Don’t freak, just ask

Last week Matt Wengerd pointed out the AllAboutJazz.com was using the Contrabass Conversations logo in one of their design elements. Rather than demand it taken down, I thought that it would be a good opportunity to let this site know about what’s going on over...

Art Davis with ice sculpture

Double bassist Greg Sarchet (Bass Club Chicago, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University) sent in this great photo of the late jazz giant Art Davis (see obituary here) posing with a very fitting ice sculpture:Greg has contributed frequently to both the...

Last week’s poll results, this week’s poll question

Last week, we asked how far you would travel for a $100 gig. Here’s what you all came up with: 0-25 miles 16 (25%) 25-50 miles 22 (35%) 50-75 miles 7 (11%) 75-100 miles 3 (4%) 100-125 miles 6 (9%) 125-150 miles 1 (1%) 150-175 miles 0 (0%) 175-200 miles 3 (4%)...

Weekly Wrap-Up

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....

Musical life in the "zone"

Bill Harrison wrote a great piece on his blog recently elaborating on some of the issues I discussed in the latest installment of This Crazy Business. He writes: There’s an old joke in the biz: Q: “How do you make a musician complain?” A: “Give...