass. This app is free (!) and has an in-app purchase ($.99) of Micah's excellent scale and technique books. It's filled with fantastic and clear step-by-step lessons on all aspects of double bass playing like standing, sitting, left hand, right hand, thumb position, and much more! Check it out on the App Store or at iDoubleBass.com! Check out our in-depth interview with Micah from earlier in 2018 here. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Today's episode features the following past podcast guests on the topic of persistence: Karl Fenner - Atlanta Symphony Kristin Korb - jazz artist James Oesi - soloist, chamber musician, and organizer Caleb Quillen - Kansas City Symphony Leon Bosch - soloist, chamber musician, and conductor Listen to more "best of" episodes at contrabassconversations.com/highlights. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Today's episode features the following past podcast guests on the topic of expat adventures: John Goldsby - WDR Big Band Marc Ramirez - Metropolitana Academy Jennifer Downing Olsson - Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Charlie DeRamus - Gothenburg Symphony Kristin Zoernig - Philharmonia Baroque Listen to more "best of" episodes at contrabassconversations.com/highlights. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Today's episode features the following past podcast guests on the topic of traveling with a bass: Ron Carter - jazz legend Diego Zecharies - Galicia Symphony Orchestra principal solo bass Nick Lloyd - luthier Kevin Smith - Willie Nelson Band Marco Panascia - New York City jazz bassist Listen to more "best of" episodes at contrabassconversations.com/highlights. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Today's episode features the following past podcast guests on the topic of bass humor: Joel Reist - Nashville Symphony principal bass Leigh Mesh - MET Opera Orchestra associate principal bass Lucia Turino - The Devil Makes Three Kevin Smith - Willie Nelson Band Derek Jones - bassist for Cirque du Soleil's show KÀ Listen to more "best of" episodes at contrabassconversations.com/highlights. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

I had the chance to spend time in person with Yung-Ho Fu during a recent tour to San Francisco with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, where he serves as principal bass. Our mutual friend Cielito de Jesus connected us, and we had a wonderful time talking about his recent edition of the Bach Cello Suites as well as his recording of these wonderful works. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

Valentina Ciardelli is one of my favorite young double bass artists. She's on a mission to showcase the double bass in a chamber music setting and elevate its prominence outside of the bass world. She's also a huge fan of Frank Zappa, and she has arranged many of his works for solo double bass. You can learn more on her YouTube Channel and in this engaging and wide-ranging conversation! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

I had a great time chatting with bassist, composer, and educator Sean Conly during my recent trip to New York City. Sean studied with Rufus Reid and Todd Coolman at William Paterson University and has worked with Freddie Hubbard, Regina Carter, Nicholas Payton, and many other prominent jazz artists. Sean also teaches for The Bass Collective in New York, which emphasizes learning by doing and faculty performing alongside students. We talk about this approach to education and its benefits, life on the road, Sean's path from Colorado and Kansas to New York City, how he established himself in NYC, and much more! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

I've been hoping to chat with Mike Forfia for the podcast ever since I heard that he won the 2015 International Society of Bassists Jazz Competition and would be one of the headliners for the 2017 Convention. In addition to being a great jazz bassist, Mike is the Student Success Academic + Career Advisor at The New School in New York City. Mike is a deep thinker and has made several career decisions that may seem surprising to outside observers. We talk about Mike's journey from Akron, Ohio to The Eastman School of Music, his bass and non-bass pursuits while at Eastman, how he ended up in New York City, his decision to pursue academic advising as a day job rather than spend great quantities of time on the road, and much more in this engaging conversation. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

You've almost certainly encountered Michael Thurber's work in the past. Michael co-founded the incredibly popular YouTube channel CDZA, producing videos like Story of the Bass. Michael went on to play bass on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and he is now composing critically acclaimed music for the Royal Shakespeare Company, hosting his Thurber Theater, and writing for an incredibly array of other projects. Michael and I got connected by Lyris Hung of D'Addario Strings and chatted live in D'Addario's Manhattan showroom. We dug into all kinds of interesting territory like creativity, the craft of the composer, Michael's unusual journey through the music world, and commonalities between his seemingly disparate projects. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

