Interview Guests – Page 152

CBC 80: Peter Askim interview

We’re featuring double bassist, composer, and conductor Peter Askim on today’s episode of Contrabass Conversations. A former member of the Honolulu Symphony and an internationally acclaimed composer, Peter currently serves as music director and composer-in-residence for the Idyllwild Arts Academy. His Eight Solitudes for Double Bass won the 2002 International Society of Bassists Composition Competition. Learn more about Peter at his website peteraskim.com.

There are some excellent opportunities for high school bassists at the Idyllwild Arts Academy. Bassists study with Chris Hanulik (Los Angeles Philharmonic Principal Bass) and Jeremy Kurtz (San Doego Symphony Principal Bass) and recieve a great deal of attention from Peter as well. Learn more about this program at idyllwildarts.org. Enjoy!

CBC 79: Kristin Korb interview

Kristin Korb.jpg

We’re featuring the multi-talented and extremely engaging double bassist and vocalist Kristin Korb on this week’s Contrabass Conversations episode. Kristin and Jason chat about her early years as a bassist and vocalist, life growing up in Montana, her studies on the bass, and how she established herself as a jazz performing artist. We also feature a recording of Kristin performing her own unique take on the Ellington classic “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.”

Learn more about Kristin on her website at www.kristinkorb.com. Enjoy!

About Kristin:

Born and raised in Montana, Kristin grew up in a musical family and often presented concerts with her three younger brothers. Her passion for music eventually led to a bachelor’s degree in music education from Eastern Montana College. In 1992, she moved to San Diego to hone her bass skills with bass professor Bertram Turetzky, earned a master’s degree from the University of California (San Diego), and became one of the busiest bassists in San Diego. Kristin had a brief stint as director of jazz studies at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. After two years of teaching, she decided to follow her dreams and relocated to focus on her performing career based out of Los Angeles. She hasn’t looked back since.

Her debut CD, Introducing Kristin Korb, was on the Telarc label and featured bassist Ray Brown (Kristin’s main musical influence), pianist Benny Green and drummer Gregory Hutchinson. Guest artists included Conte Candoli, Plas Johnson and Oscar Castro-Neves.

Kristin tours internationally as both an artist and educator. Recent performances include concerts at the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) Conference (2004), the 2005 Playboy Jazz Festival at the Rose Bowl, the West Coast Jazz Party and Bass Encounters conference in Vienna, Austria. She was a featured performer and clinician at the International Society of Bassists Conference (2005) and is a member of their Board of Directors.

In addition to Ray Brown and Benny Green, Kristin has appeared with such artists as Bill Mays, John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Alan Pasqua, Carl Allen, Joe LaBarbera, Tamir Hendelman and Mike Wofford. Her own trio features Llew Matthews (former musical director for Nancy Wilson and Lena Horne) on piano.

Link of the Week:

Carmen, Full of Bull – Part I from Bruce Hembd

CBC 77: Dave Anderson interview part 2

We’re concluding our interview with the multi-talented bassist Dave Anderson on this week’s episode of Contrabass Conversations. In addition to serving as Principal Bass of the Louisiana Philharmonic, Dave is a prolific composer, active teacher, and electric bassist. He serves as Principal Bass of the Britt Festival Orchestra in southern Oregon, and he plays in metropolitan New Orleans and beyond in a variety of bands.

We began this interview on episode 75 of the podcast, and we also featured Dave’s music on Eclectic Bass episode 2.

Dave’s compositions span the gamut from solo double bass to full symphony orchestra, and his Concerto for Double Bass was commissioned and premiered by Hal Robinson and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He is a former board member of the International Society of Bassists, and his Capriccio No. 2 served as the required solo competition piece at the 1997 ISB convention. Check out Dave online at www.myspace.com/symphonyboy.

Scores to Dave’s compositions have been recently re-released, and you can now purchase copies online. Visit the following link to check out many of these compositions:

http://www.reallygoodmusic.com/rgm.jsp?page=composers2&compid=128028

Also, my co-host John Grillo has a recording of the complete Double Bass Duets by Dave with Pittsburgh Symphony bassist Peter Guild. You can check them out here (there are links to each individual duet through the following link):

https://contrabassconversations.com/2007/02/12/john-grillo-recital-showcase/

CBC 76: Jack Budrow interview part 2 and Peter Askim music

We’re continuing our chat (check out part one on episode 73) with Michigan State University and Interlochen Arts Academy double bass instructor Jack Budrow this week on Contrabass Conversations. In addition to helping place students in major orchestras across the globe, Jack has had a very distinguished performance career as a former member of the Houston Symphony, Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, and as Principal Bass of the North Carolina Symphony. Jack discussed several topics of great interest to double bass students and performers with co-host John Grillo and me, including:

musical leadership and qualities of good principal bassists
qualities found in good conductors
how music students are seeing fewer and fewer concerts
emotion in music – country music’s got it
limitations of rock music in conveying emotion
body maintenance and how to stay healthy as a bassist

We also feature music from double bass performer and composer Peter Askim. Learn more about Peter at his website www.peteraskim.com. Enjoy!Continue Reading …

Eclectic Bass 2 – Dave Anderson music

We’re featuring music from Louisiana Philharmonic Principal Bass Dave Anderson on this week’s Eclectic Bass episode. Learn more about Dave on his MySpace page, order Dave’s compositions here, and check out our interview with Dave here.

Tracks played:

“Teen Town” by Jaco Pastorius
“Surf Ride” from Yule Logs by Dave
“Schweik Fahrt” featuring Dave and Hal Robinson
Quintet Mvt. 4 by Dave featuring Sid King and the Kentucky Center Chamber Players
“Blew Cheeze” featuring Dave and pedal steel guitarist Dave Easley
“12-Tone Hip Bop” by Dave

Special thanks to The Bass Gang for our theme music