Contrabass Conversations

Latest Episodes:

423: Ron Carter (from the archives) Nov 06, 2017

Show notes

This "best of" episode features composer, teacher, and bassist Ron Carter. Enjoy, and check out the original episode from 2016 here.

About Ron Carter

Ron Carter is among the most original, prolific, and influential bassists in jazz. With more than 2,000 albums to his credit, he has recorded with many of music's greats: Tommy Flanagan, Gil Evans, Lena Horne, Bill Evans, B.B. King, the Kronos Quartet, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, and Bobby Timmons. In the early 1960s he performed throughout the United States in concert halls and nightclubs with Jaki Byard and Eric Dolphy.

He later toured Europe with Cannonball Adderley. From 1963 to 1968, he was a member of the classic and acclaimed Miles Davis Quintet. He was named Outstanding Bassist of the Decade by the Detroit News, Jazz Bassist of the Year by Downbeat magazine, and Most Valuable Player by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. In 1993 Ron Carter earned a Grammy award for Best Jazz Instrumental Group, the Miles Davis Tribute Band and another Grammy in 1998 for Call 'Sheet Blues', an instrumental composition from the film 'Round Midnight.

In addition to scoring and arranging music for many films, including some projects for Public Broadcasting System, Carter has composed music for A Gathering of Old Men, starring Lou Gosset Jr., The Passion of Beatrice directed by Bertrand Tavernier, and Blind Faith starring Courtney B. Vance. Carter shares his expertise in the series of books he authored, among which are Building Jazz Bass Lines and The Music of Ron Carter; the latter contains 130 of his published and recorded compositions.

Carter earned a bachelor of music degree from the Eastman School in Rochester and a master's degree in double bass from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He has also received four honorary doctorates, from the New England Conservatory of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, and was the 2002 recipient of the prestigious Hutchinson Award from the Eastman School at the University of Rochester. Most recently he was honored by the French Minister of Culture with France's premier cultural award--the medallion and title of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, given to those who have distinguished themselves in the domain of artistic or literary creation and for their contribution to the spread of arts and letters in France and the world.

Carter has lectured, conducted, and performed at clinics and master classes, instructing jazz ensembles and teaching the business of music at numerous universities. He was Artistic Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Studies while it was located in Boston and, after 18 years on the faculty of the Music Department of The City College of New York, he is now Distinguished Professor Emeritus although, as a performer, he remains as active as ever.

Contrabass Conversations is sponsored 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 Upton Bass String Instrument Company

Upton's Bostonian was conceived at the 2009 International Society of Double Bassists convention at State College, Pennsylvania, while world-renowned jazz bassist and Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of North Texas, Lynn Seaton and Upton Bass String Instrument Co. President and Founder, Gary Upton Birkhamshaw were playing and discussing the various instruments Upton Bass had created for the convention. They started with a blank sheet of paper, and together began jotting down Lynn's preferences and suggestion with each model. The result was a rough outline of what would become the UB Bostonian Concert Double Bass.

422: Winning the Audition (complete) Nov 03, 2017

Show notes

In addition to today's "best of" podcast, check out my book Winning the Audition! It's available in paperback, Kindle, enhanced PDF, and audiobook formats.

This series is drawn from interviews conducted with dozens of bassists from orchestras like the Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, National Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, and Houston Symphony, plus some of the most influential pedagogues in the field.

This series provides actionable advice that you can use to take your auditioning to the next level, and while we're speaking with bassists for these episodes, the advice can certainly be applied to other instruments and disciplines as well.

This series is divided into four episodes:

These episodes include advice from dozens of major figures in the bass world, including Lawrence Hurst, Michael Hovnanian, Ranaan Meyer, Ian Hallas, Brandon Mclean, Robin Kesselman, Ira Gold, Max Dimoff, Jack Budrow, Andrew Anderson, Rob Kassinger, Peter Tambroni, Greg Sarchet, Andrew Raciti, Marc Ramírez, Gaelen McCormick, Joseph Conyers, Colin Corner, Ju-Fang Liu, Jeffrey Turner, Owen Lee, Brad Opland, and Alex Hanna.

