Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I had the great pleasure recently of doing an interview with Lyric Opera of Chicago and Grant Park Symphony Orchestra bassist Andrew Anderson. Andy gave a great interview on a variety of subjects.
In this first part of the interview we discuss Andy’s early years in music, the schools he attended, the type of [...]

I just finished reading Matt Heller’s recent post on fingerings and score study for the double bass, and he makes some interesting points. Often what one hears from a coach in a setting like the New World Symphony (where Matt currently plays), the Civic Orchestra of Chicago (where Matt and I used to [...]

Matt Wengerd (104 Weeks) recently wrote a post detailing his trip to the International Association of Jazz Educators conference in New York City earlier this month. He’s got a great description of his experiences as a representative for the University of South Florida jazz program. Check out his IAJE post here.
Among the double [...]

Michael Hovnanian just did a post about some fingering options for the ‘Trout’ Quintet. He mentions not often using the A harmonic on the D string in passage work (sorry, non-bass folks–click the Cats tab if your eyes are glazing over), and he cites one of the Ein Heldenleben arpeggios as another example of [...]

If readers have recordings of themselves that they would like to have played on Contrabass Conversations, please send them to me! I am always looking for more content for the show, and including reader submissions is one of the things I’d like to do. If you have some recordings of a recital [...]

There is a new bass ensemble that formed recently here in Chicago. It is an extremely high quality quartet composed of four people that I consider good friends and colleagues. The members of the new Chicago Bass Ensemble include Jacque Harper, who I have known for 12 years and who has been a [...]

Matt Heller just wrote a post about Yo-Yo Ma and his week as soloist with the New World Symphony. He also mentions first hearing Yo-Yo Ma with the Philadelphia Orchestra years ago. It is a very perceptive piece of prose–check it out!
It is great to see Matt writing again on his hella frisch [...]

I got some great feedback from Minneapolis/St. Paul electric and double bassist Brian Roessler regarding my podcast Contrabass Conversations. Thanks, Brian! He has a great website with several videos of him playing various pieces, including some Rabbath music. Check him out at brianroessler.com.
His site is also a great example of what can [...]

Here is a great video of Edgar Meyer starting a tune with the group Strength in Numbers. Edgar usually plays pizzicato in the clips I have found before, but this tune features him playing an arco solo line to start it all. Note the fluid shifting technique and impeccable intonation–what a player!

I just released episode 3 for Contrabass Conversations. You can always subscribe to Contrabass Conversations by visiting the website or clicking the button below. About 20 minutes into the episode there is a great jazz bass solo by Henning Sieverts.Subscribe (it’s free!)
Click to listen (right-click to download)or click player below:powered by [...]