CBC 152: PsychoBass • 04.30.10
Tim Shaffer, one of my colleagues in the Elgin Symphony, put together this quite entertaining video spoof of the shower scene from Hitchcock’s Psycho. Check it out!
Special Features Episodes
CBC 146: Music in the Digital Age • 12.12.09
The following podcast is a recording of a panel discussion on the future of music from the 2009 International Society of Bassists Convention. It features:
Enjoy!
CBC 127: Harbison Concerto (video) • 07.13.09
We’re featuring a live performance of the Concerto for Bass Viol (sheet music link) by John Harbison. This piece was co-commissioned by 15 different orchestras and universities, all of which did a premiere of the work with their principal bassist or bass faculty member. This co-commissioning process was coordinated through the International Society of Bassists, and it is undoubtedly a model which will be frequently used in the future, as it is one of the most effective ways to commission a work from a “big-name” composer.
Here’s the complete performance of the concerto, with each individual movement being performed by one of the participants in the commission/premiere process. I was recording this on my Flip Mino cam at the very back of the hall (not ideal), so bear with the less than stellar video and enjoy this valuable addition to the double bass repertoire:
- mvt 1: Dennis Trembly (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
- mvt 2: Volkan Orhon (Universiy of Iowa – click here for his perf. at U of Iowa)
- mvt 3: Scott Best (Memphis Symphony)
By the way, the piano reduction and bass part for this work are available if you’re interested in performing it on a recital!
We’ll also be featuring a video detailing the commissioning process, and we’ve got an interview with Scott Best (who performed the third movement on this video) coming up. Stay tuned!
CBC 125: Dean Ferrell – Ode to Per Questa (video) • 07.06.09
Double bassist Dean Ferrell is a performer that you’ve got to see to believe. Putting a label on what Dean does in simply impossible–the best I can do is to call his performances historically informed alternate tuning performance art.
Dean did an hour-long performance at the 2007 ISB Convention featuring music from Captain Tobias Hume. This year’s performance is titled “Ode to Per Questa.” Enough said–check it out (approx. 45 minutes):
I have another half-dozen or so videos of Dean that I recorded on another occasion during this past convention, and I’ll be putting them out over the next few weeks as well.
CBC 122: Music School Choices • 06.20.09
The number of considerations a prospective music school student faces these days can be quite staggering–in this week’s episode, I try to give listeners a summary of the most important considerations in the quest for the ideal music school. Enjoy!
CBC 119: David Cardon and the Unfortunate Incident • 05.30.09
This week, we’re featuring double bassist David Cardon telling a bass-related tale that I find extremely amusing. I’d rather not give out any details beyond that–just check out this concise (less than 10 minutes) story from Dave. Dave is also involved with the excellent music publisher Discordia Music, which specializes in ultra-classy editions for the double bass. Check them out!
I haven’t done a whole lot of “story episodes” during the run of Contrabass Conversations, but I’m always itching to do more, so hopefully I’ll get some time to do so over the summer this year. You can check out the story episodes that have come out (which include my car explosion tale) below:
Audio from my appearance at Chicago Music Commission panel • 04.29.09
The audio track (about 1 1/4 hours) from the Chicago Music Commission‘s Musicians at Work forum in which I recently participated as a panelist was released a couple of weeks ago. Podcasters Jim Goodrich and Fred Wells, along with Gaper’s Block writer Graham Sanford and yours truly all participated an a Q&A about podcasting, blogging, and how to get started doing both with some sort of business-oriented motivation in mind. Hope you find it interesting!
I’ve done several blog/podcast/musical entrepreneurship events like this over the past few years, most recently for the Chicago Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) down at Roosevelt University. Though my blog and podcast tend to be more geared toward the classical side of things, I’ve done a lot of more general chatter about how this kind of stuff I do can benefit all musicians. It’s funny–I never set out to have a successful blog, but I now find myself with a popular music blog, a podcast (which feels like the most constructive thing I do online!), and a guy who manages a few other projects like these for different groups. In fact, I was sort of embarrassed that I had this site for a long time, but I continue to realize that life’s twists and turns can take you down the paths that you’d least expect.
