Contrabass Conversations

Contrabass Conversations

double bass podcast

470: Dan Chmielinski on Jazz at Juilliard

I’ve known Dan Chmielinski for over a decade, and it has been a real pleasure watching his career unfold.  Dan grew up in metro Chicago, and I had the privilege of being his bass teacher through middle and high school.   

Dan started playing bass at age 3 with Virginia Dixon, and he has one of the most natural and fluid approaches to the bass that I’ve ever seen.  After high school, Dan attended Juilliard for for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, whee he studied with Ron Carter.

Dan has toured the world, performing with artists such as Joey Alexander, Wynton Marsalis, The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and Jeff “Tain” Watts.  His main project right now is Four by Four.  Here’s a link to their trailer on YouTube.

We dig into all kinds of topics:

  • what the Juilliard jazz studies audition is like (hint: it’s intense!)
  • the Richard Davis Foundation Conference – Dan attended as a student from ages 3-18, and he is now a faculty member
  • teaching for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz for Young People Program
  • the focus required to develop a career as a New York City jazz bassist
  • advice for younger musicians

Be sure to follow Dan on Instagram to keep up to date with his latest activities!

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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.

A440 Violin Shop

An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440‘s commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools.

Contrabass Conversations production team:

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467: Chuck Israels on Bill Evans and a life in music

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

Listen to Contrabass Conversations with our free app for iOS, Android, and Kindle!

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:

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

423: Ron Carter (from the archives)

This “best of” episode features composer, teacher, and bassist Ron Carter.  Enjoy, and check out the original episode from 2016 here.

About Ron Carter

Ron Carter is among the most original, prolific, and influential bassists in jazz. With more than 2,000 albums to his credit, he has recorded with many of music’s greats: Tommy Flanagan, Gil Evans, Lena Horne, Bill Evans, B.B. King, the Kronos Quartet, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, and Bobby Timmons. In the early 1960s he performed throughout the United States in concert halls and nightclubs with Jaki Byard and Eric Dolphy.

He later toured Europe with Cannonball Adderley. From 1963 to 1968, he was a member of the classic and acclaimed Miles Davis Quintet. He was named Outstanding Bassist of the Decade by the Detroit News, Jazz Bassist of the Year by Downbeat magazine, and Most Valuable Player by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. In 1993 Ron Carter earned a Grammy award for Best Jazz Instrumental Group, the Miles Davis Tribute Band and another Grammy in 1998 for Call ‘Sheet Blues’, an instrumental composition from the film ‘Round Midnight.

In addition to scoring and arranging music for many films, including some projects for Public Broadcasting System, Carter has composed music for A Gathering of Old Men, starring Lou Gosset Jr., The Passion of Beatrice directed by Bertrand Tavernier, and Blind Faith starring Courtney B. Vance. Carter shares his expertise in the series of books he authored, among which are Building Jazz Bass Lines and The Music of Ron Carter; the latter contains 130 of his published and recorded compositions.

Carter earned a bachelor of music degree from the Eastman School in Rochester and a master’s degree in double bass from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He has also received four honorary doctorates, from the New England Conservatory of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, and was the 2002 recipient of the prestigious Hutchinson Award from the Eastman School at the University of Rochester. Most recently he was honored by the French Minister of Culture with France’s premier cultural award–the medallion and title of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, given to those who have distinguished themselves in the domain of artistic or literary creation and for their contribution to the spread of arts and letters in France and the world.

Carter has lectured, conducted, and performed at clinics and master classes, instructing jazz ensembles and teaching the business of music at numerous universities. He was Artistic Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Studies while it was located in Boston and, after 18 years on the faculty of the Music Department of The City College of New York, he is now Distinguished Professor Emeritus although, as a performer, he remains as active as ever.

Check out more jazz-related episodes here!

Contrabass Conversations is sponsored by:

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418: Gene Perla on Elvin Jones, Broadway, and the business of music

In addition to being a bassist and working with artists like Elvin Jones and Miles Davis, Gene Perla is a composer, arranger, orchestrator, band leader, manager, booking agent, music publisher, record company executive, producer, Broadway sound designer, and much more.

Gene and I engage in a delightful and insightful conversation about how the music business has changed and where it’s headed.

More About Gene:

Gene Perla was raised in New Jersey where he studied classical piano and trombone. After attending Berklee School of Music he moved to New York and began his musical career as a jazz bassist. He has performed and/or recorded with Chick Corea, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Elvin Jones, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Chuck Mangione, Joni Mitchell, Buddy Rich, Sonny Rollins, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Stone Alliance, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, and others.Continue Reading …