Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

You are browsing the archives of 2008 October.

Besides the oft-used Copland (or Copland-esque) music for evocation of Americana, music is an intrinsic tool during the political campaigns, and let’s face it - the 2008 campaign practically started directly after the 2004 presidential election. It is amazing that the only time that classical music is used by politicians is to punctuate dramatic [...]

Most guys I know have formal wear that resembles a petri dish. I don’t know if women’s formal wear gets this nasty (something tells me it doesn’t). Men seem to be able to tolerate a high degree of funkitude before deciding to finally take their formal clothes into the cleaners.
Perhaps it’s the fact that [...]

 
Adrian Willaert (c.1490-1562) - 3 Chanson - Qui la dira, Perot, viendras tu aux nopces & La rouse du moys de May
From the May 18, 2008 Chicago Early Music Consort & Spirit of Gambo - a Chicago Consort of Viols Performance of ‘Bonjour, Mon Coer! - The Sublime 16th-Century French Chanson’ at Glenview Community Church, [...]

I had the pleasure of checking out the University of Illinois bass quartet recently (October 22, 2008). This ensemble is comprised of University of Illinois bass professor Michael Cameron and U of I doctoral students Garold Fowler, Hunter Capoccioni, and Alex McHattie, and they were in the midst of doing a tour of top-tier high [...]

We’ll hit our 100th episode of Contrabass Conversations in the next few weeks–a significant achievement for any podcast! It’s hard to believe that I’ve interviewed, recorded, edited, and published nearly 100 of these buggers–it seems like I just got this podcast going recently, but the two year anniversary is fast approaching.
I decided to do [...]

The following is a short excerpt from the E-Bass Line Newsletter from the International Society of Bassists. Receiving this newsletter each month is one of the many benefits for ISB members, including special rates on instrument insurance, the excellent journal Bass World, the paper edition of the Bass Line, and much more! Check out the [...]

The following is a short excerpt from the E-Bass Line Newsletter from the International Society of Bassists. Receiving this newsletter each month is one of the many benefits for ISB members, including special rates on instrument insurance, the excellent journal Bass World, the paper edition of the Bass Line, and much more! Check out the [...]

As a guy who’s been freelancing for quite some time now, I’ve got some thoughts on the hidden dangers of getting too enmeshed in the freelance scene while you’re auditoning for jobs. While I’m being a little overly dramatic with the title for this post, there is a real danger to getting spread too thin [...]

Richard Sumarte (15??-after 1630) - Mounsiers Allman, the Manchester Lyra-Viol Manuscript (c1660)
From the October 14, 2007 Chicago Early Music Consort Performance of ‘The Lowest Trees Have Tops - The Music of John Dowland’ featuring Dr. Phillip W. Serna, bass viol.
Visit http://www.ChicagoEarlyMusicConsort.org/. To subscribe to the podcast and for more information on ‘Viols in Our Schools’ [...]

Doublebassblog.org contributor Peter Tambroni has written an excellent double bass method book titled An Introduction to String Playing, and he has been a guest on Contrabass Conversations as well. In addition to a career as an active double bass performer and teacher, Peter is a middle school orchestra director in the Chicago area, and he [...]