Jazz Bassists – Page 21

203: Adam Ben Ezra on YouTube fame, looping, and percussive techniques

photo credit: Paolo Galetta

Today we are featuring Adam Ben Ezra, who has exploded onto the double bass scene in recent years with his unique musical voice. Adam combines elements of Arabic music, Latin drumming, American pop, looping, and many other styles to form his own craft. He has become quite popular on YouTube, and his videos are fun and visually compelling. To me, Adam is an example of what I find so exciting about the bass world right now. He’s taking the instrument in fascinating new directions, he’s pushing the boundaries of technique, and he’s changing the very perception of the instrument.

I’d also like to welcome back our sponsor Discover Double Bass and let you know about their new double bass scales package. 17 different scale types are covered in all 12 keys, over one and two octaves, along with backing tracks. Geoff Chalmers does an excellent job with these tools, which are clear, concise, and built to benefit your playing regardless of your current level. Look for this course to launch in the next week, and check out Geoff’s many other offerings at discoverdoublebass.com/store.

We’re featuring excerpts from several of Adam’s songs:

Can’t Stop Running
Elohima
Flamenco
ConTraBajo (this video features the woman baking in the background)
Dexter
Double Bass Projection and Mapping

Adam has become well-known for his drum’n’bass technique, which you will hear through all of these excerpts, and he offers a video lesson series on this technique as well as transcriptions of several of his tunes. We have links to these in the show notes, and learn more about Adam’s music, tour dates, his upcoming master class project, and much more at adambenezra.com.

202: Chuck Israels on rhythm, amplification and jazz education

Jazz bass legend Chuck Israels is our guest on today’s episode

Today’s guest is jazz bass legend Chuck Israels. We start by covering more familiar topics like meeting Charlie Mingus, playing with Bill Evans, Bill’s use of rhythm, the importance of having concrete and specific role models, and then go deep into topics like Balinese wood carving (the time it takes to get good) – not creating your own artistic world without the traditions that preceded you, the perils of the “parallel case”, and commonalities among how great artists approach their craft.

Chuck has just released a new album on Dot Time Records titled Garden of Delights. We’ll be featuring a few clips from the first three tracks of this album: The Skipping Tune, Garden of Delights, and Mingus.

I’d also like to welcome back our sponsor Discover Double Bass! Their beginner’s course is arranged into 43 sequential HD video lessons arranged into eight chapters that cover everything from choosing your first instrument to the essentials of technique. You can check out this course as well as many other offerings at discoverdoublebass.com/store.

188: Ron Carter on technical development, an orchestral foundation, and developing the next generation of music lovers

Jazz bass legend Ron Carter is featured on today’s podcast episode

I am thrilled to feature Ron Carter today on the podcast. If is one bassist in the world that truly needs no introduction, it’s Ron. Ron recently received the Guinness World Record title for most recorded jazz bassist in history, with well over 2200 recording credits to his name. From his work with the Miles Davis Quintet in the 1960s to his collaborations with musicians like Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Hank Jones, his numerous projects as a bandleader, and his work outside of the jazz realm with artists like Billy Joel and A Tribe Called Quest, Ron has truly shaped our conception of the sound of the double bass.

Ron has four books available:

Be sure to check out these books, and you can find the video for Ron Carter Live here. Ron’s extensive discography is available through this link.

I’d also like to welcome back our sponsor Discover Double Bass! They have a 4 hour course on creating walking bass lines, with 55 HD video lessons in a step-by-step order to help you to master the style of walking bass. You can check out this course as well as many other offerings at discoverdoublebass.com/store.

If you’re new to Contrabass Conversations and are a jazz fan, then check out our episodes featuring Carlos Henriquez, Rufus Reid, Larry Gray, and Eric Hochberg for more conversations with great jazz artists.

181: Carlos Henriquez on playing with Wynton Marsalis, developing a creative voice, and creating effective Afro-Cuban bass lines

Jazz at Lincoln Center and Wynton Marsalis bassist Carlos Henriquez

We are featuring Carlos Henriquez on today’s show. Carlos has been the bassist for the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for nearly 20 years, and he has just released his first solo album The Bronx Pyramid on Blue Engine Records. You’ll hear clips from the title track before and after the interview, and we have a link to check out the entire album, which I highly recommend, in the show notes. We talk with Carlos about growing up in the Bronx, meeting Wynton, developing Afro-Cuban bass lines, finding your voice, and much more.

Be sure to check out our sponsor Discover Double Bass! Whether you’re looking for lessons on walking bass lines, technical exercises, soloing concepts, or phrasing with the bow, Discover Double Bass has helpful resources to get you to the next level in your craft. You can check out over 70 free lessons and much more at discoverdoublebass.com.

About Carlos:

Carlos Henriquez was born in 1979 in the Bronx, New York. He studied music at a young age, played guitar through junior high school and took up the bass while enrolled in The Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program. He entered LaGuardia High School of Music & Arts and Performing Arts and was involved with the LaGuardia Concert Jazz Ensemble which went on to win first place in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival in 1996.

In 1998, swiftly after high school, Henriquez joined the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, touring the world and featured on more than 25 albums. Henriquez has performed with artists including Chucho Valdes, Paco De Lucia, Tito Puente, the Marsalis Family, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Lenny Kravitz, Marc Anthony, and many others. He has been a member of the music faculty at Northwestern University School of Music since 2008, and was music director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s cultural exchange with the Cuban Institute of Music with Chucho Valdes in 2010.

179: Douglas Mapp on successful freelancing, life as a jazz bass professor, and ISB insider insight

International Society of Bassists president Douglas Mapp

We are featuring Douglas Mapp on today’s episode. Douglas is the current president of the International Society of Bassists and is also on faculty at Rowan University, where he is professor of jazz studies and teaches double bass. He is also extremely active as a performer, serving as principal bassist of the Reading Symphony and Assistant Principal of the Delaware Symphony and he performs regularly with some of the regions premiere ensembles including the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Philly Pops, Harrisburg Symphony, and several other groups in the area.

Douglas and I had a great chat about a wide variety of topics, including the realities of making a living as a freelancer, what makes the International Society of Bassists conventions so special, and his company douglasmappmusic, which has for 20 years been providing piano parts written in keys that fit with standard orchestral tuning. Enjoy!

About Douglas:

Bassist Douglas Mapp is at home in many styles of music ranging from classical to jazz and Broadway to contemporary classical. The list of artists that he has performed, recorded and toured with includes Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, Donnie McClurkin, Richard Smallwood, Natalie Cole, Randy Brecker, Sean Jones, Ernie Watts, Lana Del Rey, Earth Wind and Fire, R Kelly, and Jeff Majors.

He is the principal bassist of the Reading Symphony and Assistant Principal of the Delaware Symphony. He performs regularly with some of the regions premiere ensembles including the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Philly Pops, Harrisburg Symphony, and has a twenty-year tenure with the Philadelphia based new music ensemble Relâche. He has performed as substitute bassist with the Philadelphia Orchestra both at home and on tour. He has performed as a soloist with many of the groups with which he performs, including his spring 2015 performance of the Bottesin Grand Duo Concertante with the Reading Symphony.

His publishing company, Douglas Mapp Music has been helping bassists to solve the age-old dilemma of solo versus orchestra tuning for over twenty years with piano parts written in keys that fit with standard orchestral tuning. He is president-elect of the International Society of Bassists and will chair the 2015 ISB convention at Colorado State University.

Mr. Mapp is a graduate of the University of the Arts and Temple University where his primary teachers were Neil Courtney and John Hood.