Our original sponsor for this series is Discover Double Bass. This site is run by Geoff Chalmers and provides lessons and step-by-step courses on a variety of double bass areas of study. They've got free articles, string reviews and a show called Ask Geoff and Lauren where they answer questions from the double bass community. Geoff does great work and has built this into a tremendous resource for bassists everywhere. Check out over 70 free lessons and much more at discoverdoublebass.com!

Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:

D'Addario Strings

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.

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!

421: Bert Turetzky (from the archives) Nov 01, 2017

Show notes

This "best of" episode features double bassist and contemporary music pioneer Bert Turetzky. Enjoy, and check out the original episode from 2016 here.

About Bert Turetzky

Bertram Turetzky has been a distinguished clinician and pedagogue for over three decades, giving master classes, seminars, and workshops nationally and internationally. His knowledge of repertoire, performance style, and his unique approach to technical, psychological, and physical problems has made him a highly sought-after teacher. His master classes have been referred to as "life-altering."

Turetzky has been a featured contrabass soloist in the music centers of the United States, Europe, Latin America and Australia. The response to his many concerts, recordings, lectures, writings and his unique sonic vocabulary has taken the contrabass from it's traditional role to assume the position of a major solo instrument. More than 300 compositions have been written for, performed by, and recorded by Turetzky, making him one of the few performers, in all of music history, to have created a large and impressive repertoire of music for his instrument.

He is is a prolific recording artist and has recorded for Nonesuch, Finnador, Son Nova, Desto, Music and Art, Incus, 9 winds, Advance, Vanguard, New World, and others as soloist, improvisor, chamber player, Jazz player, orchestra player, and Klezmer artist. He is also an acclaimed scholar/researcher in the fields of Jazz History, 18th Century Chamber Music and the author of many reviews, articles and the now classic book "The Contemporary Contrabass."

After the success of his book, Turetzky was named co-editor of "The New Instrumentation Series" [UC Press]. He is also a published composer, editor, transcriber and arranger of music for his instrument. His compositions are published, reviewed and recorded. Turetzky has also received many awards for composition from ASCAP plus grants from the NEA and Meet the Composer as well as many commissions.

Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:

The 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 Chromatic Endpin

A straight endpin only lets you balance the bass one way.

The Chromatic Endpin opens up many possibilities.You can feel more of the bass's weight, make it feel light as a feather, or anywhere in between.

When the bass is balanced, you stand comfortably on two feet with a neutral spine.

The instrument feels lighter, is easier to hold, and you're more comfortable.

Halloween Special: The Curse of the Dittersdorf starring James VanDemark Oct 31, 2017

Show notes

Can a piece of music be cursed?

After hearing this tale of repeatedly bizarre circumstances surrounding James VanDemark's repeated Dittersdorf Concerto performances, you'll be asking that same question!

A big thank you to James for his idea for this episode, and be sure to check out James' past podcast appearance for more about his career as a double bass performer and teacher.

419: Andrés Martín (from the archives) Oct 30, 2017

Show notes

This "best of" episode features composer, teacher, and bassist Andrés Martín. Enjoy, and check out the original episode from 2016 here.

About Andrés Martín

Native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, bassist, arranger, and composer Andrés Martín has performed with orchestras and chamber ensembles in Argentina, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, England, Germany and United States. Since his arrival in Tijuana (Mexico), Andrés has been immersed in teaching as well as performing as a soloist and chamber musician. He is a member of the "Orquesta de Baja California" and "Cuatro para Tango", a chamber ensemble with whom he has released four recordings.

He also organizes and directs Contrabajos de Baja California A.C., a Double Bass academy who celebrates an international double bass festival and chamber music course held in Tijuana every summer. As a composer and arranger, he works with a wide language which ranges from contemporary techniques to tango and rock. His work has been performed and recorded by very successful orchestras, ensembles, and soloists in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, Japan and the United States.

Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:

The Upton Bass String Instrument Company

D'Addario Strings

418: Gene Perla on Elvin Jones, Broadway, and the business of music Oct 27, 2017

Show notes

In addition to being a bassist and working with artists like Elvin Jones and Miles Davis, Gene Perla is a composer, arranger, orchestrator, band leader, manager, booking agent, music publisher, record company executive, producer, Broadway sound designer, and much more.

Gene and I engage in a delightful and insightful conversation about how the music business has changed and where it's headed.

More About Gene:

Gene Perla was raised in New Jersey where he studied classical piano and trombone. After attending Berklee School of Music he moved to New York and began his musical career as a jazz bassist. He has performed and/or recorded with Chick Corea, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Elvin Jones, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Chuck Mangione, Joni Mitchell, Buddy Rich, Sonny Rollins, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Stone Alliance, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, and others.

In the early 1970's he formed music publishing and record companies, and his group "Stone Alliance" traveled to South America and Europe which gave him experience in management and booking. Other efforts include Broadway sound design (Tony Award for "City of Angels"), and recording studio operations.

He is currently playing his basses, producing records, running an Internet design and hosting company, is Webmaster for the Jazz Education Network, and teaching music business and other subjects at Lehigh University and The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.

His musical performance activities continue with the wonderful vocalist Viktorija Gečytė and his groups "New Light," "Fine Wine Trio," "Go Trio," "Axiom Jump," "Funk Xpress," "Fleet Wing," and the new "The Gene Machine Quintet."

Links to Check Out:

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, which 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!

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

417: The English Double Bass Book Oct 26, 2017

Show notes

This special episode is brought to you by The English Double Bass Book! We speak with former podcast guests Thomas Martin and George Martin along with Martin Lawrence about this exciting new offering. Be sure to visit www.theenglishdoublebass.com to reserve your patron copy now!

The English Double Bass examines the great English double bass makers of the 18th and 19th Century, illustrating in fine detail the incredible work they produced. It also explores the fascinating story of how the double bass came to England, its development guided by the great Venetian virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti, and the rise and fall of the English double bass makers.

The definitive work on the English double bass
An exquisite leather-bound book spanning over 400 pages with more than 500 beautiful colour photographs
More than 70 instruments from England's best-known double bass makers

Published in Spring 2018. To pre-order your limited-edition copy, please visit www.theenglishdoublebass.com.

416: Milton Masciadri on being a UNESCO Artist for Peace Oct 25, 2017

Show notes

I've been looking forward to chatting with Milton Masciadri for quite some time!

Milton is Distinguished University Professor of the University of Georgia and is a UNESCO Artist for Peace. He has been highly involved in the international double bass community for over 30 years.

More About Milton:

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.

In addition to being Professor of Double Bass at the University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music, Masciadri is also coordinator of the Hodgson School's International & Study Abroad Program, and each year he directs the University of Georgia International Double Bass Symposium.

In 2009 Dr. Masciadri received the title of Distinguished University Professor of the University of Georgia, the first faculty member in the fine arts to be so honored in 62 years, and he also holds the title of "Accademico" of the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna, Italy – Europe's oldest musical educational institution. He has been awarded the Brazilian Medal of Honor for Academic Achievements for his musical and educational services to the people of Brazil, is listed in the "International Who's Who in Music", in 1998 was designated a UNESCO Artist for Peace and in 2011 he received the Knighthood honor of the designation of Cavaglieri di San Marco in Venice.

Masciadri has presented master classes at such musical institutions as The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Paris Conservatoire, Guildhall School of Music in London, Moscow Conservatory, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires National Conservatory, and Milan Conservatorio, among many others. During the summers he teaches at several international music festivals and double bass conventions in the United States, South America and Europe. His solo recordings have been released on the DMR, Sinfonica, ACA & Fondazione labels.

