Contrabass Conversations

It was great to chat with Miles Brown about what it's like playing with Alarm Will Sound, learning massively complicated music for this group, and how to be versatile in today's music world!

Miles ran the after hours sessions for ISB 2017, and he just took a new position at the University of Delaware after overseeing the jazz department at Oakland University in Michigan.

​Bassist, composer, performer and teacher Miles Brown comes from a musical family, and began playing the bass at an early age. He attended the Eastman School of Music for his undergraduate degree, earning a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Jazz and Contemporary Media. In 2003, he received a Master of Music in String Bass Performance from Mannes College of Music, and he earned a Doctorate in Jazz Performance from Eastman in 2012.

A versatile musician, Dr. Brown is the bassist for the new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, and he has had his compositions performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Dr. Brown has performed with Regina Carter, Dave Ballou, John Mosca, Bill Goodwin, Bill Dobbins, Ben Monder, Joe Magnarelli, Walt Weiskopf, Gary Smulyan, Sam Rivers, Steve Wilson and Harold Danko. In 2008, Dr. Brown was the interim Herbert Gussman Director of Jazz Studies at Cornell University. Since 2009, he has served as the jazz program coordinator at Oakland University. In this position, Dr. Brown teaches jazz band, jazz theory, arranging and jazz combos. He also teaches privately as Oakland's applied string bass teacher. Dr. Brown is excited to join the faculty of the University of Delaware as instructor of double bass and jazz in the fall of 2017.

• Miles' website
• Miles' University of Delaware faculty page
• Alarm Will Sound

A440 Violin Shop - An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools.

Bass Violin Shop - Offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome!

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Cleveland Orchestra principal bassist Max Dimoff and Time for Three bassist Ranaan Meyer are the new teaching team at the University of Michigan! Both Max and Ranaan have been featured on past podcast episodes as well as in my 2016 book Winning the Audition.

• University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, & Dance (Facebook)
• University of Michigan profile page on doublebassblog.org
• Email Max
• Email Ranaan

• Max:
  • Standing vs. Sitting
  • Practicing Technique
  • Winning the Audition
  • original 2009 interview
• Ranaan
  • Round Two Interview from 2017
  • original 2007 interview

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Where do you even start when you're talking with John Goldsby? I mean, this is the person who literally wrote the book on jazz bass playing with his groundbreaking work The Jazz Bass Book.

I've been reading articles by John in Bass Player Magazine ever since I picked up the instrument, and it was such a pleasure to chat with him for the show!

Since 1994, John Goldsby has been a member of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk Big Band (also known as the WDR Big Band or the Cologne Radio Big Band). From 1980 to 1994, Goldsby lived in New York City and was a fixture on the jazz scene there. He continues to contribute to the art form as a bassist, bandleader, composer, teacher, clinician and author.

Mr. Goldsby has written two other instructional method books, Bowing Techniques for the Improvising Bassist and Bass Notes. Bass Player magazine says, Bass Notes is an excellent resource for intermediate to advanced jazz bassist." The National Association of Jazz Educators says, Bowing Techniques should be a required publication for upright bassists!" Goldsby is a disciple and master of the Paul Chambers school of jazz bass playing, and spent many years perfecting his own style of arco (bowed) jazz playing. Through private study with Dave Holland and Michael Moore throughout the '80s, Goldsby codified and honed the techniques of arco jazz. Goldsby perceived a gap in jazz bass pedagogy in the area of arco technique, and published his first book Jazz Bowing Techniques for the Improvising Bassist in 1990.

Since 1990, John Goldsby has been a featured writer for Bass Player Magazine with his columns "The Tradition," "Mastering Jazz," and "Jazz Concepts." Goldsby has also written for Double Bassist Magazine, The Strad, and the International Society of Bassists Journal (ISB).

In 2009, Goldsby was awarded the International Society of Bassists Special Recognition Award for Scholarship, a biennial award recognizing players and scholars who contribute their special talents, knowledge and support to furthering ISB ideals. Goldsby received jazz performance grants from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1988, 1990, and 1993. The "John Goldsby Plays Oscar Pettiford" concert, which was funded by the 1990 grant received much critical acclaim from the New York Times, Jazz Times, and the Village Voice.

