We’re featuring the multi-talented and extremely engaging double bassist and vocalist Kristin Korb on this week’s Contrabass Conversations episode. Kristin and Jason chat about her early years as a bassist and vocalist, life growing up in Montana, her studies on the bass, and how she established herself as a jazz performing artist. We also feature a recording of Kristin performing her own unique take on the Ellington classic “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.”
Learn more about Kristin on her website at www.kristinkorb.com. Enjoy!
About Kristin:
Born and raised in Montana, Kristin grew up in a musical family and often presented concerts with her three younger brothers. Her passion for music eventually led to a bachelor’s degree in music education from Eastern Montana College. In 1992, she moved to San Diego to hone her bass skills with bass professor Bertram Turetzky, earned a master’s degree from the University of California (San Diego), and became one of the busiest bassists in San Diego. Kristin had a brief stint as director of jazz studies at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. After two years of teaching, she decided to follow her dreams and relocated to focus on her performing career based out of Los Angeles. She hasn’t looked back since.
Her debut CD, Introducing Kristin Korb, was on the Telarc label and featured bassist Ray Brown (Kristin’s main musical influence), pianist Benny Green and drummer Gregory Hutchinson. Guest artists included Conte Candoli, Plas Johnson and Oscar Castro-Neves.
Kristin tours internationally as both an artist and educator. Recent performances include concerts at the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) Conference (2004), the 2005 Playboy Jazz Festival at the Rose Bowl, the West Coast Jazz Party and Bass Encounters conference in Vienna, Austria. She was a featured performer and clinician at the International Society of Bassists Conference (2005) and is a member of their Board of Directors.
In addition to Ray Brown and Benny Green, Kristin has appeared with such artists as Bill Mays, John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Alan Pasqua, Carl Allen, Joe LaBarbera, Tamir Hendelman and Mike Wofford. Her own trio features Llew Matthews (former musical director for Nancy Wilson and Lena Horne) on piano.
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This week’s episode continues the interview with jazz bass legend Steve Rodby that we began on episode 58 of the podcast. Rodby has played bass on every Pat Metheny Group record since 1980, co-produced the group’s last five albums and won 10 Grammy Awards with the group. He has toured with jazz greats Joe Henderson and Tony Bennett, and also works regularly as a producer.
This interview was conducted by jazz double bassist Kells Nollenberger. Kells has launched a new podcast called the Jazz Exchange, which can be found at www.jazzexchange.org. This podcast features interviews with and performances from a wide array of jazz artists, and I encourage listeners to check out the great things that Kells is doing over there.
We also feature bass news, listener voicemail and e-mail, and a link of the week. Enjoy!
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Here’s the latest episode of Story Time with Contrabass Conversations. These stories recount some of the funny, sad, poignant, and painful moments in the life of a freelance road warrior. Find the text version of this story here, and check out Contrabass Conversations for more weekly double bass content.
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We’re concluding our interview with the multi-talented bassist Dave Anderson on this week’s episode of Contrabass Conversations. In addition to serving as Principal Bass of the Louisiana Philharmonic, Dave is a prolific composer, active teacher, and electric bassist. He serves as Principal Bass of the Britt Festival Orchestra in southern Oregon, and he plays in metropolitan New Orleans and beyond in a variety of bands.
We began this interview on episode 75 of the podcast, and we also featured Dave’s music on Eclectic Bass episode 2.
Dave’s compositions span the gamut from solo double bass to full symphony orchestra, and his Concerto for Double Bass was commissioned and premiered by Hal Robinson and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He is a former board member of the International Society of Bassists, and his Capriccio No. 2 served as the required solo competition piece at the 1997 ISB convention. Check out Dave online at www.myspace.com/symphonyboy.
Scores to Dave’s compositions have been recently re-released, and you can now purchase copies online. Visit the following link to check out many of these compositions:
http://www.reallygoodmusic.com/rgm.jsp?page=composers2&compid=128028
Also, my co-host John Grillo has a recording of the complete Double Bass Duets by Dave with Pittsburgh Symphony bassist Peter Guild. You can check them out here (there are links to each individual duet through the following link):
http://contrabassconversations.com/2007/02/12/john-grillo-recital-showcase/
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Welcome to Exploring Chamber Music with Chicago Symphony bassist Brad Opland and the Chicago Chamber Musicians. This Contrabass Conversations special series highlights chamber music that includes the double bass. Learn more about the Chicago Chamber Musicians by visiting their website at chicagochambermusic.org.
Today’s program features several works by double bass virtuoso and composer Giovanni Bottesini. All works were recorded live on January 3rd, 2004, at Preston Bradley Hall in Chicago.
Today’s Program:
- Our first piece on the program is the Gran Duo in A for Clarinet and Double Bass by Giovanni Bottesini. This performance features Larry Combs on clarinet and Brad Opland on bass
- Our next piece on the program is the Gran Duo in A for Violin and Double Bass, with violnist Jasmine Lin joining Brad for this next segment
- We conclude today’s program Bottesini’s Passione Amorosa, performed here today by bassists Brad Opland and Dan Armstrong.