As a performer, Dr. Masciadri has performed chamber music and duets with such artists as George Bolet, Robert Mc Duffie, Aldo Parisot, Sidney Harth, Gary Karr, and Francesco Petracchi, in addition to appearing in collaborations around the world with United Nations musical ambassadors. His solo performances have taken place at such internationally renowned concert venues as New York's Lincoln Center, Venice's "La Fenice" Opera House, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Castro Alves Opera House in Salvador (Bahia, Brazil), and the Municipal Theater of Sao Paulo. He is a frequent recitalist and soloist with major symphony orchestras in Europe, Asia, North America, Central America and South America.

Masciadri's enthusiasm for enlarging the repertoire of the double bass has led him to publish and premiere works of many contemporary American and South American composers, including works commissioned for him by such institutions as UNESCO and Funarte (Brazilian Foundation for the Arts) as well as making contributions of his own with numerous transcriptions and arrangements.

Some of Masciadri 2015 performances included performances in Italy, Spain, France, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, China, Russia, Canada, Slovenia, Croatia and the United States. Masciadri performes on a 320 years old Testore double bass, appears in the International Who's Who in Music and has solo recordings on DMR, ACA, Fondazione & Sinfonica Labels.

Links to Check Out:

Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle!

Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:

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 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.

Check out this video of David Murray "auditioning" his Upton Bass!

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

415: Alexandra Scott on Simon Rattle, German bow, and preparation Oct 23, 2017

Show notes

I'm thrilled to be chatting today with Alexandra Scott! Alexandra plays bass in the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and teaches at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, and she was a headliner for the 2017 International Society of Bassists Convention.

More About Alexandra:

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.

In 2005 Alexandra moved to Berlin where she held a scholarship from the Berlin Philharmonic Karajan Academy. Among her teachers at this time were Klaus Stoll, Janne Saksala and Esko Laine. At the age of 23 she was appointed Principal Double Bass with the NRD Radio Philharmonic in Hanover.

Alexandra is a dedicated chamber musician and appears regularly at leading international festivals in collaboration with artists such as Lisa Batiashvili, Gautier Capuçon, Reinhold Friedrich, Francois Leleux, Vilde Frang, Valeriy Sokolov, Eduard Brunner, Sergio Azzolini und Harriet Krijgh. She often plays with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Amsterdam Sinfonietta, and is a founding member of the period instrument ensemble, L'accademia giocosa.

Since May 2007, Alexandra holds the position of Sub-Principal Double Bass with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, with whom she played as a soloist under Maris Jansons in 2015.

Alexandra is also a passionate teacher. Since 2012 she has been Professor for Double Bass at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe. Alongside teaching the members of the Academy of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, she also coaches the Gustav Mahler Academy, the German Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

Links to Check Out:

Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle!

Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:

Check out this video of David Murray "auditioning" his Upton Bass!

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

414: Scott Lang wants one million new music students... each year! Oct 20, 2017

Show notes

It was great to chat with Scott Lang for the podcast! Scott is a music education leadership specialist and public speaker with an inspiring mission: enroll one million new music students in our schools each year.

Scott has made the lives of music educators worldwide significantly easier with his Be Part of the Music initiative. We talk about this, his wonderful book Seriously?!, how to get students and parents involved in leadership roles, and much more!

More About Scott:

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.

As a highly decorated veteran teacher of sixteen years Scott's bands have had many notable performances including the Pasadena Tournament of Rose Parade, the Fiesta Bowl National Band Championship, the Music Educators National Biennial Conference and for the President of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton.

Scott is a well know author with over ten publications to his credit including; Seriously?!, Leader of the Band, Leadership Success, Leadership Travel Guide, Leadership Survival Guide and the highly successful Be Part of the Music series.

Mr. Lang currently resides in Chandler, Arizona with his beautiful wife Leah and their sons, Brayden, Evan and their highly irrational Golden Retriever Rexie. He has breathed in and out approximately 264 million times and plans to keep on doing so until he doubles that number.

Links to Check Out:

Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle!

Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:

Check out this video of David Murray "auditioning" his Upton Bass!

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

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