Contrabass Conversations

As the son of Dominic Duval Sr. (Cecil Taylor’s bassist for a decade), Dominic Duval Jr. grew up immersed in the world of avant-garde jazz.  Dominic attended the Eastman School of Music, working with…

It was a pleasure to connect with Cielito de Jesus and chat about the vibrant double bass educational scene she has built in Southern California! 

As the founder of the Rabbath Institute Los Angeles,…

What a pleasure to chat with Christian McBride for the podcast!  Christian just won his sixth Grammy for the Christian McBride Big Band’s new album Bringin' It, and he has a course available titled F…

Former Guildhall Strings solo double bassist Chris West has built a tremendous resource for learning thumb position, and he’s finally unleashed it upon the world.  Titled Reaching the Heights - Thu…

When I heard that Danny Ziemann was filming courses for Discover Double Bass, I couldn’t wait to sit down with Danny and Discover Double Bass founder Geoff Chalmers to learn more details about the pr…

Dan Carson is the latest member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s bass section.  I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Dan for over a decade.  He grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and worked with Andy Ande…

Dr. Jacqueline Pickett has built a remarkable career as a double bass performer, educator, and community activist.  From managing nonprofits to launching programs in the public schools, Jacqueline ha…

I had the good pleasure of spending time with Oregon Symphony and Grant Park Symphony principal bassist Colin Corner recently.  We did a deep-dive interview on auditioning, being a principal string p…

Today’s episode is a deep-dive into double bass strings.  We take a look at D’Addario’s Kaplan, Zyex, and Helicore strings and learn more about how these strings play, feel, and sound.

You’ll hear …

I’ve known Dan Chmielinski for over a decade, and it has been a real pleasure watching his career unfold.  Dan grew up in metro Chicago, and I had the privilege of being his bass teacher through midd…

Pascale Delache-Feldman has been a frequently requested podcast guest, and it was such a pleasure to get a chance to connect with her!

Pascale enjoys a multifaceted career as a soloist, chamber and…

I was first introduced to Melody Chia by our mutual friend Lauren Pierce.  Melody is located in Melbourne, Australia, and in addition to being an excellent bassist, she has worked for many years in …

I had the opportunity to spend some time with Chuck Israels during my recent trip to Portland, Oregon.  In fact, we even took a trip together to visit Seth Kimmel’s shop in Eugene!

Both Chuck and Se…

A podcast listener recently suggested that I re-interview Colin Corner about how he has managed to win audition after audition.  It turned out that I would be in Portland, Oregon for a couple weeks, …

Henry Chen and I go way back.  In fact, I remember meeting Henry at DePaul University over a decade ago!

At that point,  he had not had much orchestral experience, but he was a fabulous solo player w…

Volkan Orhon was one of my early podcast guests, appearing along with fellow Bad Boyz of Double Bass members Anthony Stoops, David Murray, and Paul Sharpe. 

I chatted with the Bad Boyz ten years ago…

This year’s Winter Olympics inspired podcast listener Steven Bingham to write in the following topic request:

“If I could suggest a future podcast topic, it would be "performance psychology" with a b…

Barry Green’s creative output is filled with surprises and unexpected new directions.  The last tie he was on the podcast, we were chatting with Barry and Jeff Bradetich about Anna’s Promise.

An art…

I was first introduced to Erik Higgins by orchestra director and bassist Jonathan Lane.  Jonathan passed along a mesmerizing video of Erik performing an improvised duet with clarinetist Kinan Azmeh. 

James Oesi is truly blazing new trails for double bassists worldwide.  Originally from South Africa, James spent several years studying in Russia before moving to the Netherlands. 

Over the past deca…