Dan the talking cat

My cat Dan is a very chatty orange tabby. Here’s a short video of him that my wife shot on her iPhone 3GS in the dark–he always responds to people talking like this:

Dave Anderson Sonata No. 2 now available

Dave Anderson, who in addition to being an excellent composer and bassist (as well as a former Contrabass Conversations guest), has just published his Sonata No. 2 for Double Bass and Piano. This piece was written for Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Bass Hal Robinson...

Bass Openings at Idyllwild Arts Academy for 2009-10

Peter Askim, conductor for the Idylwild Arts Academy (and a heck of a bassist and composer–check out his Contrabass Conversations interview for more information) still has some openings for double bass students for the 2009-10 academic year. This is a wonderful...

PBDB: Beware the Outliers, Part 2

(crossposted from PBDB) In my last post, I defined what “outlier” means and how it applies to bass playing. In this post I’ll make some comments on how we all can cope with, and learn from, outliers – whether we are one or we are learning from...

Rachmaninoff Vocalise played by Duquesne University student

Duquesne University features bass teachers Micah Howard and Jeff Turner. Jeff Turner is the Principal Bass for the Pittsburgh Symphony and is also a former Contrabass Conversations guest, and this video features a student of Duquesne performing the Rachmaninoff...