double bass podcast
Jason and Courtney at Tank Hill park right next to their San Francisco pad!
I will be moving to San Francisco this June! Major life changes taking place for the Heath household. I put together this podcast episode that explains the move–check it out!
This week’s episode contains a recital I did about ten years ago on the Karr-Koussevitzky double bass. I was thrilled to have this opportunity and thought a lot about what sort of repertoire would be best suited for a recital like this.
I eventually settled on a traditional program that I thought tapped into some aspect of either Gary Karr or Koussevitzky. Lyric Opera of Chicago bassist Greg Sarchet was kind enough to set this event up for me at Northeastern Illinois University in their gorgeous recital hall.
You’ll hear the following pieces on this recital:
It’s a live recital and has its share of mistakes for sure, but it’s kind of cool to get a chance to hear that bass, and it was certainly a great opportunity for me to play on a piece of history. Enjoy–more interviews coming next week!
This week on Contrabass Conversations, we’re bringing you rare footage of Serge Koussevitzky performing a few selections. Enjoy this trip back in double bass history, brought to you by double bassist John Grillo.
Previous Contrabass Conversations episodes featuring John Grillo include:
We’re featuring practice tapes from the hugely influential double bass performer and pedagogue Frederick Zimmermann on this week’s Contrabass Conversations episode. Co-host John Grillo unearthed and transferred these tapes of Zimmermann practicing, and he and I briefly chat about how these tapes helped to shape John’s concept of sound on the double bass. Enjoy!
About Frederick Zimmermann:
Frederick Zimmermann was an American double bassist and teacher. He played in the New York Philharmonic from 1930-1966 serving as assistant-principal and principal and taught at the Juilliard School, Mannes College of Music, Columbia University, Manhattan School of Music, and New York University. He is considered by many to be the most influential American double bass teacher of the 20th century.
Tim Shaffer, one of my colleagues in the Elgin Symphony, put together this quite entertaining video spoof of the shower scene from Hitchcock’s Psycho. Check it out!
