Contrabass Conversations

Contrabass Conversations

double bass podcast

1133: Bird Watching and Bass Lines – A Conversation with Jon Henriksson

Jon Henriksson is a Stockholm-based double bassist and composer who has become one of the leading voices in the contemporary Scandinavian jazz scene. Born in 1996 in Gothenburg, his path to the bass started when a high school big band director gave him just two months to learn the instrument for a Christmas concert. 

His 2023 debut album Harmonia placed second in Orkesterjournalen’s Golden Album readers’ poll, and his new album Shapeshifter drops March 20th, 2026, featuring a quartet with pianist Rasmus Sørensen, drummer Jonas Bäckman, and saxophonist Karl-Martin Almqvist.

In this conversation, Jon talks about discovering bird watching and nature photography during the pandemic as a counterbalance to musical life. He shares his compositional process of improvising at the piano and layering ideas on his phone, the Swedish folk high school system that’s created a vibrant jazz pipeline to Stockholm, and the jam sessions he hosts twice weekly at Stompin in Old Town. 

Jon explains how he writes music drawing from Brazilian influences, folk, and pop alongside jazz traditions, and why he wanted Shapeshifter to give space for his favorite musicians to express their personalities.

Connect with Jon on Instagram, and listen to his music on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.

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Theme music by Eric Hochberg

1132: Chris Jennings on Traveling the World with a Double Bass

photo Goffredo Loertsher 2019

Chris Jennings is a Canadian left-handed double bassist who’s been based in Paris since 2002, traveling extensively across jazz and world music projects to all corners of the globe. A D’Addario Orchestral Artist, Chris has carved out a unique niche playing in ensembles where there’s often no bass part written, working with artists like Nguyên Lê, Dhafer Youssef, and exploring the rhythmic complexities of Gnawa music.

In this episode, Chris shares the story of his game-changing Petite Double Bass made by Polish luthier Piotr Poludniak — a hand-carved, neck-off instrument that weighs just 12kg in its carbon fiber case and sounds remarkably like a full-size acoustic bass.

We also dive into his bow technique journey with Tom Martin and Edgar Meyer, his philosophy of being “in service to the music,” his travel productivity hacks, the polyrhythmic world of Gnawa music, and much more.

Enjoy, and connect with Chris on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube!

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Gear used to record this podcast

When you buy a product using a link on this page, we may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting DBHQ.

Theme music by Eric Hochberg

1131: 8 Weeks to the Jam Session – First Notes to Walking Like a Pro with Matt Rybicki

Matt Rybicki is a jazz bassist, author, and educator who helps bassists of all levels master jazz bass. Through his online courses and YouTube channel, Matt makes jazz bass education accessible to students worldwide.

His new course, 8 Weeks to the Jam Session: First Notes to Walking Like a Pro, takes beginners from their first notes to confidently walking bass lines at jam sessions.

Check out the new course here and explore Matt’s past podcast appearances.

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Gear used to record this podcast

When you buy a product using a link on this page, we may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting DBHQ.

Theme music by Eric Hochberg

1130: Bass is for everyone! Deep-Dive with Gaelen McCormick and Michael Geib

Join us for a conversation with two frequent podcast guests, Gaelen McCormick and Michael Geib, as they discuss their recent article Bass Is for Everyone!, published in the American String Teacher journal.

Gaelen is the Director of the Eastman Performing Arts Medicine Center and a passionate advocate for inclusive bass pedagogy. Michael teaches at the University of Central Oklahoma as a bass educator and is also President-Elect of his local ASTA chapter.

Enjoy, and check out this cool article here!

Connect with DBHQ

Gear used to record this podcast

When you buy a product using a link on this page, we may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting DBHQ.

Theme music by Eric Hochberg

1129: Rohan Dasika – Exploring Heritage Through Classical Indian Music

Rohan Dasika has been a double bassist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 2022. From a musical Melbourne family, Rohan started on piano, then played trombone and tuba before finding double bass in high school. He studied with Duncan Allen (Melbourne Opera, jazz), Sylvia Hoskin (MSO), Max McBride (Australian National University, Canberra), Damien Eckersley (Australian National Academy of Music), Hal Robinson (Philadelphia, 2015), Tim Dunin (Vienna Philharmonic), and completed a two-and-a-half-year orchestra academy in Frankfurt.

We dig into what it’s like playing in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the musical scene of this very cool town, diverse musical interests in the bass section (colleague Ben Lin’s jazz career), Melbourne’s arts scene and jazz festival, international training across Australia, the US, and Europe, exploring classical Indian music and family heritage, Pacific Music Festival (PMF) with Hal Robinson, and first teachers’ influence on musical identity.

Enjoy, and be sure to connect with Rohan on his website and Instagram!

Connect with DBHQ

Gear used to record this podcast

When you buy a product using a link on this page, we may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting DBHQ.

Theme music by Eric Hochberg