Contrabass Conversations

Dan Styffe is constantly pushing new boundaries and exploring new territory on the double bass.  He has been extremely active on a number of fronts since our last podcast with him back in 2017.

We c…

Nick Scales and I have known each other for years, and it was great to finally get a chance to sit down and do an interview.  Nicholas has been on the faculty of West Texas A&M University since 2005 …

Fausto Borém is the Grand Prize winner of the 2018 International Society of Bassists Research Competition. His document, titled Intonation in the Performance of the Double Bass, was presented at the …

I was introduced to Helen Svoboda by jazz bass mainstay and past podcast guest John Goldsby.  Helen is exploring a variety of interesting solo and collaborative projects on the bass, including her V…

Vassilis Papavassiliou presented a session titled Vibrato Revisited part 2 at the 2019 International Society of Bassists Convention, and we had the chance to sit down for a few minutes and explore so…

Documentary filmmaker and bassist Nick Wells has assembled footage from nearly 30 of the most well-known names in jazz bass, including Dave Holland, Larry Grenadier, Ron Carter, and Christian McBrid…

Bert Witzel is the latest addition to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra bass section.  He served as principal bass of the Louisville Orchestra for many years prior to winning an audition for his cu…

Michael Trowbridge is a former public school orchestra director and an active bass teacher, presenter, and author.  He is the co-author of Measures of Success for String Orchestra and the author of …

The third annual Melbourne Conservatorium of Music Double Bass Day and Competition will be taking place Nov 26th.  

Jason chats with University of Melbourne bass faculty Rob Nairn about the event.  …

Andrés Martín is a longtime friend and collaborator of mine.  Even though we regularly see each other at events like his Latin American Bass Festival, the Golden Gate Bass Camp, the International …

Elisa Janson Jones is an entrepreneur, author, educator and the founder of the International Music Educator Summit.  I was introduced to her through an appearance on Andrew Hitz’s The Entrepreneurial…

Brian Bromberg has been on my “to interview” list for years, and it finally happened in person at the 2019 Golden Gate Bass Camp. 

In this conversation, we talk about Brian’s early career, lessons le…

I had the pleasure of meeting Jean-Philippe Viret in person and interviewing him during Cielito de Jesus’ wonderful Rabbath Institute Los Angeles.  Jean-Philippe is one of the founding members of l’…

Valentina Ciardelli is one of my favorite young bass artists, and she and I share a passion for the music of Frank Zappa.  Valentina is launching her first CD, titled Zappa, Puccini, Tabakov, Ciardel…

Christian Dillingham is a longtime friend and musical collaborator of mine.  He and I played together in a bass quartet when we were both living in Chicago, and he has continued to develop an interes…

Erica Bramham is a critically acclaimed vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and composer from Melbourne, Australia.  She has recently taken up the bass and has been studying with Anita Hustas.  For her, …

Bassist and composer Ehud Ettun has been on a fascinating musical journey.  Originally from Israel, where he studied with Michael Klinghoffer, Ehud went on to  study at New England Conservatory.

He …

Lloyd Goldstein is one of my favorite people on the planet.  I’ve been a huge fan of his ever since chatting with him back in 2016 for the podcast.

Lloyd works as a certified music practitioner at t…

Departure Duo is an innovative collaboration between soprano Nina Guo and double bassist Edward Kass.  Eddie and Nina have dedicated themselves to performing, commissioning, and researching music for…

Amanda Rice-Johnston and I finally met in person after over a decade of being online friends.  She has a vibrant career as a double bass performer and a down to earth perspective on what a life in mu…