Check out more Exploring Chamber Music episodes at the show page on Contrabass Conversations, and listen to Brad Opland’s interview on Contrabass Conversations here.
Subscribe to the podcast!
Thank you very much for tuning in to today’s episode of Exploring Chamber Music. If you’re listening to this program on the web, thank you very much for doing so, but please consider subscribing to Contrabass Conversations. Subscribing is free and enables these programs to be downloaded in the background for playback on your stereo, computer, or portable device. Visit contrabassconversations.com for subscription information and visit chicagochambermusic.org for details on upcoming Chicago Chamber Musicians programs.
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We’re continuing our chat (check out part on on episode 73) with Michigan State University and Interlochen Arts Academy double bass instructor Jack Budrow this week on Contrabass Conversations. In addition to helping place students in major orchestras across the globe, Jack has had a very distinguished performance career as a former member of the Houston Symphony, Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, and as Principal Bass of the North Carolina Symphony.
Jack discussed several topics of great interest to double bass students and performers with co-host John Grillo and me, including:
- musical leadership and qualities of good principal bassists
- qualities found in good conductors
- how music students are seeing fewer and fewer concerts
- emotion in music - country music’s got it
- limitations of rock music in conveying emotion
- body maintenance and how to stay healthy as a bassist
We also feature music from double bass performer and composer Peter Askim. Learn more about Peter at his website www.peteraskim.com. Enjoy!
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We’re featuring music from Louisiana Philharmonic Principal Bass Dave Anderson on this week’s Eclectic Bass episode. Learn more about Dave on his MySpace page, order Dave’s compositions here, and check out our interview with Dave here.
Tracks played:
- “Teen Town” by Jaco Pastorius
- “Surf Ride” from Yule Logs by Dave
- “Schweik Fahrt” featuring Dave and Hal Robinson
- Quintet Mvt. 4 by Dave featuring Sid King and the Kentucky Center Chamber Players
- “Blew Cheeze” featuring Dave and pedal steel guitarist Dave Easley
- “12-Tone Hip Bop” by Dave
Special thanks to The Bass Gang for our theme music
Posted in Dave Anderson, Eclectic Basswith 1 Comment →
We’re featuring the multi-talented bassist Dave Anderson on this week’s episode of Contrabass Conversations. In addition to serving as Principal Bass of the Louisiana Philharmonic, Dave is a prolific composer, active teacher, and electric bassist. He serves as Principal Bass of the Britt Festival Orchestra in southern Oregon, and he plays in metropolitan New Orleans and beyond in a variety of bands.
Dave’s compositions span the gamut from solo double bass to full symphony orchestra, and his Concerto for Double Bass was commissioned and premiered by Hal Robinson and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He is a former board member of the International Society of Bassists, and his Capriccio No. 2 served as the required solo competition piece at the 1997 ISB convention. Check out Dave online at www.myspace.com/symphonyboy.
Scores to Dave’s compositions have been recently re-released, and you can now purchase copies online. Visit the following link to check out many of these compositions:
http://www.reallygoodmusic.com/rgm.jsp?page=composers2&compid=128028
Also, my co-host John Grillo has a recording of the complete Double Bass Duets by Dave with Pittsburgh Symphony bassist Peter Guild. You can check them out here (there are links to each individual duet through the following link):
http://contrabassconversations.com/2007/02/12/john-grillo-recital-showcase/
Topics discussed:
- Dave’s early years
- studying with Frank Proto, Barry Green, Stuart Sankey, and Warren Benfield
- his compositional style and how he got into composing
- talking about composing with Maxim Shostakovich
- meeting and taking lessons with Jaco Pastorius
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I’m pleased to be able to share this interview with Robert Meyer, one of our most experienced and interesting members of the double bass community. Robert has had a long and illustrious career on the double bass, working for over 50 years in most of the major orchestras in London (including the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, and BBC Symphony), as Principal Bass of the Vancouver Symphony, and has taught at the Universities of British Columbia and Victoria.
Robert writes a blog called Musical Reminiscences, and it is a must-read for any bassist… or any musician, for that matter!
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We’re chatting with Michigan State University and Interlochen Arts Academy double bass instructor Jack Budrow this week on Contrabass Conversations. In addition to helping place students in major orchestras across the globe, Jack has had a very distinguished performance career as a former member of the Houston Symphony, Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, and as Principal Bass of the North Carolina Symphony.
Jack discussed several topics of great interest to double bass students and performers with co-host John Grillo and me, including repertoire he uses in his teaching, essential skills for auditioning, and how the educational orientation has changed for music performance students over the past few decades. We chatted at great length with Jack for this interview, and we’ll be wrapping up the remainder of this interview in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more great content with this influential and engaging music educator and performer in the coming weeks. Enjoy!
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