Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog

You are browsing the archives of Simandl.

This is a guest post from German bassist Andreas Wiebecke-Gottstein. Learn more about Andreas at his website www.probass.de. Enjoy!
_________
„Do you know Thoedor Albin Findeisen?„ - „ Findeisen? - Isn´t it this guy who has written this
double bass method!„ So, in any case, most double-bass players and double bass learners will
answer to this question which [...]

Lyric Opera of Chicago bassist Greg Sarchet joins his colleagues Andy Anderson  and Steve Lester as the double bass faculty of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.  Greg is a former Contrabass Conversations guest (you can hear him on episodes 19 and 35) and has contributed many news items, videos, and [...]

I’ve written several times on this blog about both why I teach music and reasons why one might choose music teaching as a career.  I’ve also wrestled with misconceptions across the performer/educator divide, finding myself alternately surprised, shocked, and intrigued about the assumptions each camp has about the other.
One woefully neglected and quite obvious [...]

I hope that folks enjoyed this weekend’s interview episode with the always interesting Justin Locke. We’ll be wrapping up this interview on an upcoming episode and really get into some interesting topics about the music business and how musicians market (or, more often, don’t market) themselves effectively.
This upcoming weekend will see the release of [...]

The following is a guest post from Double Bass Blog contributor Phillip W. Serna. Check out Phillip’s recitals and interviews on his Contrabass Conversations page, and visit him online at http://www.phillipwserna.com/. Enjoy!
__________________
Contrabass Conversations and the Double Bass Blog are continues is series on early bass performers. It will highlight many different perspectives on early bass/ [...]

In 2005, Lyric Opera of Chicago bassist (and Contrabass Conversations guest) Greg Sarchet organized a recital celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first known double bass recital in the United States. This 1905 double bass recital was performed by Václav Jiskra, a former student of Sladek in Prague and Simandl in Vienna.
In [...]

This week’s Contrabass Conversations Episode features the second part of our interview with Chicago Symphony bassist Rob Kassinger. Last time we heard from Rob (on episode 25), we talked about his early years on the bass, growing up in Colorado, playing jazz and electric bass, studying the instrument, and studying with Homer Mensch in New [...]

The highly useful podcast text search tool EveryZing continues to both amaze and amuse me daily. It does a good enough job with the speech to text transcription to allow for really useful search results, but if you actually sit down and read the transcripts, you’re likely to find yourself rolling on the floor, [...]

I spent the past two weeks performing with the Grant Park Symphony. This has been a real treat for me, both musically and personally. The GPSO is a great ensemble, and we played a lot of excellent repertoire, including Beethoven 2, Mahler 5, and the Firebird Suite. Bass blog readers will actually [...]

This week marked the launch of Bass Musician Magazine, a new publication available at www.bass-musician-magazine.com, and one in which Contrabass Conversations will be a regular feature. Check it out!___________
We released the next part of the Basses, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles featuring tales of woe regarding plane travel. This is the first in an [...]