CBC 100: Origins • 11.01.08
We’ve finally reached 100 episodes of Contrabass Conversations! In this special episode, we hear how many of our guests from our first two years of podcasting began playing the bass.
Today, you’ll be hearing excerpts from the following guests. Complete episodes featuring all of these guests (and many more!) can be found at the Contrabass Conversations website, along with complete biographies and links to guest websites:
1. Andy Anderson – Lyric Opera of Chicago
2. Phillip Serna – teacher and early music specialist
3. John Grillo – former New World Symphony, co-host of CBC
4. Bjorn Berkhout – composer
5. Kate Nettleman – principal bass of Hong Kong Philharmonic, newest member of Minnesota Orchestra
6. Weldon Anderson – freelance bassist and composer
7. Ira Gold – National Symphony
8. Francois Rabbath – soloist
9. Greg Sarchet – Lyric Opera of Chicago
10. Lawrence Hurst – Indiana University bass professor
11. Eric Hochberg – jazz bassist
12. Michael Hovnanian – Chicago Symphony
13. Rob Kassinger – Chicago Symphony
14. Jeff Turner – Pittsburgh Symphony
15. Ranaan Meyer – Time for Three
16. Guy Tuneh – soloist and chamber musician
17. Peter Tambroni – teacher and author
18. Colin Corner – former member Minnesota Orchestra
19. Brad Opland – Chicago Symphony
20. Scott Rosenthal – Theater/Broadway musician
21. Donovan Stokes – soloist and professor
22. Virginia Dixon – Suzuki bass
23. Peter Seymour – Project bassist, former New World Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra
24. Steve Reinfranck – luthier and teacher
25. Owen Lee – Cincinnati Symphony
26. Steve Rodby – Pat Metheney bassist
27. Lynn Seaton – jazz bassist, UNT jazz bass professor
28. Anthony Stoops – soloist and professor
29. Chris Threlkeld-Weigand – luthier
30. Barrie Kolstein – luthier
31. Dave Anderson – Louisiana Philharmonic, composer
32. Kristin Korb – jazz bassist and vocalist
33. Barry Lieberman – University of Washington, former L.A. Philharmonic
CBC 89: An Afternoon With Gary Karr • 07.26.08
We’re featuring Gary Karr, one of the all-time most influential double bassists, on Contrabass Conversations today. Hearing Gary Karr on record was a defining experience for me in my youth (as was the case for bassists worldwide), and hearing him live remains one of my most memorable double bass performances of all time.
The complete audio version of this video is available through the media player at contrabasssconversations.com (at the top of this post) and through the podcast feed for subscribers. You can watch the complete video below (1 hr 40 min) or download it through the following link:
This video is a magnificent tribute to Gary Karr. University of Washington bass professor Barry Lieberman interviews Gary as they listen (along with an enthusiastic audience) to recordings from various stages of Barry’s career. The video concludes with a performance from Gary and pianist Harmon Lewis, a rare treat from this retired duo.
Lear more about Gary Karr at his website garykarr.com, and learn more about Barry Lieberman and his project featuring arrangements of great chamber music that include the double bass at theamericanstringproject.com. We’ll also be releasing this complete video in segments on YouTube, so feel free to search for it there as well. Enjoy, and stay tuned next week for the first segment of our interview with Barry Lieberman, which will feature performances from The American String Project.
CBC 88: Guy Tuneh video episode • 07.19.08
We’re featuring a video episode of double bassist Guy Tuneh on this week’s episode of Contrabass Conversations. Guy has been featured many times on the podcast in the past, and it’s a real pleasure to hear his fine playing again on the show. This episode is being released in both audio and video versions. You can check out our previous episodes featuring Guy Tuneh in our archives.
We’re also featuring listener feedback, bass news, a link of the week, and much more. Enjoy!
Video not working? Click here to view it or download it.
