Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

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June Matayoshi recently contributed a post to Chicago Classical Music blog about getting by as a freelancer. I have played a lot of gigs with June in the past, and it is great to hear from her on this blog. In the post she describes the complications of keeping a full-time job [...]

Whew! It’s a nice feeling to get that car explosion story off of my chest. I’ve been waiting to put that one out on the internet for a long time. Those event happened in early 2004, and I remember thinking then that this is a story that has to be shared [...]

Listen to the audio version of this story here, and check out the video version as well!
This is the worst gig story ever.
 

I’ve told a lot of gig stories on this blog. Some of them are humorous, some are annoying or cringe-worthy, but none even [...]

My most recent installment in my series on freelancing features a discussion of the emergence of the the modern symphony orchestra as a full-time employer. If you are interested in the details of modern orchestral funding and the implications of this kind of model, check out ‘Who Killed Classical Music?’ by Norman Lebrecht. [...]

This series is based on my own experiences as a professional freelance classical orchestral musician. While everyone has a slightly (or vastly) different individual path in the freelance world, I believe that these experiences reflect what a growing majority of orchestral freelancers are dealing with in their professional lives.
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The traditional pot of gold [...]

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 [...]

As I was wrapping up my Masters degree from Northwestern University in 2000, reality started to set in. I needed to pay my bills as a musician! I had won a position in the Milwaukee Ballet and in the IRIS Chamber Orchestra (I ended up getting a position in the Elgin Symphony that [...]

I got a great comment from the Texas Tech University Music Theory Department Blog recently related to one of my articles on freelancing. I definitely appreciate the mention and agree with his elaboration on some of the challenges that musicians moving to a new city face.
What a cool idea for a blog! [...]

In this second installment of my series on professional freelance life as a musician, I would like to offer some commentary on trends that I see in the world of professional classical music performance. This installment of the series is geared toward orchestral performance. Other musicians, educators, and industry professionals may find value [...]

A blog post from Somewhat Frank alerted me to this cool new service by a Chicago-based startup. Currently available only in Chicago (yay) and Philadelphia, ParkWhiz is essentially Google for parking spots in Chicago. Type where you want to look for parking and it will pull up an extensive and detailed list on [...]