When I put out a call for interview requests for my New York City trip, Marco Panascia was one of the most-requested bassists. In fact, Marco has been requested as a guest many times over the years, and he and I have also talked about doing an interview for the past few years. Being able to chat in person with Marco was an added benefit! Marco and I cover all kinds of interesting ground, like his journey from Italy to the United States, how he established his career in the US, getting to gigs via train and on foot, crazy gig stories, versatility, and all kinds of other topics. Marco's a great guy and an awesome player, and it was so much fun to chat in person for the podcast! More about Marco:Marco Panascia (pronounced: pana-SEE-ah) is an Italian-born bassist, composer and educator living in New York City since 2002, and a recently minted U.S. citizen. His proficiency in many different musical situations and settings, and his strong doubling skills on the acoustic and the electric basses have earned him wholehearted praise worldwide. Panascia has made a name for himself by being featured in the groups of several jazz luminaries, such as Kenny Barron, Andy Bey, Kevin Mahogany, Eric Reed, Dado Moroni, Alvin Queen, Bobby Watson, Peter Bernstein, Tamir Hendelman, Claudio Roditi, and David Kikoski, and by regularly appearing in some of the world's top music festivals and venues, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Panascia is also known for his tenure with young jazz piano sensation Eldar, which delivered sold-out performances in three continents, and culminated in two celebrated CD releases on the Sony BMG Masterworks label: "Live at the Blue Note", and "re-imagination", which received a 2008 Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Mentored by Los Angeles studio legend Carol Kaye and by classical bass maestros Nello Nicotra and Betram Turetzky, Panascia was the first prize winner of the 1998 Edinburgh International Double Bass competition in Scotland. After moving to the United States, he went on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, as a full tuition scholarship recipient. Currently an adjunct faculty member at the New School University in Manhattan, he often gets invited to teach clinics and masterclasses in the United States and abroad. Recent teaching stints have included the Rochester Bass Retreat and the Tritone Jazz Fantasy Camp at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York; the SC Double Bass Conference at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina; the USU Guitar and Bass Festival at Utah State University in Logan, Utah; and the Bass Fest at the State University of New York in Fredonia, New York. Panascia's performance credits on acoustic and electric bass include some of the most highly regarded artists on the contemporary jazz scene and beyond, such as Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, Roy Hargrove, Chris Botti, Gary Burton, Seamus Blake, Peter Erskine, Adam Nussbaum, Greg Hutchinson, Lewis Nash, Matt Wilson, Victor Lewis, Nasheet Waits, Helen Sung, and Francesco Cafiso. In the pop and R&B fields, Panascia has performed with Natalie Cole, Patti LaBelle, Jennifer Holliday and Brian McKnight, among others. Whenever he has time off from his hectic worldwide touring schedule, Panascia can be heard performing in some of New York's most celebrated venues, as a leader of his own group, or as a sideman with several world-renowned musicians on the scene. As further indication of Panascia's freelancing abilities outside of the jazz world, he has recently started subbing regularly on Disney's "The Lion King", Broadway's third longest-running show in history and the highest grossing Broadway production of all time, and he has been one of the featured bassists on the groundbreaking Off-Broadway show "Sleep No More" between 2012 and 2017. Panascia is also a first call accompanist on the New York cabaret and singer-songwriter music scenes, and he maintains a strong presence on social media, with a dedicated channel of video bass performances on YouTube that has amassed over 1,200,000 views since its inception. Aside from being featured as a sideman on more than 50 recordings, Panascia's first album as a leader, "Bass Duo Live", was released in 2014, and it documents an unedited live concert with Dario Deidda, one of Italy's most celebrated jazz musicians, on a swinging and highly conversational acoustic/electric bass duo performance. The album is available on CD Baby, iTunes and Bandcamp, both in physical and digital form. Marco Panascia uses and endorses Markbass amplifiers, Mike Lull Custom Electric Basses, Alter Ego Basso, Thomastik-Infeld Double Bass Strings and IQS Electric Bass Strings. For more information, please visit: www.marcopanascia.com Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our fre

We're talking with International Society of Bassists President Nicholas Walker about new directions for the organization. A lot has been happening behind the scenes at the ISB, and I've been privileged to be on the board and a part of these restructuring. We dig into this and much more in today's conversation. Below is Nicholas' column for the fall 2018 edition of Bass World. This will give context to much of what we're talking about. Enjoy, and please join the ISB is you're not a member! We Can Do This Together by Nicholas Walker International Society of Bassists President The ISB is thriving. We are an inclusive collective of bass players with an inspiring philosophy and 50 years of experience connecting through meaningful educational nonprofit work. We have a highly competent and functional Board of Directors and Advisory Board, an extraordinary Management Team, ever-blossoming and