Contrabass Conversations

Today's episode features a conversation with Gary Upton, the founder of Upton Bass. Since founding the company in 1999, Gary has built it into one of the most established and trusted names in the wor…

Today's episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the 2025 International Society of Bassists Convention, taking place June 2-7 at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. FSU bass faculty m…

Melody Ruiz is writing a book about Thelma Terry, a double bassist and bandleader in 1920s Chicago. She documents her research process on Instagram and is crowdfunding the project through gofundme a…

Christopher Dammann is a Chicago-based composer and bassist whose sextet recently released its debut album.

Our conversation explores Christopher's journey from self-taught musician to Northwestern …

In today's podcast, we speak with Kathryn Schulmeister and Andrew Mell. Kathryn and Andrew joined the double bass faculty at the University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music in fall 2023, where…

Today's podcast features a conversation with Nina DeCesare about The Artemis Bass Initiative, an organization dedicated to advancing the careers of women and nonbinary bassists through mentorship, or…

Adam Ben Ezra is a truly original voice on the double bass, and each new project of his is fascinating in its own right. His latest album, a collaboration with Cuban drummer Michael Olivera titled He…

TianYang Liu currently teaches double bass at Beijing's Central Conservatory. He earned First Prize at the 2013 International Society of Bassists Competition and has garnered top honors in several ot…

Bruce Gertz is a jazz bassist, composer, and educator who has taught at the Berklee College of Music for nearly half a century. In addition to his numerous awards and recordings, Bruce developed musi…

Javier Martin is a double bassist, teacher, and YouTuber based in Madrid, Spain. He began his double bass studies at age 8 at the Arturo Soria Professional Conservatory of Music with Professor José A…

Jake Thurston is a double bassist, educator, and YouTube content creator based in Boulder, Colorado. In this episode, we explore the story behind his YouTube channel, share insights about creating en…

Join Barry Green, Frank Proto, Debbie Taylor, and special guest Maggie Cox at their Bass Club Cincinnati live event honoring Francois Rabbath. This episode includes Zoom tributes from Gary Karr, Paul…

Today’s episode features Brazilian bassist and educator Alexandre Piazza.  Alexandre was a bass teacher Saarbrücken, Germany and has a YouTube Channel with lessons on how to play acoustic and electri…

In today's episode, Yuka Tadano shares her musical journey. Starting with her current gigs, including a new Broadway show, "Swept Away,” and preparing for a cast album of "Suffs," she reflects on her…

This episode is an in-depth and inspiring conversation with 2022 Sphinx Competition winner Kebra-Seyoun Charles (they/them), a classical bassist and composer renowned for overcoming barriers and dive…

We take a look back at 2024 and discuss plans for 2025 in today’s episode.

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In this episode, acclaimed double bassist, composer, and arranger Sidney King discusses his busy fall filled with outreach events, master classes, and student recitals at the University of Louisvill…

In this episode, Roberto Cassani shares his journey into the world of improvised music and his latest project Music for the purpose of Joy, which provides group music sessions to children, young peop…

In this episode, New York Philharmonic principal bassist Tim Cobb discusses his journey from growing up in Albany with a musically gifted family to his renowned career in the New York Philharmonic.

T…

In this episode, I chat with Szymon Marciniak about his newly released album 'Lost Beauty: Music for Double-Bass by František Hertl and Contemporaries.' Szymon shares the recording process, the reper…