Contrabass Conversations double bass life

This week, we’re featuring the double bass stylings of Doug Stuart, a former University of Michigan student who is currently active in the San Francisco Bay area. We’ll be hearing “Wake Up” and “Gratitude” from The Pear and the Pepper, Doug’s latest EP.

Enjoy this New Year’s nugget from double bassist Guy Tuneh, featuring a personal greeting for all listeners and readers and a complete performance of Kol Nidrei by Max Bruch. This was recorded live on a borrowed bass during a concert for sick children.

We’re featuring double bassist Barry Green on Contrabass Conversations this week. In addition to being an influential bassist and teacher (he served as Principal Bass for the Cincinnati Symphony for 28 years, has written many method books, and currently teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area), Barry is the well-known author of The Inner Game of Music, The Mastery of Music, and Bringing Music to Life.

We’re chatting with David Cutler, the author of The Savvy Musician, this week on Contrabass Conversations.  This new book is filled with excellent and informative about musical entrepreneurship, product development, branding, marketing, networking, and much more.

This week's podcast features an interview with James Knabe, a trumpet performer and teacher who also runs a web consulting service for musicians. Learn more about what musicians can do to effectively market themselves by listening to this short interview, and check out musicianadvice.com for more information about the services James provides.

This week’s Contrabass Conversations episode features an interview with National Symphony bassist and Peabody Conservatory faculty member Jeff Weisner. In addition to performing and teaching, Jeff is a prolific blogger, writing about all kinds of subjects on PeabodyDoubleBass. Jeff also cross-posts many of these posts on doublebassblog.org, adding his own perspective and enhancing this site.

We’re featuring double bassist Alan Steiner on this week’s episode of Contrabass Conversations. A graduate of the Curtis Institute, Alan performs regularly with the Chicago Sinfonietta and Lake Forest Symphony. In addition to maintaining a private double bass studio, Alan teaches bass each summer at the Birch Creek Music Performance Center in Door County, Wisconsin.

This week’s episode of Contrabass Conversations features an interview with double bassist David Grossman, a member of the New York Philharmonic bass section and an active jazz bassist. Hosted by John Grillo, this interview covers David’s early musical experiences, his dual interest in jazz and classical music, current projects, his philosophy and approach as a teacher, and a variety of other topics.

This week’s Contrabass Conversations episode features a follow-up interview with bassist Barry Lieberman, double bass faculty at the University of Washington and artistic director of The American String Project, an ensemble that specializes in performing string chamber orchestra arrangements of quartet literature.

We’re featuring an interview with jazz bassist Todd Coolman on the podcast. This episode is guest hosted by double bassist Win Hinkle, who interviewed Rufus Reid previously for Contrabass Conversations as well.

We’re featuring an interview with and music from Joel Quarrington this week of Contrabass Conversations. Joel is the former Principal Bass of the Toronto Symphony and currently serves as Principal Bass for the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada. In addition to his orchestral duties, Joel maintains an active career as a solo and chamber artist, touring internationally in this capacity and performing a wide range of repertoire.

We’re featuring a brief (10 minute) interview with Calgary Philharmonicbassist Matt Heller. Matt is an old friend of mine who, in addition to being an excellent bassist, is the author of the always interesting blog hella frisch. Matt also did extensive coverage of the 2009 International Society of Bassists Convention. It was a real pleasure to get a chance to sit down and do an interview for the podcast with Matt, and I hope you enjoy this chat between two bass bloggers!

We're featuring a quick update and some performances from from double bassist Colin Corner, a previous CBC guest. When we first interviewed Colin back in 2007 he was performing in the Minnesota Orchestra, but he now serves as principal bass of the Rochester Philharmonic.

We're chatting with Memphis Symphony Principal Bass Scott Best on this week’s episode of Contrabass Conversations. Scott is a close personal friend of mine and an outstanding double bassist in both solo and ensemble settings. We played together in the IRIS Orchestra of Memphis, Tennessee, and it is a real pleasure to feature him on the show.

We’re featuring an interview with Los Angeles Philharmonic bassistand University of Southern California bass instructor David Allen Moore on the podcast this week. David also teaches bass during the summer at the Domaine Forget program in Quebec.