Paul Ramsier Interview
This special Contrabass Conversations episode features an interview with composer Paul Ramsier. Though Paul is particularly well-known for his collaborations with Gary Karr, he continues to remain quite active as a composer and has a number of interesting projects in the works.
Throughout this interview, you will hear excerpts from Divertimento and Silent Movie, two of Paul’s most popular compositions. These excerpts come from Paul’s recently released DVD titled Four Ramsier Favorites and featuring double bassist Jerome Butler on bass. We also discuss Bass Tunes, Paul’s excellent volume of duets for young bassists and a book that I frequently use with my own students.
Paul Ramsier (piano) and Jordan Butler (bass) performing live from "Four Ramsier Favorites" DVD
Links to some of Paul’s online offerings:
- Paul’s website
- Paul Ramsier bio – Wikipedia
- Four Ramsier Favorites DVD
- Pavane performance from Paul’s recent DVD – YouTube
- Bass Tunes
- Compositions for Virtuoso Double Bass CD (site features audio excerpts of these tracks)
- Lemur Music (search for Paul Ramsier – many titles available including music for Divertimento, Silent Movie, Three Lyric Pieces, Eusebius Revisited, Road to Hamelin, and Lullaby for Bass Quartet)
15 November 2011, 8:42 am
I want to contribute a few enthusiastic words about Jason’s interview. We’re both lifelong educators, and we speak the same language. I’m a pianist, so Jason encouraged me to talk about how I composed big bass pieces for Gary Karr—as well as tunes for beginners, plus a lot of published stuff in between. During past interviews, I usually think about how to form an answer. But Jason made it so easy to be spontaneous that I couldn’t even remember what I said until I listened to it!
28 November 2011, 8:16 am
[...] Here’s a video of Jerome Butler (bass) and Paul Ramsier (piano) performing the Pavane from Paul’s Three Lyric Pieces. Check out links to the sheet music for this piece as well as our recent interview with Paul here. [...]