Interview Guests – Page 140

Learn Double Bass – new iOS app from Brian Johnson

Los Angeles Philharmonic double bassist Brian Johnson

Today we talk with Los Angeles Philharmonic bassist Brian Johnson, who has just released an app for iOS called Learn Double Bass. What a cool app! This app (currently free!) contains over 70 videos that clearly cover a specific bass topic. These videos range from the very first steps (tuning the bass, rosining the bow) to more advanced concepts like spiccato. In addition to these videos, the app contains a great number of helpful PDF resources.

Brian also teaches at California State University at Fullerton and at the Idyllwild Arts Academy, and he was a member of the Kansas City Symphony and Oregon Symphony prior to his current position with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It’s great to see this kind of quality content from a professional orchestra player. I can see everyone from a beginning bassist to someone gearing up for orchestral auditions benefiting from this app, and I think that teachers in particular (both classroom and private) will find this immensely useful.

Check out the app here, and follow along with Learn Double Bass on Facebook and on Instagram. Brian is putting out some great practice tips on Instagram as well as some excellent bass shots.

Here are a few screenshots to give you an idea of the app interface (these are taken on an iPhone):

168: Lawrence Hurst Interview (complete)

Former Indiana University and University of Michigan double bass professor Lawrence Hurst is featured on this week’s show.

We are featuring our complete interview with former Indiana University and University of Michigan double bass professor Lawrence Hurst on this week’s Contrabass Conversations episode. This interview was broadcast in the early days of this show in three separate parts, and we are pleased to present the complete and uninterrupted interview on this week’s show. This episode was co-hosted by John Grillo. Enjoy!

About Lawrence Hurst:

Lawrence Hurst began his musical studies on the piano accordion at the age of four. At 13, he started studying the double bass through the public school system of his hometown, Norfolk, Virginia. After serving two years with the Seventh Army Symphony, he started his professional career as principal bassist with the Dallas Symphony under Sir Georg Solti. He joined the music faculty at the University of Michigan School of Music in 1964. During his tenure at Michigan, he chaired the String Department and was Associate Dean and Director of the University Division of the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan.

In 1986 he joined the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana Universtiy and was the chair of the String Department from 1987 until 2012. In 1967, he joined the summer faculty of the famed National Music Camp (now the Interlochen Arts Camp) and has taught there every summer since. His students can be found in orchestras and musical venues all over the world, including the orchestras of Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Indianapolis, Atlanta, The Metropolitan Opera, St. Louis, and Milwaukee, to name a few. In 2005 he was given the American String Teacher’s Association Artist/Teacher of the Year Award, and, in 2006, the International Society of Bassists (of which he is past president) gave him the Distinguished Teaching Award. In JUne, 2013, the ISB also awarded him the Distinguished Achievement Award. He retired from the Jacobs School of Music in June 2012, whereupon his former students initiated an endowment scholarship and medal for double bassists in his name.

email: feedback@contrabassconversations.com

phone (call-in number–we’ll play your message on the show!): 415-952-5643

167: Scott Pingel on accelerated musical development, life as principal bass of San Francisco, and differences between conservatory and university teaching

University of Michigan faculty member and San Francisco Symphony principal bassist Scott Pingel

We’re featuring San Francisco Symphony Principal Double Bass and University of Michigan faculty member Scott Pingel on this week’s show. In addition to holding down the principal bass chair for the San Francisco Symphony, Scott taught for several years at the San Francisco Conservatory, and he served as Principal Bass of the Charleston Symphony prior to his appointment in San Francisco.

This was really a great interview, and it was a pleasure to connect again with Scott (we played together for the Spoleto Festival over a decade ago). You’ll learn a lot about how Scott approaches practicing for auditions, his interesting path to becoming a bass player, and the instruments and bows on which he has spent the last several years performing.

About Scott:

Scott Pingel began playing the double bass at age 17 because of a strong interest in jazz, Latin, and classical music. In 2004, at age 29, he became the principal bass of the San Francisco Symphony and was named by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the most prominent additions to the ensemble.

Previously, Pingel served as principal bass of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, performed with the Metropolitan Opera, the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, and served as guest principal with the National Arts Center Orchestra in Canada. His solo performances with ensembles such as the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Academy Orchestra, and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, and in recitals frequently consisting of his own arrangements, have been met with high critical acclaim. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with such luminaries as Yo-Yo Ma, Julia Fischer, Gilbert Kalish, Wu Han, Joseph Silverstein, Yefim Bronfman, and members of the esteemed Emerson, Miro, Pacifica, St. Lawrence, Danish, and Takacs Quartets. He can often be heard at the Music@Menlo and Music in the Vineyards festivals and on television and radio programs including NPR’s Performance Today.