• Part 1 - life in the WDR Big Band and the experience of moving from New York City to Cologne
• Part 2 - why John is inspired to write books and articles and what this has done for his bass playing
• Part 3 - the concept of being a follower, developer, or innovator and what John would do if he wasn't a musician

• John Goldsby's website
• Upright Bass Handbook, Truefire Video Bass Course
• John on Facebook
• John on Twitter
• Videos featuring John
  • "Plant Bassed" with WDR Big Band (bass feature)
  • "Two For The Blues" with Superbass — Christian McBride, Ray Brown, John Clayton
  • "Ligeti Split" trio with Jacob Duncan, Jason Tiemann
  • "Solar" duo with Peter Leitch (arco bass solo)
• excerpts from this episode are from the following Goldsby albums
  • The Innkeeper's Gun
  • Space for the Bass
  • The Visit

The Upton Bass String Instrument Company. Upton's Mittenwald model is a sister to their popular Brescian model. The contrabasses from the Mittenwald school are characterized by a high-shouldered gamba pattern with outside linings on deep ribs, resulting in a fine orchestral double bass. Our version incorporates all the ergonomic improvements and geometries found in other Upton models, with great flexibility in sizing afforded by the stout German pattern. The gamba pattern, especially when combined with a flat back, allows us to build this instrument in the 5/8ths sizing of the Kloz copy, all the way up to a large 7/8ths pattern built to lift a string section or push a big band.

Bass Violin Shop - Offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome!

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

It is an honor and a pleasure to welcome Orin O'Brien to the show! I've been hoping to have Orin as a guest for years, and I want to give a big shout-out to Chris Mathers for connecting the two of us!

We chat about numerous shared acquaintances, including Greg Sarchet, Miloslov Gajdos, David Grossman, Ira Gold, Ed Barker, Hal Robinson, Max Dimoff, Michael Hovnanian, Douglas Mapp, and Ron Wasserman.

New York Philharmonic bassist Orin O'Brien was born in Hollywood to parents in the film industry, George O'Brien and Marguerite Churchill, and received her early musical training in Los Angeles, where she studied with Milton Kestenbaum and Herman Reinshagen. She then studied in New York with Frederick Zimmermann and graduated from The Juilliard School, and is an alumna of the Music Academy of the West, now a partner in the New York Philharmonic Global Academy.

She has been a member of the New York Philharmonic since 1966, where she has played with the world's leading conductors. She has participated in numerous chamber music festivals, including Marlboro, and in first performances of the Gunther Schuller Quartet for Four Double Basses.

She co-chaired the double bass department of The Juilliard School for ten years, and currently serves on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music and Mannes College of Music. Her most recent chamber music performances were the quintets of Schubert and Dvorak with the Guarneri String Quartet.

• how Orin came to study with Fred Zimmerman
• how to play specific excerpts
• the switch from gut strings to steel strings and the premiere of the Gunther Schuller Quartet (these two events are interlocking)
• how Orin felt about being the first woman in the NY Phil (the answer will surprise you!)
• how to really be a good principal player
• what trips people up in auditions
• New York in the 50s
• Herman Reinshagen and the bass lineage of the 20th century the great premieres throughout her career
• how special Riccardo Muti is as a conductor, and what makes him special - one of the living greats
• what was special about the musicianship of Carlos Kleiber
• how a great conductor can use imagery to inspire the orchestra

• Double Bass Notebook - amazing book by Orin O'Brien
• Orin's New York Philharmonic page
• the Manhattan School of Music double bass program
• Orin O'Brien Tribute from ISB 2013 (arranged and conducted by Inez Wyrick and narrated by Kristin Korb)
• Felix Weingartner - On the performance of Beethoven's Symphonies (PDF)
• Women in Orchestras panel discussion with Orin - Brooklyn Museum
• the Miloslav Gajdos video Orin references
• Corresponding with Carlos: A Biography of Carlos Kleiber

The Upton Bass String Instrument Company. Upton's Mittenwald model is a sister to their popular Brescian model. The contrabasses from the Mittenwald school are characterized by a high-shouldered gamba pattern with outside linings on deep ribs, resulting in a fine orchestral double bass. Our version incorporates all the ergonomic improvements and geometries found in other Upton models, with great flexibility in sizing afforded by the stout German pattern. The gamba pattern, especially when combined with a flat back, allows us to build this instrument in the 5/8ths sizing of the Kloz copy, all the way up to a large 7/8ths pattern built to lift a string section or push a big band.

Bass Violin Shop - Offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome!

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

What is it about the energy of Nashville?

How has the technology surrounding us changed the way we musicians do what we do?

