Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

You are browsing the archives of 2007 April.

Here’s a little lighthearted fun from Dark Roasted Blend. Check out their original post for more pictures of various animals in action:
My cats do this kind of thing all the time:
This squirrel is about to make a terrible mistake:
This cat is about to learn an important lesson about bird size:
Although this one looks [...]

People who enjoyed the recent Washington Post story about violinist Joshua Bell busking for change in a Washington, D. C. train station will love this recent post from Think Denk. It features a hilarious parody of the tale told in the Josh Bell story. Check it out!

Double bassist Matt Wengerd (104 Weeks blog) sent me a link to this great video depicting a heated debate between Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. The track is from is “Leap Frog”, from Bird And Diz. Check it out!

The cantankerous and controversial Norman Lebrecht’s new book titled Maestros, Masterpieces, and Madness depicts the classical music recording industry as being on its deathbed. This is definitely the case on the major labels, but the independent labels are in fact quite active in creating new and interesting work.
I have done many recordings for smaller [...]

Here is the next track in the Virtual Master Class Project. This is a recording of the Allemande from J.S. Bach’s Suite No. 3 for solo violoncello. Leave criticism, advice, practice tips, and the like by clicking on the ‘comments’ link below the player.
Sometimes these players take 10-20 seconds to load, so give it a [...]

After the bleak nature of the last several installments of this series, I am pleased to talk about a more positive and constructive piece in the puzzle that makes up the life of a freelance musician.
Most musicians engage in at least some degree of private teaching. The tradition of passing down skills, knowledge, [...]

Corin Long, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s principal double bassist, has died in a diving accident in Spain. Corin was renowned as an excellent performer and pedagogue, and he will be greatly missed in the double bass and classical music world.
Double bassist Kirsty Matheson, a former student of Corin’s, let me know about this [...]

This is a post from double bassist from Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music student Nicholas Hart. Nick will be contributing weekly posts to the bass blog about life as a music student in one of the nation’s most exclusive programs. I think readers will find this different perspective on the double bass world and the music [...]

Here is the next track in the Virtual Master Class Project. This is a recording of the third movement of Beethoven 5. Leave criticism, advice, practice tips, and the like by clicking on the ‘comments’ link below the player.
Sometimes these players take 10-20 seconds to load, so give it a little time to play if [...]

I have had several people send me a link to the Washington Post story earlier this week about Joshua Bell busking at L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C.
For those who haven’t heard the story, the Washington Post’s Gene Weingarten (usually thought of as a humor writer) arranged a social science experiment of sorts with Josh Bell [...]