Contrabass Conversations double bass life

We’re featuring composer and bassist P. Kellach Waddle on this week’s Contrabass Conversations episode. Actually, we have chatted about doing an interview since 2007, and we got a chance to do so at the 2009 International Society of Bassists Convention.

We’re featuring an interview with double bassist Jiri Slavik on Contrabass Conversations this week. Jiri is an extremely accomplished bassist in both jazz and classical styles, as you can see from his biography below, and he gave a truly mesmerizing performance at the 2009 International Society of Bassists Convention. This interview took place just as Jiri was about to leave for Europe, and I feel fortunate to have gotten the chance to chat with him on his first visit to the United States!

We’re featuring a guest interview by bassist Tim Wolfe, Jr. interviewing his former teacher Jim Miller about Art Davis. Tim and Jim discuss Art Davis’ life, career, and pedagogical approach. They discuss Art’s book and his four-finger approach to the double bass, among other subjects.

We’re featuring some brief interviews I did with people on the floor of the 2009 International Society of Bassists Convention at Penn State in June. Feel free to check out my ISB 2009 Retrospective blog post for even more information on what was happening at this year’s convention, and stay tuned for an avalanche of content from this event over the next couple of months!

This week, we’re featuring an interview with Klauss Stoll, the recently retired Principal Bass of the Berlin Philharmonic. He has taught for many years in Berlin, Salzburg, and in master classes worldwide, and is regarded as one of the finest teachers of the double bass alive today.

We’re featuring Boston Symphony Principal Bassist Ed Barker on this week’s Contrabass Conversations episode.

The number of considerations a prospective music school student faces these days can be quite staggering–in this week’s episode, I try to give listeners a summary of the most important considerations in the quest for the ideal music school. Enjoy, and learn more about this topic at doublebassblog.org or listen to some of the top university bass professors at contrabassconversations.com.

We’re featuring the Courante and Gigue from the Sixth Cello Suite by J.S. Bach as well as the first movement of the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 2 this week, played impeccably by the wonderful bassist Ben Jensen, currently a student of Bruce Bransby at Indiana University. These were recorded live in a master class at Indiana University and are an outstanding example of bass playing.

We’re chatting with jazz bassist Jon Burr on this week’s Contrabass Conversations episode. In addition to an active career recording and performing original tunes with the Jon Burr Quartet, Jon has toured and recorded with many great jazz masters, including Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Horace Silver, Hank Jones, Art Farmer, Stephane Grappelli (from 1986-1997), Sir Roland Hanna, Dorothy Donegan, and Buddy Rich.

We're concluding the interview that we began on CBC 114 with double bassist Mark Morton, who is currently professor of bass at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX and has also served as Principal Bass of the Columbus Symphony. Mark was the first prize winner at the International Society of Bassists Solo Competition, and he was the assistant double bass instructor for Gary Karr at the Hartt School of Music.

We’re featuring the third and final part of our interview with Boston Symphony Assistant Principal Bass Lawrence Wolfe this week on Contrabass Conversations. I had a chance to check out a wonderful master class that Mr. Wolfe did at Northwestern in the fall of 2008, and I did a summary/synopsis of some of the concepts and ideas covered in this class as well.

We’re featuring music from the engaging and unusual band Haberdashery on this episode.

Double bassist and Contrabass Conversations co-host John Grillo recently recorded in the first of a new series of audio programs about the past, present, and future of the professional symphony orchestra. In this first episode, John interviews me about my book Road Warrior Without an Expense Account, which I hope you’ll find interesting. I also recorded a screencast of my Keynote presentation about this book, which I did in Sioux Falls, South Dakota during the summer of 2008.

Music Episode: Ben Jensen

We’re featuring an interview with double bassist Mark Morton, who is currently professor of bass at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX and has also served as Principal Bass of the Columbus Symphony. Mark was the first prize winner at the International Society of Bassists Solo Competition, and he was the assistant double bass instructor for Gary Karr at the Hartt School of Music.