I spent the weekend in Dallas, Texas for my first meeting as a member of the International Society of Bassists Board of Directors. This was an extremely productive and activity-packed weekend, with members flying in from California, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Arizona, and even France (!) for this whirlwind of bass activity.

The ISB Board of directors reads like a who’s who of double bass movers and shakers, with Scott Haigh (Cleveland Orchestra, Oberlin Conservatory), Thierry Barbe (Paris Opera and Conservatory, founder of the France double bass society ABCDF), Lynn Seaton (jazz bass professor, University of North Texas), and many others congregating to assess the current state of the ISB and shape future plans for this venerable organization.

I feel really honored to be involved with shaping the direction of the ISB. Although I’ve been a member for over 15 years, my participation in this organization has been extremely limited. In fact, I’ve never gone to a convention! This may seem surprising given that I run both a daily bass blog and a weekly bass podcast, but it just never worked out for me to make it in the past. When I was in school, our finals usually extended well into ISB convention week, and I’ve always had a hard time passing up lucrative gigs to attend a convention.

I will absolutely be attending the 2009 and all future ISB conventions, and I can’t wait! During lunch, we all watched a great highlight DVD titled ‘Bass Love’, sharing smiles and chuckles as we watched various board members and other double bass luminaries play and share advice on all things bass. Though I’ve always known that these events are a great experience for all involved, watching the huge variety of top-notch bassists teach, share, and perform really hit home for me. I’ve been a fool to miss these conventions in the past, and you can expect to see me at them in the future.

I’ve got a lot of great blog ideas that came out of this meeting, and I’ll be working on them over the next week or so, so expect more bass content on a wide variety of different subjects in the next few days!

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