Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

You are browsing the archives of 2007 January.

Here is a video of three double bassists (Vojtech, Gunars, & Marek) playing an arrangement of Monti’s ‘Czardas’ for double bass trio. This arrangement was done by the great Czech bassist, composer, arranger, and teacher Miloslav Gajdos. I saw Miloslav perform in the fall of 2005 at Northeastern Illinois University here in Chicago, and [...]

There is a great audition process discussion going on at Polyphonic.org right now, and it is definitely worth checking out. Panelists include prominent figures in the orchestra business, including musicians, union representatives, conductors, and negotiators. This is essential reading for anyone wanting to learn more about the audition process in the United States. [...]

This is a follow-up to a post I wrote highlighting the world’s most dangerous roads. The original source where I found these insane photos is Dark Roasted Blend, one of my favorite blogs. These photos of Yakutsk area roads in Siberia are pretty disturbing. Bad things happen when one builds cities on [...]

Jacque Harper (Chicago Bass Ensemble member) sent me a link to this interview with Edgar Meyer about his concert with Nickel Creek mandolinist Chris Thile. Edgar and Chris just played a performance here in the Chicago area. This would be a good duo to check out. Check out the Edgar Meyer interview [...]

I found these funny but true Transportation Security Administration guidelines for bringing your monkey helper on board a plane from a recent Boing Boing post:
Transportation Security AdministrationSecurity Animals
Monkey Helpers

When a monkey is being transported in a carrier, the monkey must be removed from the carrier by the handler prior to screening,
The monkey must [...]

Here are some of the best shots appearing this week on Flickr:

Royal College of Music at Night - Kensington, London
Kiikelinsaari, Oulu, Finland. Temperature -21C.
Palacio de la música de Valencia
Estados de São Paulo e Paraná

I just got a copy of the most recent issue of Double Bassist magazine, and a quote from my San Jose audition story starts out an article that they did on auditioning. It’s an honor that my story would be chosen to start this great article. The main body of the story focuses [...]

The recent win by the Chicago Bears made me think (naturally) of the ‘Superbowl Shuffle’ from the 1985 Bears. Most people my age or older probably remember this song, and they probably also remember the awesome 1980s style video that accompanied it (only Mr T’s ‘Treat Your Mother Right‘ can compete in the 1980s [...]

My busy schedule prevented me from seeing two fantastic double bassists play concerts last week. Edgar Meyer played at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Evanston, Illinois with the fabulous mandolinist Chris Thile. Seeing Edgar perform is always a treat. I remember rehearsing and premiering Edgar’s second double bass concerto with the IRIS Chamber [...]

Does sprawl really make people fat? A drive around the Chicago suburbs would certainly lead to this conclusion. It is always jarring to spend some time in downtown Chicago observing people and to then hop in the car and drive out to Naperville, Schaumburg, or some other such suburb.
Boing Boing had a recent [...]