Podcast – Page 188

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.

201: Ira Gold on bow strokes, musical curiosity, and practicing techniques

National Symphony bassist and Peabody Institute faculty member Ira Gold is back for a “round two” interview!

We’re featuring National Symphony bassist and Peabody Institute faculty member Ira Gold on today’s episode. Ira was one of the very first interview guests for the podcast, and we spread it out over three episodes: 15, 18, and 43. This “round two” interview was conducted almost a decade after the first conversation, and Ira has been incredibly active with all sorts of new projects.

In this interview, we talk about physical fitness and how it helps with all aspects of life, making the transition to standing full-time, what Ira listens for on an audition committee, wanting to make music with people who share the same musical values, how being a “curious person” opens yourself up to new experiences in playing, practicing techniques, turning practice into puzzle solving, and many other topics.

We also talked about the three summer camps at which he’ll be teaching:

You can learn more about Ira and all his activities on his website. Enjoy!

200: Living a Fulfilling Life

Jason in Havana, Cuba just before turning 40

I’m turning 40 today, the podcast just passed a million downloads, I wrote a chunky blog post that resonated with a lot of people, and I just got back from Cuba. This is a different kind of episode where I share details on where I’ve been and where I’m headed in many areas of life.

If you haven’t read the above referenced post, check it out and you’ll find links to a lot of what I talk about in this episode. More “regular” episodes to come later this week.

199: Federico Marchesano and The Inner Bass

Italian contrabassist Federico Marchesano

This is an all-music episode of Contrabass Conversations featuring Italian bassist Federico Marchesano and tracks from his recent release on the Solitunes label titled The Inner Bass.

The first track, Piggy, features pedal effects and overdubs. We then hear Hakazehe, a traditional Burundi song that features the bass being hit by a wooden stick. We round out the show today with the haunting track Contrabutoh, which becomes true heavy metal at the end. Enjoy these tracks from Federico, and check him out online at federicomarchesano.com.

Links:

198: Todd Coolman new release

Double bassist Todd Coolman

This is an all-music of Contrabass Conversations featuring jazz bass legend Todd Coolman with some tracks from his new album Collectibles. The Coolman Trifecta is made up of Todd on bass, Bill Cunliffe on piano, and Dennis Mackrel on drums.

We featured Todd as an interview guest on the podcast back on episode 137, and Win Hinkle was our guest host for this interview, so be sure to check it out if you haven’t in the past. The album will be released May 26th, so this is a sneak preview of what you’ll be hearing from Todd.

Todd is also he author of The Bottom Line: The Ultimate Bass Line Book, and we have a link to this book in the show notes.

We feature three tracks today:

New Rhumba
Joshua
You’re My Everything

Enjoy these new tracks from the great Todd Coolman!