Contrabass Conversations

Contrabass Conversations

double bass podcast

1081: Bruce Gertz on sight reading

Bruce Gertz is a jazz bassist, composer, and educator who has taught at the Berklee College of Music for nearly half a century. In addition to his numerous awards and recordings, Bruce developed musicsightreader.com, an Apple Books publication designed to develop sightreading skills through duets, trios, and quartets.

We explore Bruce’s daily creativity habits, Berklee’s evolution over the decades, the unique challenges of teaching sightreading, and much more.

Enjoy, and be sure to check out Bruce’s website,  musicsightreader.com, and his great YouTube conversation with Claus Freudenstein!

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Upton Bass – From Grammy Award winners and Philharmonic players like ME Max Zeugner of the New York Philharmonic, each Upton Bass is crafted with precision in Connecticut, USA, and built to last for generations.  Discover your perfect bass with Upton Bass today!

1080: Javier Martin on his YouTube Channel

Javier Martin is a double bassist, teacher, and YouTuber based in Madrid, Spain. He began his double bass studies at age 8 at the Arturo Soria Professional Conservatory of Music with Professor José Antonio García Alamá. He continued his advanced studies at the Katarina Gurska Higher Center with Professor Karen Martirossian before pursuing his master’s studies with Ed Barker at Boston University.  He currently teaches at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón

We explore Javier’s background, what inspired him to start his YouTube channel, the challenges and rewards of balancing in-person and online double bass work, his plans for the future, and much more.

Enjoy, and be sure to check out Javier on his website, Instagram, and YouTube!

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Connect with us:

Thank you to our sponsor!

Upton Bass – From Grammy Award winners and Philharmonic players like ME Max Zeugner of the New York Philharmonic, each Upton Bass is crafted with precision in Connecticut, USA, and built to last for generations.  Discover your perfect bass with Upton Bass today!

1079: Jake Thurston on his YouTube journey

Jake Thurston is a double bassist, educator, and YouTube content creator based in Boulder, Colorado. In this episode, we explore the story behind his YouTube channel, share insights about creating engaging content, and discuss how he balances content creation with performing and teaching.

Enjoy, and be sure to subscribe to Jake’s YouTube channel and also check him out on Patreon!

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

Connect with us:

Thank you to our sponsor!

Upton Bass – From Grammy Award winners and Philharmonic players like ME Max Zeugner of the New York Philharmonic, each Upton Bass is crafted with precision in Connecticut, USA, and built to last for generations.  Discover your perfect bass with Upton Bass today!

1078: The Legacy of Francois Rabbath, from Cincinnati 1978–95 to the World!

Join Barry Green, Frank Proto, Debbie Taylor and special guest Maggie Cox at their Bass Club Cincinnati live event honoring Francois Rabbath. This episode includes Zoom tributes from Gary Karr, Paul Ellison, Hal Robinson, Dennis Trembly, Patrick Neher, Johnny Hamil, and many more.

This episode also includes live performances from:

  • Renaud Garcia-Fons
  • Sandor Ostlund
  • Tracy Rowell
  • Etienne Lafrance
  • Nina DeCesare
  • Hans Sturm
  • Ted Botsford
  • Nicholas Walker

Check out the entire livestream of this event on YouTube here.

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

Connect with us:

Thank you to our sponsor!

Upton Bass – From Grammy Award winners and Philharmonic players like ME Max Zeugner of the New York Philharmonic, each Upton Bass is crafted with precision in Connecticut, USA, and built to last for generations.  Discover your perfect bass with Upton Bass today!

1077: Alexandre Piazza on the “three worlds” of electric bass, jazz, and classical

Today’s episode features Brazilian bassist and educator Alexandre Piazza.  Alexandre was a bass teacher in Saarbrücken, Germany, and has a YouTube Channel with lessons on how to play acoustic and electric bass, equipment reviews, and videos about his life as a musician and music teacher in Germany and Brazil.

We dig into his experiences studying and teaching in Germany, the inspiration for his YouTube Channel, the “three different worlds” of electric bass, jazz, and classical, and how he approaches teaching young people.

Enjoy, and be sure to give Alexandre a follow on Instagram!

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

Connect with us:

Thank you to our sponsor!

Upton Bass – From Grammy Award winners and Philharmonic players like ME Max Zeugner of the New York Philharmonic, each Upton Bass is crafted with precision in Connecticut, USA, and built to last for generations.  Discover your perfect bass with Upton Bass today!