deepening Convention gatherings, this inspiring Bass World journal, a growing endowment, smart fiscal oversight, and best of all, we have ourselves, our loyal and devoted member-base-bass-members! Member Dues It has been four years since our member dues have increased, and it is time to raise them again. Our finance team has been crunching the numbers, and today the cost per member is $89.23/year. If you look at the new member rates at the back this journal you will see that all of our rates are below this number, and that we offer our largest discounts to students and seniors - we are at our very best when we hold all generations in our contiguous bass love. That's right. We deliberately set our member dues as low as possible so we are able to include more people. But this means we depend upon three additional revenue sources: 1) voluntary tax deductible donations from those of us who are able, 2) advertising and sponsorship income from our luthiers and vendors, and 3) growth in our member base. More Members This is where you come in. More members and more voluntary donations means our costs are shared among more members, a lower cost per member, more opportunity for us to expand our education and outreach programs, and a sustainable, financially secure future. Simply stated, there are not enough bassists investing in the future of the ISB. Many membership organizations are struggling these days to answer one this question: how can we reach the next generation and inspire the kind of loyal civic responsibility and united, shared commitment that seems to have been culturally instilled in the baby boomers? We need to bring more bassists into our family, and I'm writing to ask you to help us recruit members, both for idealogical and fiscal reasons. Donations One very easy way to do this is simply to sponsor a gift membership through the link at the bottom of this letter. If you are able, please make additional voluntary donations beyond your member dues. We are a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, so all donations are tax deductible. If you are a Life Member, and if you are able, please consider contributing voluntarily to cover the $89.32 yearly cost for providing our services to you. Do You Need Help? If you are in some tough financial times, please contribute what you can, and know that many of us would be very happy to help a fellow member stay in our ISB family. This can always be done discreetly and anonymously through the home office, or any board member. We know you would do the same for us if our situations were reversed. Keeping Costs Down By January 2019 we plan to offer you the option to opt out of paper delivery. Our second largest expense every year is the production, printing, and shipping of this journal. We know that some of our members love to have a physical copy in hand, while others prefer to read and browse on their phones, tablets, and computers. I hope that no one will feel obliged to give up a physical copy of the magazine, but for those of you who prefer a paperless subscription, we would like to provide you this service, which will also save us money in shipping and printing. So many of our members are experienced and proficient in areas outside of bass playing. When you folks help with web development, investment expertise, fundraising, marketing, convention organization and implementation, we save money. So if you have time, experience, or resources that could be helpful to one of our teams, please reach out directly to the Chair of that team or the home office, and know that we welcome your help and participation. My hope is that by the time we all are "back home again in Indiana" in June of 2019, we can report to you a happy increase in both our member numbers and voluntary donations. Thank you for any part you can play in helping to keep our society strong and thriving into the next 50 years. To help us out today, please visit www.isbworldoffice.com/join ~ Nicholas Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Add

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 course exclusively for the Double Bass! We are so excited - there are very few opportunities for bassists here and we want this to be the start of a wonderful bass community for South Africa. Wonderful teachers Roxane Steffen (principal bass at the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra), Nick Scales from the School of Music at West Texas A&M University, and Jeff Bradetich and Gudrun Raschen from the University of North Texas College of Music will be on this year's faculty. Every What It Takes course is designed specifically to cater to the needs of the participants. The course covers many aspects of professional musicianship including audition preparation, marketing of yourself as a musician, posture/injury prevention, performing with an orchestra, music history related to your instrument and individual master classes from top professionals. It gives insight into solo, chamber and orchestral playing as well as teaching and other career options. Each course also has an aspect of music education advocacy, and we will make sure to include people new to the bass in our audiences for our concerts, specially children. Bursaries for the What It Takes: Double Bass Course We have young double bass players from across South Africa that would love to attend - but more than half are not able to do so without financial assistance. With your help we can provide transport, accommodation and catering for their time in Cape Town for the duration of the course 9-12 December 2018. It costs roughly ZAR2000 for transport and ZAR2000 for the course - so each bursary candidate would need USD265 to be able to attend. All of our financial assistance applications are means tested and we make sure they go to the young musicians that really deserve the opportunity. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 New York Bass Violin Choir along with Richard Davis, Ron Carter, Milt Hinton, Michael Fleming, Bill Lee (Spike Jones' father), and Sam Jones. He started the Neo Bass Ensemble 25 years ago, and this group performs regularly throughout the tri-state region. I hope you enjoy this brief but engaging conversation that I had with Lisle backstage during the intermission of the Neo Bass Ensemble performance. Along with Lisle, that performance featured Karen Atkinson, Darnell "Jay" Starkes, Phillip Wadkins, Sam McPherson, John Robinson, Mimi Jones, and rhythm section members Paul West, Richard Wyands, and Charles McPherson, Jr. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. D'Addario Strings 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. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 time studying with Scott Pingel at the San Francisco Conservatory, life as a member of the Rice University bass studio, her time in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellowship program. We also dig into Alanna's practice routines, what it's like auditioning in Australia and New Zealand, how she managed herself in the days and weeks approaching an audition, and much more. This was a great conversation, and I'm looking forward to watching Alanna's career continue to unfold over the coming years! Listen to more audition-related episodes at contrabassconversations.com/auditioning Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 grew up in Chicago, Illinois, where I lived for over 20 years. We also both attended Northwestern University, and we both even studied with Jeff Bradetich for a period of time! Kenny and I dig deep into his background, what it was like playing for the Tonight Show Band, lessons learned from Kenny's former teachers like Ron Carter and Warren Benfield, how his classical chops ended up paying off for him big time throughout his career, and much more! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: D'Addario Strings 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. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 time studying with Hal Robinson and Edgar Meyer at Curtis, his path through the audition world, practicing, and all kinds of other topics. On a rainy New York weekday, Blake and I got some coffee and wandered down to Riverside Park to chat about all things bass. We walked for 45 minutes and barely scratched the surface of what we could cover. We'll be doing a "round 2" with Blake in the near future for sure! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! D'Addario Strings 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. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 describes himself as follows: Ron Wasserman is (in this order): 1. a native New Yorker 2. a fourth generation musician 3. a veteran bassist 4. a composer We talk about these roles, Ron's backstory, and much more! A few links to content that we discussed in this interview: Ron's list of Essential Things to Know to Become a Professional Musician What it's like playing over 1000 Nutcracker performances Thoughts on college teaching Ron's unintuitive guide to auditions (we didn't talk about it but it's a great read) Ron and I definitely need to do a "round two" interview sometime soon--we barely scratched the surface of what we could cover! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 and Orin O'Brien, new product innovations like silicon rosin cases, the Busetto bass, and new flight trunk designs, how the bass world has (and hasn't) changed over the decades, advice Barrie would give to his younger self, and much more! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. The Bass Violin Shop The Bass Violin Shop offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome! Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 bass accessories to building over 120 basses a year, staying ahead of various online trends in the bass world, the story behind designing a bass for Gary Karr, the evolution of other Upton Bass models, the commissioning process, and much more. This was a great conversation with two innovators who have built a unique company in an interesting way. Lots of great takeaways from this one! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 have always thought of solo Bach movements as musicianship and style etudes alongside their clear technical challenges (string crossings, bow control, intonation, balancing double stops, quick range changes, the list goes on and on). It always saddened me, that in my own work, the work of my colleagues, and in my teaching, it seemed that musicianship and style development would sometimes have to go by the wayside as we all struggled to handle the major challenges of high-position playing. I remember on one occasion a violin colleague saying, "I simply cannot imagine playing Bach in 12th position!" I do feel strongly that once one reaches a certain point of technical achievement on the bass, there is a benefit to and place for high position Bach playing. While I hold that belief, I maintain that playing these works in the low range is beneficial for all of us, particularly for less advanced students or for bassists aiming to develop their comfort, flexibility and elegance in the lower register. This is of course useful in our work on orchestral skills, where we need the utmost musical flexibility and poise in the low end. Learn more in this short but interesting interview and also on Kieran's Bach Project page! