Enjoy this New Year’s nugget from double bassist Guy Tuneh, featuring a personal greeting for all listeners and readers and a complete performance of Kol Nidrei by Max Bruch. This was recorded live on a borrowed bass during a concert for sick children.
This week’s episode of Contrabass Conversations features an interview with double bassist David Grossman, a member of the New York Philharmonic bass section and an active jazz bassist. Hosted by John Grillo, this interview covers David’s early musical experiences, his dual interest in jazz and classical music, current projects, his philosophy and approach as a teacher, and a variety of other topics.
About David:
Bassist David J. Grossman began playing with the New York Philharmonic as its youngest member in December 1999 before graduating from The Juilliard School in May 2000. Born and educated in New York City, Mr. Grossman has performed as double bassist and pianist in orchestral, chamber, and jazz venues worldwide. He is a member of the double bass faculties of the Manhattan School of Music and The Juilliard School, and regularly gives master classes across the country. (view complete bio)
Tracks featured:
More information on David’s recordings is available on his website davidjgrossman.com.
Other John Grillo-hosted podcasts:
The following video (25 min.) is a behind-the-scenes documentary about The American String Project, the innovative string ensemble which we have profiled previously on the podcast and blog.
Artistic director (and former Contrabass Conversations guest) Barry Lieberman describes the documentary as follows:
We have produced a documentary about the Project, created from extensive film footage of our May 2009 concert week. Being able to show how we work, rehearse, and perform to those who have never experienced the Project in person will be a very valuable tool for us. There are many sequences showing our rehearsal process as well as interviews with some of our musicians.
Enjoy the following video, and be sure to visit the website for more extensive information:
This week’s Contrabass Conversations episode features a follow-up interview with bassist Barry Lieberman, double bass faculty at the University of Washington and artistic director of The American String Project, an ensemble that specializes in performing string chamber orchestra arrangements of quartet literature.
Barry was previously interviewed on Contrabass Conversations in 2008, and on that occasion we discussed his early years on the instrument, his career in the Los Angeles Philharmonic and subsequent move to Seattle, and many other topics. We focus on recent developments with The American String Project in this episode, including their recent selection as “Pick of the Month” for all North American releases of classical music discs in the August issue of the BBC Music Magazine (more details on the String Project website).
This fascinating and virtuosic ensemble also recently produced a documentary detailing what happens behind the scenes each year with the String Project, and it is a well-produced and highly engaging glimpse into the workings of some of the world’s finest leaders in the string world in a rare collaborative setting. You can see it now on the TASP website, and we will be releasing the entire video on the podcast next week as well.
One of our most popular offerings on Contrabass Conversations since its inception has been Barry’s interview with Gary Karr for his Barry Lieberman and Friends series at the University of Washington. You’re in for a real treat if you haven’t seen this in the past–check it out!
We’ve featured a great deal of String Project music on both the blog and the podcast–so much in fact, that I decided to put together a PDF listing everything that we’ve used (in some fashion) here:
American String Project music featured on doublebassblog.org.pdf
Today’s episode features an excerpt from the String Quartet Op. 18, No. 4 Mvt. 4 (Allegro) by Beethoven and the complete Allegro Non Troppo movement from the String Quartet #3 In F, Op. 73 by Shostakovich. You can also check out all the works that the String Project has performed on their page within doublebassblog.org.
In addition to his musical pursuits, Barry has a passion for mid-20th century furniture, and we’ve included several photos below that show his furnishings from this period (click “read more” if you don’t see the photos):
We’re featuring videos from double bassist Donovan Stokes on Contrabass Conversations this week. A former guest of the podcast, Donovan performs a diverse range of styles and is always surprising me every time I hear him. The following video features Donovan’s own composition Marine Layer and his quartet version of Purple Haze. Enjoy!
We’re featuring a quick update and some performances from from double bassist Colin Corner, a previous CBC guest. When we first interviewed Colin back in 2007 he was performing in the Minnesota Orchestra, but he now serves as principal bass of the Rochester Philharmonic.
In addition to his orchestral duties, Colin maintains an active career as a composer and jazz bassist, and he currently performs with the modern jazz trio Blood Electric (DeVon Gray, keys; Peter Leggett, drums; Colin Corner, bass). Learn more about Colin at his website colincornermusic.com.
Tracks featured:
We’re featuring an interview with double bassist Jiri Slavik on Contrabass Conversations this week. Jiri is an extremely accomplished bassist in both jazz and classical styles, as you can see from his biography below, and he gave a truly mesmerizing performance at the 2009 International Society of Bassists Convention. This interview took place just as Jiri was about to leave for Europe, and I feel fortunate to have gotten the chance to chat with him on his first visit to the United States!
After the interview, we feature a track titled “Coesistenza” from Jiri’s album Repose. This track also features pianist Fred Thomas (iTunes link). Learn more about Jiri at myspace.com/jirislavikmusic.
