Contrabass Conversations double bass life

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.

Blake Hinson serves at 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 wanted 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.

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.

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, the Busetto bass, and 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!

One of my all-time top interview requests has been to chat with Gary Upton and Eric Roy of Upton Bass. Eric, Gary, and I had a great conversation about 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.

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.

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. 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!

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. 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 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.

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

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.

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.

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!

One of my all-time favorite podcast guests is Leon Bosch. It was great to get a chance to sit down with him in person at the 2018 European Bass Congress & 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. Topics: “accelerated learning” approach to practicing daily routines his research process on repertoire conducting balancing projects how to accomplish projects of signific