double bass podcast
We’re featuring a brief (10 minute) interview with Calgary Philharmonic bassist Matt Heller. Matt is an old friend of mine who, in addition to being an excellent bassist, is the author of the always interesting blog hella frisch. Matt also did extensive coverage of the 2009 International Society of Bassists Convention. It was a real pleasure to get a chance to sit down and do an interview for the podcast with Matt, and I hope you enjoy this chat between two bass bloggers!
We’re featuring a quick update and some performances from from double bassist Colin Corner, a previous CBC guest. When we first interviewed Colin back in 2007 he was performing in the Minnesota Orchestra, but he now serves as principal bass of the Rochester Philharmonic.
In addition to his orchestral duties, Colin maintains an active career as a composer and jazz bassist, and he currently performs with the modern jazz trio Blood Electric (DeVon Gray, keys; Peter Leggett, drums; Colin Corner, bass). Learn more about Colin at his website colincornermusic.com.
Tracks featured:
We’re chatting with Memphis Symphony Principal Bass Scott Best on this week’s episode of Contrabass Conversations. Scott is a close personal friend of mine and an outstanding double bassist in both solo and ensemble settings. We played together in the IRIS Orchestra of Memphis, Tennessee, and it is a real pleasure to feature him on the show.
Scott was one of the bassists involved in the ISB-coordinated commission of the John Harbison Concerto for Double Bass (complete video from ISB convention of this piece available here), performing the piece with the Memphis Symphony. Scott was also asked (along with Dennis Trembly and Volkan Orhon) to perform a movement of this piece at the 2009 ISB Convention, and we include the audio of Scott playing the third movement at the end of this interview. We hope you enjoy this interview with double bassist Scott Best!
Transition music by Antonin Bastian–his music rocks.
We’re featuring an interview with double bassist Jiri Slavik on Contrabass Conversations this week. Jiri is an extremely accomplished bassist in both jazz and classical styles, as you can see from his biography below, and he gave a truly mesmerizing performance at the 2009 International Society of Bassists Convention. This interview took place just as Jiri was about to leave for Europe, and I feel fortunate to have gotten the chance to chat with him on his first visit to the United States!
After the interview, we feature a track titled “Coesistenza” from Jiri’s album Repose. This track also features pianist Fred Thomas (iTunes link). Learn more about Jiri at myspace.com/jirislavikmusic.
Jiri Slavik was born in Havirov, Czech Republic, into a teacher’s family with a strong musical tradition. As a child he played the violin, which he exchanged for the double bass around age 13. A year later he moved to Rome, Italy, where he attended St Stephen’s School and eventually also the Santa Cecilia Conservatoire (Massimo Giorgi’s double bass class). In the summer of 2004 he graduated from both of these institutions, always with the highest attainable marks (the seven-year long double bass course at the conservatoire took him three years to finish).
After having been offered a full scholarship from the Royal Academy of Music, Jiri moved to London, UK, to pursue his studies, first in classical double bass with Duncan McTier, later on in jazz composition with Barak Schmool. After three years he finished the four years long programme with “First Class Honours”.
Since August 2007 he lives as a freelance musician and a composer in Paris, France. He has attended masterclasses under the direction of jazz celebrities such as Dave Holland, Jeff „Tain“ Watts, Larry Grenadier, Jeff Ballard, Kenny Wheeler or contemporary music authorities like Pierre Laurent-Aimard or Peter Maxwell Davies. During his years at the Academy he was the first double bassist of the Concert Orchestra under the direction of Colin Davis or a chosen soloist at the Paganini Festival (2006). With the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris he played Bach’s St Matthew Passion in the Notre Dame or performed in the Théâtre des Champs-Elyseés.
As a soloist he has appeared in the Santa Cecilia hall of the auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome or in a program of the Czech Television Koncert na kurtech. With pianist Fred Thomas he made two live recordings for the Czech Radio, as well as the album Repose (F-IRE label, London). His music is in an independant German film production “Oury Jalloh” (www.ouryjalloh-derfilm.de), which won the German Human Rights Film prize, category amateur film, for 2008.
We’re featuring composer and bassist P. Kellach Waddle on this week’s Contrabass Conversations episode. Actually, we have chatted about doing an interview since 2007, and we got a chance to do so at the 2009 International Society of Bassists Convention. P. Kellach Waddle has had a great deal of recognition as a composer, and he has written numerous works for solo bass or featuring the bass in a prominent role. I think you’ll really enjoy this interview we did back in June!
We’re also featuring P. Kellach Waddle performing his own composition “Sonata in Two Movements” for solo bass after the interview segment.
Two time Pulitzer-Prize nominated composer P. Kellach Waddle maintains an active career not only as a composer but also as a bassist, conductor and writer. With nearly 450 performances of his music by the end of the ’05-’06 season, and a list of completed works now numbering over 220 , Mr. Waddle continues to maintain a career as one of the most performed and prolific composers of his generation. His works have been performed in 38 states and in 14 countries on 4 continents and radio features/interviews with him have been heard on classical radio stations in Texas, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee and Ohio. A performance by Mr. Waddle of his Op. 1 #1, the bass caprice De Salones Espanoles, marked the first hearing of his music on National Public Radio as part of its Music From Roundtop Series in 1993.
Complete bio for P. Kellach Waddle
Other links:
Main Publicity: www.wyattbrandf.com Auxiliary Publicity: www.axiosstudios.com Other Recordings: www.classicallounge.com