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 Administrative Director of Music at The Crowden School, is an active conductor, and is a singer with a great deal of operatic experience. He also teaches chamber music at the summer chamber music workshop of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra and teaches bass at the Golden Gate Philharmonic. Talk about keeping a lot of plates spinning! We dig into how he balances these numerous projects, what he likes the variety, how to know if you're in danger of schedule overload, and much more! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 and what it's like being so heavily involved in the early music world. We dig into the endlessly fascinating role of the continuo, the sonic complexities of gut strings, how Kristin first became enthralled with early music, and much more! We also talked a lot about influences and a bit about gear. Here's Kristin in her own words on those two topics: Lou Israel got me started, then I worked w John Grossman for a number of years. At Interlochen, I studied w Jack Budrow, Chris Brown, and Jeff Bradetich. Then stayed w Jeff at Northwestern. In Norway, I not only studied w Knut Guettler, but also Dan Styffe. After coming back to the U. S., I studied with Gary Karr. My strings are hand made by Damian Dlugolecki, and Pirastro (Olives). I'm gonna try some Nikolas Baldock strings next, though I'm not displeased with my current setup. My Baroque and Classical/ Transitional bows are made by Ralph Ashmead. I do have some additional bows, but the ones I use the most, are from Ralph. Check out more early music-related podcast episodes here. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 his business has changed over then years, and where he sees things going into the future. This discussion is reminiscent of the panel that I participated in at the 2009 International Society of Bassists Convention. Titled Music in the Digital Age, it featured past podcast guests Frank Proto, Douglas Mapp, and Mark Dresser along with Phil Palombi. Today's episode features Geoff and myself along with Douglas Mapp and David Heyes. Enjoy! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 Yoshi Horiguchi - bass teacher Learn more: how Jason teaches double bass to beginners using Vance's Progressive Repertoire Jason's Vance-influenced bass technique book (free!) more teaching materials Yoshi's in-depth analysis of Vance book 1 The State of Young Bass Teaching Check out more "best of" episodes at contrabassconversations.com/highlights. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 where the Titanic had been. That alone makes for an incredibly cool story, but the whole album is great as well. It features a premiere recording of a new piece David commissioned from an Irish composer named John Kinsella as well as a revised edition of the Eccles, a 'Duetto' for cello and bass by Dragonetti, and a performance of Schubert's Arpeggione. David has created a lovely "behind the music" page on his site for each piece on the album, including the history of the piece, why he decided to record it, and video footage of the recording process. We talk about the making of the album and all sorts of great stories surrounding it. You'll love it! Links to check out: Buy the CD Buy on iTunes Erin's Lament video (so cool!) and the story behind the piece David's site Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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. Amy and I dig into performance enhancement, positive psychology, mindfulness, self-care, and much more in this engaging and spirited conversation. A big shout out to Naomi Steckman for connecting me with Amy! Links to check out: webinar with Amy that we reference in the interview Living in the Sweet Spot: Preparing for Performance in Sport and Life (2011) The Power of Mindfulness: Mindfulness Meditation Training in Sport (2018) Contrabass Conversations interview with Don Greene Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. Steve Swan String Bass Steve Swan String Bass features the West Coast's largest selection of double basses between Los Angeles and Canada. Located in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, their large retail showroom holds about 70 basses on display. Their new basses all feature professional setups and come with a cover at no additional cost. Used and consignment instruments receive any needed repairs and upgrades before getting a display position on the sales floor. Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 culture, Herbert's interesting life path, business skills, and much more! About Herbert: Herbert D. Smith currently lives in São Paulo, Brazil. He has had a diverse international performance career for over 20 years, performing with tenor saxophone greats like Eddie Harris, Teddy Edwards, and Buddy Collette, pianists Art Hillery, Harold Land Jr., Ted Jackson, John Wood and George Cables, jazz vocalist Elaine Miles, guitarists Steve Cotter and John Chiodini, Mexican vocal stylist Sandra Valdivia, Capitol Records blues singer Betty Hall Jones, Basie trombonist Jimmie Cheatham, Dr. Ronald V. Myers, great jazz drummers Clayton Cameron of the Tony Bennett and Sammy Davis Jr. bands, the legendary Billy Higgins and Sherman Ferguson. As an orchestra section bassist, he has performed under Maestros Dr. Herbert Blomstedt and Dr. Jon Robertson in the Blomstedt Summer Orchestra, Riverside, California. Smith also performed with the New American Orchestra in Hollywood under Music Director and Conductor Dr. Luther Henderson, and was Principal Bassist of the Riverside Civic Light Opera Orchestra. Prior to coming to Brazil, Smith performed World Music for 3 years as house bassist at the Orange County California nightly "hotspot" " The Caspian " in Irvine, California. Smith was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He started his music education at the famed Chicago Music College (CMC) of Roosevelt University. CMC former students consisted of Robert Lamm of the rock group "Chicago" and Jazz Saxophonist Steve Coleman of the Thad Jones Mel Lewis Orchestra. Through the advice and recommendation of the late Chicago Symphony Bassist Warren Benfield, Smith traveled to Madison Wisconsin to study with Jazz Bassist Richard Davis at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, then on to Milwaukee with Laura Synder currently with the Milwaukee Symphony. Smith received a scholarship to study in the Jazz Program at Livingston College of Rutgers University in Livingston, New Jersey under the direction of Bassist Larry Ridley. As a young bassist in his 20's, Smith became the founder of the Los Angeles Bass Violin Choir, a group of prominent Los Angeles area bassists performing special arrangements by Smith and New York bassist Bill Lee. Bill Lee, father of director Spike Lee, and founder of the New York Bass Violin Choir, premiered many unique compositions and arrangements in his son's earlier films. Regular players consisted of Frederick Tinsley, the late Andy Simpkins, Herbie Lewis and George "Red" Callendar, John Heard, and classical double bass extraordinaire Bertram Turetsky. Additional players to perform with the bass choir were bassists Roberto Miranda, James Leary and Alan Jackson. Drummers Sherman Ferguson and Bill Douglass, and Pianist Cecil Lytle also performed with the choir. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Coope

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 covers a lot of ground and is filled with useful information like: Leon's "accelerated learning" approach to practicing daily routines his research process on repertoire conducting balancing projects how to accomplish projects of significance …and much more! We reference this recent MozartCircle feature on Leon, and it's a great way to get a glimpse into the work that he's doing. Be sure to follow along with him on his website, and check out his past podcast appearance here! Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. Robertson & Sons Violins For more than four decades, Robertson & Sons has specialized in providing the highest quality stringed instruments and bows to collectors, professional musicians, music educators, and students of all ages. Their modern facility is equipped with three instrument showrooms as well as a beautiful Recital Hall available to our clients to in their search for the perfect instrument and/or bow. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 Conversations is sponsored by: Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. Robertson & Sons Violins For more than four decades, Robertson & Sons has specialized in providing the highest quality stringed instruments and bows to collectors, professional musicians, music educators, and students of all ages. Their modern facility is equipped with three instrument showrooms as well as a beautiful Recital Hall available to our clients to in their search for the perfect instrument and/or bow. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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 a must-read for any bass player, with great video examples and detailed description about the mechanics and aesthetics of vibrato. Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle! Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by: Kolstein Music The Samuel Kolstein Violin Shop was founded by Samuel Kolstein in 1943 as a Violin and Bow making establishment in Brooklyn, New York. Now on Long Island, over 60 years later, Kolstein's has built a proud reputation for quality, craftsmanship and expertise in both the manufacture and repair of a whole range of stringed instruments, and has expanded to a staff of twelve experts in restoration, marketing and production. Robertson & Sons Violins For more than four decades, Robertson & Sons has specialized in providing the highest quality stringed instruments and bows to collectors, professional musicians, music educators, and students of all ages. Their modern facility is equipped with three instrument showrooms as well as a beautiful Recital Hall available to our clients to in their search for the perfect instrument and/or bow. Upton Bass String Instrument Company Upton's Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long "Karr neck" has even become a favorite of crossover electric players. D'Addario Strings 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. A440 Violin Shop An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools. Contrabass Conversations production team: Jason Heath, host Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing Mitch Moehring, audio engineer Trevor Jones, publication and promotion Krista Kopper, archival and cataloging Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!