Contrabass Conversations double bass life

Milton Masciadri is a third generation of double bass player. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, he began his studies with his father and by age 17 was Co-principal Bassist with the Porto Alegre Symphony in Brazil. At 19, he was already on the faculty at Brazil’s Federal University. He completed his Master’s and Doctorate Degrees with work under Gary Karr, Julius Levine and Lawrence Wolfe.

Born in Somerset, England, Alexandra Scott began her studies at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London. Later, whilst studying at the Royal Academy of Music, she became a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra, the Mahler Youth Orchestra and the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra. She completed her bachelor of music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with “First-Class Honours” under Rinat Ibragimov.

For over a decade Scott Lang has been educating and entertaining audiences of all ages. As a nationally known leadership trainer, Scott conducts over 120 workshops annually and works with some of our countries finest educational groups and performing ensembles.

Marlene Rosenberg has emerged as one of the most talented and multi-faceted bass players on the scene today. She has played professionally throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America and Japan, performing with innumerable jazz luminaries, such as Kenny Barron, Frank Foster, Stan Getz, Albert “Tootie” Health, Joe Henderson, and Marian McPartland.

This is a look back an an interesting conversation from 2009 that podcast co-host John Grillo and I had about my book Road Warrior Without an Expense Account.

We chat with frequent podcast co-host John Grillo about a new project called Orchestra Confidential.

Double bass player Elsen Price is making his mark on the music scene in a range of settings. He recently performed his original composition ‘red planet’ as part of Sydney’s Vivid Music at the Seymour Centre, where he also commissioned a new work for double bass and mandolin. Elsen also regularly performs his original music in cafés for five hours at a time (lucky there is coffee on hand), and is undertaking many collaborations with renowned musicians.

Bassist Charles Chandler has been a member of the San Francisco Symphony since 1992. Prior to his current position, he was Associate Principal Bass and Soloist with the Phoenix Symphony. He also served as Principal Bass of the Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra and the New York 20th Century Chamber Players.

Caitlyn Kamminga graduated cum laude, with both a BM and MM from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where she studied with premiere double bass pedagogue, Paul Ellison. She accepted her first job in 1992 in the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, where she held the position of Principal Double Bass until 1995.

Milt “The Judge” Hinton was regarded as the Dean of jazz bass players. He was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1910, and at the age of eleven moved to Chicago with his family. He began his musical education by taking private violin lessons, but while attending Chicago's Wendell Phillips High School and playing in a band sponsored by the Chicago Defender newspaper, he learned to play bass horn, tuba, cello, and eventually the bass violin.

Patricia Weitzel holds a bachelor degree from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, where she studied with Dr. Fausto Borem, a Master of Music Performance Degree from The University of Southern Mississippi, where her primary teacher was Dr. Marcos Machado, and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from The University of Iowa, where she studied with Professor Volkan Orhon.

Chris Fitzgerald has been a member of the Louisville jazz community as both a teacher and a performer since 1985. During that time, he has performed or toured with Jamey Aebersold, Lynne Arriale, Darius Brubeck, Sonny Fortune, Antonio Hart, Ari Hoenig, Java Men, Norah Jones, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman, Ben Monder, Harry Pickens, Jean-Michel Pilc, and many others.

We're featuring thoughts and playing from the four 2017 Bradetich Competition finalists on today's episode.

The Bassinova Quartet is a revolutionary new force in the double bass world.  They have turned heads worldwide with their stunning performances of traditional string quartet literature, and they are commissioning new works and breaking new ground.  

Double bassist Kate Jones studied with Jeff Bradetich at the University of North Texas, where she completed her Doctorate of Musical Arts in the summer of 2014. Before moving to Texas, Kate received her Master of Music degree at Cleveland Institute of Music under the direction of Max Dimoff and Jeff Bradetich.