Contrabass Conversations

Contrabass Conversations

double bass podcast

479 : Dominic Duval Jr.

As the son of Dominic Duval Sr. (Cecil Taylor’s bassist for a decade), Dominic Duval Jr. grew up immersed in the world of avant-garde jazz.  Dominic attended the Eastman School of Music, working with James VanDemark and Jeff Campbell.  He has performed at venues like Carnegie Hall, Avery Fischer Hall, and many New York jazz clubs.

The classmate of former podcast guests Danny Ziemann and Eric Steffens, Dominic and I dig into all kinds of topics, like:

  • playing cruise ships (it can be a crazy gig!)
  • daily routines
  • the highs and lows of a music career
  • when to say yes to a project

…and much more!  Be sure to follow Dominic on Instagram to keep up with his career, and it was a pleasure having him on the podcast.

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 Zyex strings, which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut.

Contrabass Conversations production team:

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478: Cielito de Jesus

It was a pleasure to connect with Cielito de Jesus and chat about the vibrant double bass educational scene she has built in Southern California!

As the founder of the Rabbath Institute Los Angeles, Cielito has dedicated her career to teaching Vance-Rabbath pedagogy to middle and high school students throughout the Los Angeles area.  She works with over 60 bassists each week.

Cielito has worked with many of the world’s great bass teachers, including past podcast guests François Rabbath, Patrick Neher, and Thierry Barbé.  She’s a great person and is doing wonderful things for the double bass community.  Be sure to check out the Rabbath Institute Los Angeles for more information about this great event!

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 Zyex strings, which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut.

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:

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

477: Christian McBride

What a pleasure to chat with Christian McBride for the podcast!  Christian just won his sixth Grammy for the Christian McBride Big Band’s new album Bringin’ It, and he has a course available titled Fundamentals of Jazz Bass and Beyond.

Christian and I dig into all kinds of topics (including many suggestions from podcast listeners!), like:

  • the story behind his Benedict Puglisi bass
  • what Christian looks for in a bass setup
  • hearing Ray Brown play live for the first time
  • Christian’s heartwarming story about James Brown from The Moth
  • staying in shape on the road
  • working his bow chops

…and much more!

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 Zyex strings, which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut.

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:

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

476: Chris West on thumb position

Former Guildhall Strings solo double bassist Chris West has built a tremendous resource for learning thumb position, and he’s finally unleashed it upon the world.  Titled Reaching the Heights – Thumb Position on the Double Bass, it’s chock full of useful exercises and pieces that will have you navigating the upper reaches fo the fingerboard in no time.

Chris and I dig into all kinds of cool concepts in this conversation, including the myelination process detailed in Daniel Coyle’s book The Talent Code, the “secret spacing” that makes navigating thumb position much easier, and many other topics.

Chris is a great guy, and this book is a great read.  Be sure to pick up a copy!

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 Zyex strings, which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut.

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:

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

475: The Bass Player’s Guide to the Trio

When I heard that Danny Ziemann was filming courses for Discover Double Bass, I couldn’t wait to sit down with Danny and Discover Double Bass founder Geoff Chalmers to learn more details about the project.

Both Danny and Geoff are past podcast guests, and they happen to be two of my favorite people in the bass world.  This new course is called The Bass Player’s Guide to the Trio.  It’s set to launch on April 24th, and you will be able to pick it up at disoverdoublebass.com.

Learn more about what’s offered in this new course, what it’s like filming a course like this, what both Geoff and Danny like about the online course learning environment, and more!Continue Reading …