Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

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John Floeter sent me a link to an insanely funny service called Gizoogle which allows you to read my blog in glorious Snoop Dog jive talk. You can click here to read the whole site in jive (warning–lots of profanity if you try it) , or check out this version of my Contrabass [...]

 

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This week we are continuing our conversation with Chicago Symphony Orchestra bassist Michael Hovnanian that we began on Episode 24 of the podcast. Michael has been a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1989, and he serves as the president of Discordia Music (double bass music publisher). Michael also plays for the [...]

This is my first real week of vacation in over six months, and it is a humongous relief to finally have come time to kick back and relax. As a result of all this discretionary time, I have made some big behind-the-scenes changes to the blog and the podcast–the sort of thing that has [...]

Double bassist Peter Lloyd has been hired to teach at Northwestern University starting Fall 2007. He will be replacing double bass instructor DaXun Zhang, who has accepted a faculty position at the University of Texas-Austin. For some background on this institution, you can read my previous thoughts on the history of Northwestern University’s relationship with [...]

This story also has an audio and video version!
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I hate driving.
I am also a bass player.
This is a problem.
As I watch my violinist, flutist, and clarinetist colleagues getting off of the train outside of a gig while I circle frantically for a parking spot (legal or illegal—anything! I’m running late!), my eyes narrow [...]

 

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This week’s Contrabass Conversations episode features an interview with double bassist Michael Hovnanian. Michael has been a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1989, and he serves as the president of Discordia Music (double bass music publisher). Michael also plays for the Gunnelpumpers, Chicago Bass Ensemble, Music of the Baroque, and the [...]

Northwestern University double bass faculty member DaXun Zhang has accepted a position with the University of Texas-Austin beginning Fall 2007 and will be leaving his Northwestern teaching post. This is sad news for the double bass community in Chicago, but great news for DaXun’s future career.
Northwestern University has a long history of undervaluing their [...]

Here is a video that Matt Heller (hellafrisch blogger and Calgary Philharmonic member) recently posted on his blog. Here he plays an excerpt from the Prelude of the first Bach cello suite. It’s great to hear Matt play again after reading so much of his writing for the past year. Matt and [...]

 

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This week’s Contrabass Conversations episode features a continuation of our interview with double bassist François Rabbath plus some music from U.K.-based bassist Leon Bosch. You can check out episode 16 of the podcast for the first part of this interview with François, and detailed information for both guests is available in the show notes below. [...]

I have recently added Spot’s Doghouse to my list of music blogs, finding this great blog earlier this month through Matt Heller’s hellafrisch blog. This blog is written by a horn player currently playing in the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana. He was also in the New World Symphony and went to Northwestern [...]