Contrabass Conversations

Luke Stewart is a DC/NYC-based musician and organizer of important musical presentations and has a strong presence in the national and international Improvised Music community. He was profiled in the…

Daniel Spreadbury is the Product Marketing Manager for Steinberg’s professional scoring application Dorico. Before joining Steinberg, Daniel and many members of the Dorico team worked for many years …

Nicholas Walker faced a vastly different school environment upon returning from his sabbatical from Ithaca College this fall, and he has found several innovative ways to use online teaching to enhanc…

When Gary Karr reached out to me asking about a piece of software named JackTrip, I was determined to learn more about it and share my findings with the bass community.  I soon found myself on the N…

When Gary Karr reached out to me asking about a piece of software named JackTrip, I was determined to learn more about it and share my findings with the bass community.  I soon found myself on the N…

Jason Haaheim, principal timpanist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, joins us again on this episode to dig into one specific topic:

What’s the value of music school?

Instead of going to music scho…

Zach Finkelstein and Dana Lynne Varga turned a lot of heads earlier this year with their co-authored article An Impossible Choice: Music Majors, COVID-19, and an Uncertain Future.

We dig into this …

Derrick Hodge’s latest Blue Note solo album Color of Noize is incredible and is the latest chapter in his multifaceted artistic life.  Since releasing the album, which was co-produced by Don Was, it…

Linda May Han Oh’s 2019 album Aventurine on Biophilia Records recently received the award “Best New Work - Jazz” from Art Music Awards, and it’s the latest in a series of wide-ranging projects from t…

With the Bass in Mind the debut solo album from Jeff Picker, is being released on October 9th.  This album reimagines the contemporary string band, drawing on the harmonic, metric, and improvisationa…

Honesty Pill is the project of Christopher Still, a trumpet player with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Chris creates focused, actionable plans that help musicians and other creatives address the issue…

Adam Booker and Miles Brown are launching a new 14 and under jazz competition for the 2021 International Society of Bassists Convention in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Miles and Adam share details on this shor…

Ian Hallas has had quite a journey on the road to his position as Principal Bass of the Lyric Opera Orchestra.  We first spoke for the podcast in early 2016 after winning a section bass position, an…

Musicians for the World is a non-profit incorporated in the spring of 2020 to give free musical education to students in need globally. So far, they have over 150 students in Haiti, Peru, and Mexico.

Fumi Tomita just released a new album called Celebrating Bird: A Tribute To Charlie Parker.  This new release from Fumi explores the ideas of Bird in a fresh and creative way.

We dig into all kinds…

Chris Lightcap is a bassist and composer with over 80 album credits and six critically acclaimed albums of original music.  Chris is known for his work with Marc Ribot, Regina Carter, Craig Taborn, a…

Here's a deep-dive into the process I used to plan for my Beginner's Classical Bass course on Discover Double Bass.

Get course for 25% off until Sunday September 27 by following this link: https://bi…

Heidi Kay Begay is the host of the Flute 360 Podcast as well as a flutist, teacher, and non-profit organizer.  She and I connected to talk about all things podcasting, and she cross-posted this conve…

I’ve had the good fortune to work with Alan Lewine on the International Society of Bassists board for several years, and his artistic journey has always seemed fascinating to me.  The recent release …

Tomoya Amori is truly one of the most well-rounded musicians I’ve ever met.  Not only is he an incredible bass player, but he also subs as a percussionist in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and has …