I had a comment recently regarding Contrabass Conversations that really hit on something that bugs me about the bass world. The commenter (who left it anonymously–something that I find irritating) asked why I don’t feature more Europeans on the podcast.ugly American bigot.png

For the record, I really want to increase the coverage of European bassists on the podcast., and I know that I’ve got a grand total of one European bassist on the program so far. This is a high priority for me. Here’s the comment from the listener followed by my reaction (which I included in the audio for CBC 93):

I think that you dont give enough tension to the “Bass culture” in Europe.

Its not enouth to post only ONE POINT OF VIEW of the bass playing in europe or even in America.

In the case of Doublebass virtuoso Guy Tuneh which is a symbol of a very unique way of playing, “No Limit” & dedication spirit, it is clear(& good so) why you wish to show him and to give him the stage in your blog (clear – he is phenomenal!).

Guy Tuneh was the one who pushed (with his way of playing) so many other bassplayers to go the way of Solo and Chamber music, (pure individualism) without to be in an Orchestra before, against this old way of thinking that bassplayer can play only in an Orchestra.he gave so many musicians the power and the courage to do so, to stand by what is for them importent, But NEVER DISRESPECTED other bass players who chose to play in an Orchestra or to do other things, etc.

But what about the others?

Patkolo is showing about perfect playing – What about his way of Teaching???, Ruiz is an Amazing bassist that showes that it is possible to do both; Orchestra and Solo playing (let us hope that for long time),

His Ex boss – Mr. Nabil Shehata that is no longer a member of the Berlin Philharmonic, is following Tuneh’s way of life: Solo but try to Conduct along teaching.

Gaidos – one of the greatests bass players, composer, a Big Teacher and performer. Please post more from him! (Interview?) and others from that side of Europe.

The Great Furtok: Great pure Bass playing what about an Interview?

Wolfgang Güttler – One of the Teachers of the LEGEND Ovidiu Badila, and many other, (like: Furtok, etc.) what about Interview?

What about some Jazz bassplayers like Avishay Choen from Israel?

So much to show about, its never ending but please, bass playing is not only Solo individualism, what about the “Normal” bass

players like me, Orchestra musicians and others.

What about the bass Makers of europe?…

What about Teachres in Europe?…

What about the tradition in Europe…?

What about Jordi savall…? (Could be cool for bassists also)

Its clear, you would like to “show off” with your own people,

but we have our good and many sides also.

Just think about it, and thank you again for your time and for this post!

My response:

OK, these are good points, but first of all, look–I’m only one guy, and I’ve got a million things on my plate, so it’s very challenging to find any time to do any interviews at all. I’ll be taking full advantage of the ISB convention next summer and do interviews with as wide a segment of the bass community as possible, though I realize that this event, though called the “International” society of bassists, is in fact pretty heavily skewed toward the American side of things (being based in the US, with conventions taking place largely in the US).

This raises a larger issue, however, and it is one that I think the podcast can really help rectify. While organizations like Thierry Barbé’s ABCDF and online resources like xBass.org have helped to bridge the gap between European and American double bassists, more needs to be done. With doublebassblog.org, I’m trying to address this, and I would absolutely love to make Contrabass Conversations a more international program as well. We have tons of listeners all over the globe (I’m frequently contacted by listeners from every imaginable corner of the world), and broadening the nationality of our guests is a high priority for me. The easy access the internet provides makes podcasting the perfect distribution choice for an international show like Contrabass Conversations.

Judging by the huge reception we’ve gotten from our interviews with François Rabbath and Guy Tuneh, listeners are clamoring for more European guests, and I would love to provide that. The big issues are time and my lack of personal relationships overseas.

When I started the podcast (and you can go back in the episode archives to see what I mean), it wasn’t even Ameri-centric but Chicago-centric. Over 50% of our first 20 episodes featured people from Chicago, for crying out loud!

Look, I’m the type of guy that likes to feature people he knows. I have definitely put a ton of people I’ve never met before on in the past, and I will certainly continue to do so, but I just want to give you an indication of where I’m coming from.

I am 100% into massively broadening the scope of our guests, but I need your help for that. As I said before, I’m simply one overworked guy with more on his plate than I can handle, and I could really use some volunteer hosts to do interviews.

I am calling out to you, the podcast audience, you bass players from all over the globe. There are a lot of you out there! If you want to interview a bassist that you think would be a good guest for the show, please consider doing an interview with them. I can provide you with more details if you’re interested, but all I really need is an MP3 of the interview and we’re good to go.

Both Win Hinkle (with Rufus Reid) and Kells Nollenberger (with Steve Rodby) have done guest interviews, and bassist John Grillo has hosted a dozen or so with me, so I am clearly all about collaboration. This isn’t my show–it’s our show, and the door is totally open for all the ideas that this listener suggested. I’ll put links to your website and give you credit for the interview all over the site, and if there’s something you’d like to promote at the same time (your university, bass product, retail outlet, or something like that) I’ll happily do so.

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