Formerly active as a jazz musician and electric bassist, Pingel worked with greats including Michael Brecker, Geoff Keezer, and James Williams, and performed in venues from Birdland in New York to Fasching in Stockholm. Pingel has taught masterclasses at prestigious institutions such as the Curtis Institute of Music, The Julliard School, Colburn School, Boston University, Manhattan School of Music, Shanghai Conservatory, Beijing Central Conservatory, and the New World Symphony. Pingel’s primary instructors were James Clute, Peter Lloyd, and Timothy Cobb. He earned a BM degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a MM degree from the Manhattan School of Music, and spent two years as a fellow at the New World Symphony.

Outside of music, Pingel spent many years studying the ancient Korean martial art of Hwa Rang Do, in which he holds a black belt. He was an instructor at the Madison Academy of Hwa Rang Do and founded the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Hwa Rang Do/Tae Soo Do Program, which continues to this day. Pingel lives in Ann Arbor with his wife, Iris, and their daughters, Hannah and Sophia.

Vanhal complete performance with San Francisco Academy Orchestra

Scott’s “dueling banjos” cadenza video

email: feedback@contrabassconversations.com

phone (call-in number–we’ll play your message on the show!): 415-952-5643

166: Larry Gray on multi-instrumentalism, thinking in jazz, and the history behind Chicago’s Jazz Showcase

Larry Gray is one of the most versatile and creative bassists working in contemporary jazz.

We’re featuring an interview with bassist Larry Gray on this week’s episode. Larry’s multi-instrumental path has taken him through performance on guitar, flute, cello, and piano in addition to bass. Larry is in high demand as a jazz bassist in Chicago, performing regularly for decades at Joe Segal’s Jazz Showcase, and he teaches at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Enjoy!

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About double bassist Larry Gray

Born on Chicago’s south side, Larry Gray is considered by many to be one of jazz music’s finest double bassists. His impressive versatility and uncommon musical curiosity keep him in demand as both a leader and sideman.

Larry began his musical studies at the age of five when his father brought home an accordion and introduced him to his first teacher. Invigorated by this study, Larry added the guitar to his arsenal and studied piano seriously for many years thereafter. It was not until he was in his twenties that he decided to switch to the double bass. Larry went on to study classical music extensively, eventually adding the cello to his long list of loved instruments. His principal teachers were Joseph Guastafeste, longtime principal bassist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and cellist Karl Fruh, a highly regarded soloist and teacher. Under Mr. Fruh’s guidance, he received bachelors and masters degrees in cello performance from the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University.

Throughout his long and varied career, Larry has worked with numerous exceptional artists and jazz legends, including McCoy Tyner, Jack DeJohnette, Danilo Perez, Branford Marsalis, Benny Green, Freddy Cole, Benny Golson, Steve Turre, George Coleman, Lee Konitz, Bobby Hutcherson, Sonny Fortune, Ira Sullivan, Junior Mance, David “Fathead” Newman, Willie Pickens, Ann Hampton Callaway, Charles McPherson, Antonio Hart, Jackie McLean, Sonny Stitt, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Al Cohn, Randy Brecker, Nicholas Payton, Kurt Elling, Eric Alexander, Phil Woods, Jon Faddis, Roscoe Mitchell, Von Freeman, Wilbur Campbell, Eddie Harris, and Les McCann. In addition, he has collaborated with guitarists Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass, and Tal Farlow, as well trumpeters Donald Byrd, Harry “Sweets” Edison, and Tom Harrell, among others.

Larry continues to tour extensively, performing at jazz festivals and clubs around the globe, including the Umbria Jazz Festival, the Havana Jazz Festival, Rio Sao Paulo Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, ECM Festival in Bielsko-Biala, Poland, the Poznan Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, the Montreaux Detroit Festival, the Chicago Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Hollywood Bowl, Village Vanguard, Blue Note (New York and Tokyo), Kennedy Center, and the Ravinia Festival, with such jazz luminaries as Marian McPartland, Clark Terry, Nancy Wilson, Frank Morgan, James Moody, Larry Coryell, Louis Bellson, Barry Harris, Dorothy Donegan, Monty Alexander, Frank Wess, Joe Williams, Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show Band, Kenny Drew Jr., and most recently, Ramsey Lewis.

As a classical musician, Larry played several seasons with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, including a year as principal bass. He worked on many occasions with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under master conductors Erich Leinsdorf, Rafeal Kubelik, Carlo Maria Guilini, and Sir George Solti. He also was the featured double bassist with Lyric Opera for the world premiere of the opera Amistad.

Larry is an arranger and composer whose work has been widely recognized as uniquely melodic and exceptionally refined. His discography includes 1,2, 3,…, on Chicago Sessions, the solo bass record, Gravity, One Look, and Solo + Quartet, all on Graywater Records, as well as the Ramsey Lewis and Nancy Wilson collaborations Meant to Be and Simple Pleasures. He can also be heard on the Ramsey Lewis recordings Appassionata, Time Flies, and With One Voice, and the latest release, Songs From the Heart. Larry also arranged and produced the critically acclaimed CD, Django by Ferro.

