Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

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In Part VIII of Road Warrior Without an Expense Account, the topic of freelancer burnout was discussed. This is a depressing and all-too-frequent result of engaging in this type of work, and the solution to this situation is quite complicated.

Actually, this whole topic becomes quite depressing, and the more one thinks [...]

 

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This week’s Contrabass Conversations episode features an excellent interview with Indiana University double bass professor Lawrence Hurst. Double bassist (and frequent Contrabass Conversations guest) John Grillo co-hosted the interview with me. You’ll be hearing the first part of our interview this week, and we’ll be putting out more of this interview in [...]

I just put the finishing touches on the most recent Contrabass Conversations Recital Showcase. This episode will feature a complete recital from double bassist Peter Lawson (Civic Orchestra of Chicago member, former student at Northwestern University and DePaul University) and I think listeners will really like Pete’s playing on this episode. You will [...]

Summer is approaching fast here, and I’d like to encourage double bassists at all levels to try and perform in some sort of summer music festival. I wrote a blog post on the importance of summer festivals last year, and the advice from that post still holds true. Summer is a prime opportunity [...]

More and more people from all walks of life are beginning to realize the real power that tools such as blogging and podcasting have for niche communities like the double bass world. The more involved I get in the online double bass world and the more comfortable I get using blogging and podcasting mechanisms, [...]

David Ballam is a Northwestern University double bass student studying with DaXun Zhang. He will be performing a recital in the Chicago area later this month. Here are the details:
Master’s Doublebass RecitalDavid BallamWednesday, May 16, 20077:00pm - 8:00pm
Music Institute of Chicago1490 Chicago AvenueEvanston, IL 60201
The concert will feature works by Jean Francaix, Johann [...]

Double bassist Matt Heller (New World Symphony, hellafrisch blog) just started a series of posts about his recent successful audition for the Calgary Philharmonic. Matt is a perceptive and compelling writer, and his tale is likely to be of interest for musicians of all disciplines.

There is a special kind of symmetry to Matt’s recent [...]

 

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Here is the next segment of our interview with National Symphony Orchestra double bassist Ira Gold. Ira was first interviewed on episode 15 of the podcast. Feel free to check that episode out, or click here to listen to any of our older episodes. Also, you can direct any questions to Ira [...]

 

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This is a special Contrabass Conversations bonus episode featuring a full-length recital from double bassist Phillip Serna. Phillip was our guest on episodes 5 and 8, and it is a pleasure to present this recital to listeners. Enjoy!
Phillip Serna Recital Showcase
Show Notes
Release Date: 4/26/07

Length: 1:17:08
Website: www.contrabassconversations.com
E-mail: contrabassconversations@gmail.com
Blog: www.doublebassblog.com

To get Contrabass Conversations downloaded [...]

Double bassist Ben Rothschild recently sent me some interesting bits of bass and music world news, and I will be doling these out over the next few days. For starters, Northwestern University recently announced that they will be offering full tuition to all incoming Doctor of Music students. Here is an excerpt from [...]