Contrabass Conversations

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We’re featuring double bassist Leon Bosch performing selections from his latest album on this week’s Contrabass Conversations episode. Titled Virtuoso Double Bass Vol. 2, this album contains a dozen works, both familiar and less familiar, from Giovanni Bottesini. You can purchase this album (as well as Leon’s other albums) from Meridian Records here, and learn more about Leon at leonbosch.co.uk.

Tracks performed:

• Nel cor piu non mi sento
• Final de la Somnanbule

Here’s another video of double bassist Dean Ferrell performing a set of assorted pieces from the 2009 International Society of Bassists Convention. Check out Dean’s Captain Tobias performance from 2007 or Ode to Per Questa from this year’s convention for more content from this excellent and multifaceted musician.

Video Download Link (100 MB)

I got a chance to record double bassist Steve LaSpina‘s performance at the 2009 International Society of Bassists Convention, and I was really blown away by his great bass playing and te energy of his trio.

About Steve:

Steve LaSpina has been a prominent bassist on the New York and national scene for over twenty years.   During that time, he has played and recorded with many great musicians in jazz history. He was a regular band member, toured and recorded with saxophonists Benny Carter, Stan Getz and Phil Woods, vocalists Joe Williams and Mark Murphy, trumpeters Clark Terry, Chet Baker and Randy Brecker, and guitarist Pat Martino. He has spent the last decade traveling around the world and recording with the legendary guitarist Jim Hall, has appeared on six of his recordings, including These Rooms featuring Tom Harrell.

Steve performs on a Wan Bernadel bass from the String Emporium, which is a sponsor for doublebassblog.org and Contrabass Conversations. We thank the String Emporium for their continued sponsorship and encourage folks to check out their instruments (they also have good deals on bows) if they like what they hear from Steve in the following video:

Video Download Link (266 MB)

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We’re featuring two tracks from U.K. bassist Leon Bosch’s new solo album The Russian Double Bass, which was released on Meridian Records this month. Leon has been a musical guest on the podcast twice before, and I really hope you enjoy this all-music episode of excellent music played by this wonderful musician.

Tracks Featured:

• Rachmaninoff Vocalise
• Glière Tarantella

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We’re concluding our interview with double bass soloist and University of Texas-Austin bass professorDaXun Zhang today, as well as featuring more tracks from this stellar musician. Check out episode 92 for the first part of this interview.

Along with the conclusion of our interview, we’ll be featuring DaXun performing a very cool Chinese piece for bass called Sun SHines on Taxkorgan. It’s available on his self-titled solo album, which you can learn more about at his website. DaXun is also professor of double bass at the University of Texas-Austin, so check out their website if you’d like to learn more about studying with him, and be sure to visit daxunzhang.com for more about this great artist. Enjoy!

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We’re featuring an interview with and music from double bass soloist DaXun Zhang this week on Contrabass Conversations. The winner of numerous prestigious solo competitions, DaXun is a true virtuoso, capable of a level of musical expression and technical dexterity rarely seen on the instrument.

In this first segment of our interview (which we will conclude next week), we discuss DaXun’s early years on the instrument, his studies at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, and his relocation to the Interlochen Arts Academy in high school. We intersperse musical selections from DaXun’s recent self-titled solo album into the interview in the following order:

• Invention No. 6 by J.S. Bach
• Invention No. 11 by J.S. Bach
• Capriccio di Bravura by Giovanni Bottesini

Learn more about DaXun on his website at daxunzhang.com. Enjoy!

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The first episode of our new all-music series Eclectic Bass is now available! Listen to it with the player above (click the play button, or click ‘play in popup’ to keep browsing while you listen), download the episode (right click and choose ‘save as…’), or subscribe to Contrabass Conversations to get all these episodes downloaded directly. Enjoy!

Featured Artists:

Frederick Charlton

Sarabande and Double from the Partita No. 1 from Bach on Fire

• website
• order album

Lila Horovitz

La Casa Nueva by Lila Horovitz and Contrebajeando by Piazolla from Preludio Del Primer Dia

• website
• order album

Bill Koehler

The Mirror from Journey2gether

• website
• order album

Theme song: ‘Don’t Break It’ by Antonin Bastian

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We’re wrapping up our interview with double bassist Peter Seymour this week on Contrabass Conversations. We began this interview on episode 53, so be sure to check this episode out if you missed it! Peter has performed for the New World Symphony and spent a season playing with the Cleveland Orchestra, and he is now involved with an exciting new trio called Project. This group is made up of Peter on bass, Eric Stephenson on cello, and Greg Patillo on flute. Learn more about Project at www.whatisproject.org.

This episode, we discuss:

Although Peter has focused on obtaining a position in a major orchestra for many years, he is now focused on creating new creative outlets with Project, and his decision to strike out on his own with this great trio is an example of musical entrepreneurship at its finest. Be sure to pick up a copy of Winter in June, the new release from this killer trio. Enjoy!

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We’re wrapping up the interview with Pittsburgh Symphony Principal Bassist Jeff Turner that we began on episode 26 of the podcast, plus featuring music from U.K.-based bassist Leon Bosch’s new album titled The British Double Bass on this week’s episode of the podcast.

We also feature bass news, listener feedback, shout-outs to members of the Facebook group, and a link of the week. Enjoy!

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This week we feature the first half of an interview with double bassist Peter Seymour. Peter has performed for the New World Symphony and spent a season playing with the Cleveland Orchestra, and he is now involved with an exciting new trio called Project. This group is made up of Peter on bass, Eric Stephenson on cello, and Greg Patillo on flute. Learn more about Project at www.whatisproject.org and stay tuned for the conclusion of this interview in the next few weeks.

Although Peter has focused on obtaining a position in a major orchestra for many years, he is now focused on creating new creative outlets with Project, and his decision to strike out on his own with this great trio is an example of musical entrepreneurship at its finest. Be sure to pick up a copy of Winter in June, the new release from this killer trio. Enjoy!

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