Jiri Slavik was born in Havirov, Czech Republic, into a teacher’s family with a strong musical tradition. As a child he played the violin, which he exchanged for the double bass around age 13. A year later he moved to Rome, Italy, where he attended St Stephen’s School and eventually also the Santa Cecilia Conservatoire (Massimo Giorgi’s double bass class). In the summer of 2004 he graduated from both of these institutions, always with the highest attainable marks (the seven-year long double bass course at the conservatoire took him three years to finish).
After having been offered a full scholarship from the Royal Academy of Music, Jiri moved to London, UK, to pursue his studies, first in classical double bass with Duncan McTier, later on in jazz composition with Barak Schmool. After three years he finished the four years long programme with “First Class Honours”.
Since August 2007 he lives as a freelance musician and a composer in Paris, France. He has attended masterclasses under the direction of jazz celebrities such as Dave Holland, Jeff „Tain“ Watts, Larry Grenadier, Jeff Ballard, Kenny Wheeler or contemporary music authorities like Pierre Laurent-Aimard or Peter Maxwell Davies. During his years at the Academy he was the first double bassist of the Concert Orchestra under the direction of Colin Davis or a chosen soloist at the Paganini Festival (2006). With the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris he played Bach’s St Matthew Passion in the Notre Dame or performed in the Théâtre des Champs-Elyseés.
As a soloist he has appeared in the Santa Cecilia hall of the auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome or in a program of the Czech Television Koncert na kurtech. With pianist Fred Thomas he made two live recordings for the Czech Radio, as well as the album Repose (F-IRE label, London). His music is in an independant German film production “Oury Jalloh” (www.ouryjalloh-derfilm.de), which won the German Human Rights Film prize, category amateur film, for 2008.
We’re featuring composer and bassist P. Kellach Waddle on this week’s Contrabass Conversations episode. Actually, we have chatted about doing an interview since 2007, and we got a chance to do so at the 2009 International Society of Bassists Convention. P. Kellach Waddle has had a great deal of recognition as a composer, and he has written numerous works for solo bass or featuring the bass in a prominent role. I think you’ll really enjoy this interview we did back in June!
We’re also featuring P. Kellach Waddle performing his own composition “Sonata in Two Movements” for solo bass after the interview segment.
Two time Pulitzer-Prize nominated composer P. Kellach Waddle maintains an active career not only as a composer but also as a bassist, conductor and writer. With nearly 450 performances of his music by the end of the ‘05-’06 season, and a list of completed works now numbering over 220 , Mr. Waddle continues to maintain a career as one of the most performed and prolific composers of his generation. His works have been performed in 38 states and in 14 countries on 4 continents and radio features/interviews with him have been heard on classical radio stations in Texas, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee and Ohio. A performance by Mr. Waddle of his Op. 1 #1, the bass caprice De Salones Espanoles, marked the first hearing of his music on National Public Radio as part of its Music From Roundtop Series in 1993.
Complete bio for P. Kellach Waddle
Other links:
Main Publicity: www.wyattbrandf.com Auxiliary Publicity: www.axiosstudios.com Other Recordings: www.classicallounge.com
We’re featuring an interview with Los Angeles Philharmonic bassist and University of Southern California bass instructor David Allen Moore on the podcast this week. David also teaches bass during the summer at the Domaine Forget program in Quebec. In this interview, we chat about his early years on the instrument, teachers that have influenced him, his time in the Houston Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic, challenges of learning repertoire for a professional orchestra, his studies with François Rabbath, German and French bow differences, and many other topics.
After the interview, we feature a track of David playing the Bohemian Dance from Frank Proto’s Carmen Fantasy. Enjoy!
DAVID ALLEN MOORE, the newest member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s bass section, joined the orchestra in January 2000 and was appointed to the 4th chair in October 2000. He graduated in 1993 from the University of Southern California, where he studied with Dennis Trembly, Paul Ellison, and John Clayton. Moore continued his studies in Boston, working privately with BSO principal bass Edwin Barker.
Moore performed as a substitute with the Los Angeles Philharmonic during the 1995/96 season, after which he was a member of the Houston Symphony bass section under maestro Christoph Eschenbach, from 1996 to 1999.
Moore has participated in numerous festivals including Tanglewood, the Grand Teton Music Festival, Mainly Mozart, and Kent/Blossom Summer Music Festival. He is an active chamber musician, having performed in the Houston area with the Greenbriar Consortium, and in Los Angeles with the Philharmonic’s New Music Group. He was also a featured clinician at the 1999 Texas Double Bass Symposium. Moore currently is on the faculty of the University of Southern California.
We’re featuring a guest interview by bassist Tim Wolfe, Jr. interviewing his former teacher Jim Miller about Art Davis. Tim and Jim discuss Art Davis’ life, career, and pedagogical approach. They discuss Art’s book and his four-finger approach to the double bass, among other subjects.
We’re also featuring excerpts from “Duo,” a track from the Art Davis Quartet album Life and featuring Art Davis, John Hicks, Idris Muhammad & Pharoah Sanders. This album (along with other music from Art’s considerable career) is available through iTunes.
Tim also created a timeline (PDF) detailing milestones in Art’s career:
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