Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

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Jazz bassist Ben Allison will be in Chicago performing at both the Green Mill and the Chicago Cultural Center this weekend.  Details follow.  Check out one of these performances if you can!
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MARCH 13 - CHICAGO, ILChicago Cultural Center, Claudia Cassidy Theater78 East Washington StreetConcert at 7 PMInfo: 312-744-6630Admission: Freewww.cityofchicago.org/Tourism/CulturalCenterMARCH 14 & 15 - CHICAGO, [...]

 

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Welcome to Exploring Chamber Music with Brad Opland and the Chicago Chamber Musicians. This Contrabass Conversations special series highlights chamber music that includes the double bass. Learn more about the Chicago Chamber Musicians by visiting www.chicagochambermusic.org.
We’d like to extend special thanks to both Brad Opland and the Chicago Chamber Musicians for making this series [...]

I had the good fortune to be asked to perform a recital in 2006 on Gary Karr’s former bass, formerly attributed to Amati and previously owned by the great Serge Koussevitzky. This recital happened in the very early days of my blogging, and though I covered it previously on the blog, giving it a [...]

We’re kicking the Contrabass Conversations podcast series into high gear this spring (March is spring for me, no matter how much snow is still on the ground), interviewing bass performers, teacher, and luthiers from all over the United States (and beyond).
Last week, I interviewed double bassist Anthony Stoops, which you can check out on episode [...]

I’ve been blogging for several years now, and doing this kind of writing on a daily basis (there are over 2100 posts on doublebassblog.org right now….and counting!) has naturally made me take some time to think about the benefits and drawbacks of independent publishing.
I’ve also done a fair amount of writing for other blogs and [...]

I help manage the ArsAntiguaPresents.com podcast series that bassist and early music specialist Jerry Fuller puts out each month.  These are well-produced short (less than 15 minutes) performances from a variety of artists.  Sign up (for free) through this link, and you can check out the March edition here.
Notes for the March edition:
Our program this [...]

I had a chance this past Saturday (March 1, 2008) to watch a master class hosted by Northwestern University double bass professor Peter Lloyd (fourth from right) featuring longtime Chicago Symphony Principal Bass Joe Guastafeste (pictured here in the center of the group).

Joe has served as Principal Bass of the Chicago Symphony since 1961, serving [...]

Though it chagrins me to admit it, I’ve recommended friends and colleagues for musical activities that are simply impossible. Whether passing a wretched gig to an unsuspecting bassist hungry for work or giving out a colleague’s name to a bass student who will almost certainly be nothing but trouble, I’ve done my share [...]

This is a post from contributor Bill Harrison. Bill owns and operates the play-along jazz tracks company playjazznow.com , and he maintains a blog called Jazz Underneath. You can read all doublebassblog.org contributions from Bill here.
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Among the many fascinating questions I get asked while wheeling my bass to gigs or waiting for [...]

In late 2007, I wrote a lighthearted (or was it?) dig at Northwestern University and the sorry state of their music facilities:

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Though I doubt that there’s a connection here, I like to think that I did my part in getting the word out about this state of affairs and, if nothing [...]