Furthermore, Larry has recorded with Chet Baker, Curtis Fuller, Ira Sullivan, Lin Halliday, Willie Pickens, Nicholas Payton, Randy Brecker, Bunky Green, Bob Moses, Irish flute-whistle virtuoso Laurence Nugent, pop sensations Linda Eder, Dennis DeYoung, and Peter Cetera, and songwriter Michael Smith, among others. In addition, Larry is a first-call studio musician, and his playing can be heard on many commercial radio and television jingles and studio projects as well as the PBS television series, Legends of Jazz, where he can be seen performing alongside Jim Hall, Benny Golson, Chris Potter, Phil Woods, David Sanborn, Chris Botti, Clark Terry, and Roy Hargrove.

In addition, Larry’s original composition for double bass and guitar, Five Movements, was commissioned and performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chamber Ensemble at Symphony Center in Chicago. Most recently, Larry has composed two commissioned works for the Jazz Institute of Chicago. Tribute to the Bass Masters Suite was premiered at the Poznan Festival in Poland in 2008 to much acclaim. A second work, String Thing, was first presented in Chicago in October 2010 as part of the Jazz Institute of Chicago Jazz in Chicago series. Larry also completed a collaborative project with bassists Rufus Reid and Joseph Guastafeste that was premiered in March of 2011 in Chicago.

Larry Gray is also a dedicated teacher and is Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also served for many years on the faculties at DePaul University and Northern Illinois University. Active as a clinician at high school and colleges and festivals thought North America, he also coaches various instrumentalists in jazz techniques as well as music theory, sight-singing, and composition.

165: Ed Barker Interview (from the archives)

Boston Symphony Principal Bass Ed Barker

Here’s another popular episode from the Contrabass Conversations archives. If you haven’t check this episode out before (or even if you have), you’ll be in for a real treat as we explore the world of the double bass with Mr. Barker.

We’re featuring Boston Symphony Principal Bassist Ed Barker on this week’s Contrabass Conversations episode. Conducted by Contrabass Conversations co-host John Grillo, this episode features John chatting with Ed about his early years on the bass, his schooling and time spent in the Chicago Symphony prior to his appointment with the Boston Symphony, and in-depth look at articulation on the bass, and a discussion on practicing. We hope you enjoy this conversation with this modern master performer and teacher of the double bass!

About Ed Barker:

Edwin Barker is recognized as one of the most gifted bassists on the American concert scene. Acknowledged as an accomplished solo and ensemble player, Mr. Barker has concertized in North America, Europe, and the Far East.

Edwin Barker has performed and recorded with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, and with the contemporary music ensemble Collage, a Boston – based contemporary music ensemble, and is a frequent guest performer with the Boston Chamber Music Society. Mr. Barker gave the world premiere of James Yannatos’ Concerto for Contrabass and Chamber Orchestra and of Theodore Antoniou’s Concertino for Contrabass and Chamber Orchestra ; he was the featured soloist in the New England premiere of Gunther Schuller’s Concerto for Double Bass and Chamber Orchestra, conducted by the composer with The Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Barker graduated with honors from the New England Conservatory in 1976, where he studied double bass with Henry Portnoi. That same year, while a member of the Chicago Symphony, he was appointed at age 22 to the position of principal double bass of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His other double bass teachers included Peter Mercurio, Richard Stephan, Angelo LaMariana, and David Perleman.

Mr. Barker was invited to inaugurate the 100th anniversary season of the Boston Symphony Orchestra with a solo performance of the Koussevitzky Bass Concerto; other solo engagements have included appearances at Ozawa Hall (Tanglewood), Carnegie Recital Hall’s “Sweet and Low” series, and at major universities and conferences throughout the world, as well as concerto performances with the Boston Classical Orchestra, the Athens State Orchestra (Greece) and with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Boston and Europe. He was a featured premiere soloist with the Boston Symphony of John Harbison’s Concerto for Bass Viol and Orchestra at Tanglewood’s 2007 Festival of Contemporary Music.

Mr. Barker is an Associate Professor at the Boston University College of Fine Arts where he teaches double bass, orchestral techniques, and chamber music. His other major teaching affiliations include the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Music Center, where he is Chairman of Instrumental and Orchestral Studies.

Edwin Barker’s solo CD recordings include Three Sonatas for Double Bass, on Boston Records, James Yannatos’ Variations for Solo Contrabass, on Albany Records, and Concerti for Double Bass, on GM Recordings, which includes bass concerti by Gunther Schuller and Theodore Antoniou. Concerti for Contrabass also includes his highly praised performance of Tom Johnson’s Failing , which was recorded live at Harvard University’s Sanders Theater. Edwin Barker’s latest solo offering on CD is a recently released performance of James Yannatos’ Concerto for Contrabass with Collage.

This episode originally aired on June 6, 2009. Enjoy!