I had the opportunity to spend some time with Chuck Israels during my recent trip to Portland, Oregon.  In fact, we even took a trip together to visit Seth Kimmel’s shop in Eugene!

Both Chuck and Seth are past podcast guests, and I thought that a rebroadcast of my conversation with Chuck was in order.  Chuck and I dig into a wide range of topics, including:

• meeting Charlie Mingus
• playing with Bill Evans
• Bill’s use of rhythm
• the importance of having concrete and specific role models
• Balinese wood carving
• not creating your own artistic world without the traditions that preceded you
• the perils of the “parallel case”
• commonalities among how great artists approach their craft

Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:

Upton Bass String Instrument Company

Upton’s Karr Model Upton Double Bass represents an evolution of our popular first Karr model, refined and enhanced with further input from Gary Karr. Since its introduction, the Karr Model with its combination of comfort and tone has gained a loyal following with jazz and roots players. The slim, long “Karr neck” has even become a favorite of crossover electric players.

D’Addario Strings

This episode is brought to you by D’Addario Strings! Check out their Helicore strings, which are are designed, engineered, and crafted at the D’Addario string factory in New York and come in orchestral, hybrid, pizzicato, and solo string sets.

Contrabass Conversations production team:

• Jason Heath, host
• Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing
• Mitch Moehring, audio engineer
• Trevor Jones, publication and promotion