Contrabass Conversations

Can a piece of music be cursed?

After hearing this tale of repeatedly bizarre circumstances surrounding James VanDemark's repeated Dittersdorf Concerto performances, you'll be asking that same questi…

This "best of" episode features composer, teacher, and bassist Andrés Martín.  Enjoy, and check out the original episode from 2016 here.

Native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, bassist…

In addition to being a bassist and working with artists like Elvin Jones and Miles Davis, Gene Perla is a composer, arranger, orchestrator, band leader, manager, booking agent, music publisher, recor…

This special episode is brought to you by The English Double Bass Book!  We speak with former podcast guests Thomas Martin and George Martin along with Martin Lawrence about this exciting new offerin…

I've been looking forward to chatting with Milton Masciadri for quite some time!

Milton is Distinguished University Professor of the University of Georgia and is a UNESCO Artist for Peace.  He has be…

I'm thrilled to be chatting today with Alexandra Scott!  Alexandra plays bass in the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and teaches at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, and she was a headliner fo…

It was great to chat with Scott Lang for the podcast!  Scott is a music education leadership specialist and public speaker with an inspiring mission: enroll one million new music students in our scho…

It was great to chat with Marlene Rosenberg for the podcast!  Marlene is a Chicago-based jazz bassist and educator and is one of the most active players in the local scene.

Marlen…

This is a look back an an interesting conversation from 2009 that podcast co-host John Grillo and I had about my book Road Warrior Without an Expense Account.  Today we take a look back at:

• what has…

We chat with frequent podcast co-host John Grillo about a new project called Orchestra Confidential.

This is a project that had been many years in the making, and if you'd like to be involved, contac…

It was a treat to sit down and chat with world music bassist Elsen Price for the podcast!  Elsen is based in Sydney, Australia and is incredibly active as a solo and collaborative artist.

It has been such a pleasure getting to know Charles Chandler since moving to San Francisco!  In addition to playing in the San Francisco Symphony, Charles teaches at the San Francisco Academy Orchest…

It is such a pleasure to bring you this conversation with Caitlyn Kamminga!  Caitlyn has had a fascinating journey through the music world, and we dig deep into her journey across the globe from New …

In this special episode, we chat with Kurt Morrow about the time he spent with Milt Hinton.  Milt's wife Mona asked Kurt if he would live in faculty housing with Milt.  Kurt shares some of these life…

I had a wonderful time chatting with Patricia Weitzel for the podcast!  Patricia is a dynamic and engaging performer and teacher, and we had a great conversation covering:

• competitions
• how a missed …

I’ve been captivated by the massive and multifaceted YouTube videos that jazz bassist and educator Chris Fitzgerald has been putting out these past few years. Today we dig into the hows and whys of C…

We're featuring thoughts and playing from the four 2017 Bradetich Competition finalists on today's episode:

• Szymon Marciniak
• Dominik Wagner
• Marek Romanowski
• Mikyung Soung

Check out all four of thes…

The Bassinova Quartet is a revolutionary new force in the double bass world.  They have turned heads worldwide with their stunning performances of traditional string quartet literature, and they are …

I had a great time talking with Kate Jones for the podcast!  Kate is a Suzuki bass specialist working in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford School District in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  She is doing remarkab…

Spending time with Jack Unzicker was a major highlight of my trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  Jack is an assistant professor at The University of Texas at Arlington and is one of the most profess…