How does a person go from being down to their last pot of coffee to touring the world with the biggest names in their scene?

We answer these questions and much more on this episode featuring Todd Parks.

Todd is one of the most active bassists in the Nashville scene and has played with people like Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, James Taylor, Alison Krauss, Garth Brooks, and many others.

Todd has also served as the house bassist for prominent fixtures such as A Prairie Home Companion and Pelicula Films' Transatlantic Sessions 3 and 4. In 2006, while touring/recording with Jerry Douglas, he and fellow band members supported the Paul Simon Surprise tour. Todd has been touring and recording with mandolin luminary Sam Bush since 2010.

• Part 1- the creative energy of Nashville
• Part 2 - Todd's remarkable journey
• Part 3 - playing for massive crowds and the magic of the acoustic music scene

Check out more interviews with folks in the newgrass and acoustic scene here.

The Upton Bass String Instrument Company. Upton's Concord model is the first truly authentic New England double bass that they've made. Beautiful sloping shoulders (the same upper bouts as their Gary Karr Upton Double Bass), Busetto corners, Prescott ff-holes, flat maple back and sides (many grades available) with deep ribs (lined outside) and a deluxe spruce top combined with a finely detailed scroll, button and hand-cut tuners that pay homage to Prescott while keeping with their own highly-revered and uniquely New England tradition of instrument building.

Bass Violin Shop - Offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome!

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

On September 22, Simply Three is releasing Undefined, their first album of all-original music. You can pre-order it here.

Jason chats with bassist Nick Villalobos about this new release and what the band was going for with this album. Nick is a past podcast guest.

• Simply Three's website
• Simply Three on YouTube
• Maverick (their first original song)
• Simply Three on Instagram
• Fall Tour Trailer

Jennifer Rosenfeld is a leader in the world of music entrepreneurship and has been helping musicians "level up" their career since 2009.

We go "inside baseball" on the whole podcasting thing. I'll bet that there are a few people listening to this podcast that actually listen to all of the shows we reference!

Obviously, I'm a bass player, and I'm deep inside that world: teaching performing, going to concerts and events, and interviewing people.

The truth, however, is that I've also entered this whole other world of podcasting, and I've developed all these fascinating relationships with people across various disciplines—from Scott Devine to Andrew Hitz.

• iCadenza
• Coro by iCadenza
• Reclaiming My Identity As a Musician by Jennifer Rosenfeld
• Awakening your Business Brain by Jennifer Rosenfeld
• Break into the Scene by Seth Hanes

What does a jazz education in the 21st century look like? And what should it look like?

Why would a working bassist decide to drop it all and go to school?

How does focusing deeply on contemporary music outside of jazz change the way you approach the instrument?

We answer these questions and much more on this episode featuring Jeff Denson.

Jeff is a professor at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, California. He's also an active performer and has worked for many years with saxophonist Lee Konitz.

He's got a wealth of other projects, including a recent album with the San Francisco String Trio titled May I Introduce To You.

• Part 1 - the CJC and redefining jazz education
• Part 2 - the cauldron of influences in Jeff's life
• Part 3 - why school?

Check out more jazz-related episodes here.

The Upton Bass String Instrument Company. Upton's Concord model is the first truly authentic New England double bass that they've made. Beautiful sloping shoulders (the same upper bouts as their Gary Karr Upton Double Bass), Busetto corners, Prescott ff-holes, flat maple back and sides (many grades available) with deep ribs (lined outside) and a deluxe spruce top combined with a finely detailed scroll, button and hand-cut tuners that pay homage to Prescott while keeping with their own highly-revered and uniquely New England tradition of instrument building.

A440 Violin Shop - An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools.

Bass Violin Shop - Offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome!

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

When you're playing, do you think about what you want to say, or what the music wants of you?

Do you remember the process you went through learning how to speak?

What happens when you lose half your fingers the day of a big concert?

We answer these questions and much more on this episode featuring Gary Peacock.

Gary Peacock has spent the past 60+ years collaborating with artists like Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, and Tony Williams.

He just released his latest trio album Tangents. This is the second trio release with Marc Copland and Joey Baron and draws on years of shared playing in diverse contexts.

Thank you to all the listeners that wrote in with questions for Gary!

• Part 1- Zen and Self
• Part 2 - The Moment
• Part 3 - Tangents

Check out more jazz-related episodes here.

The Upton Bass String Instrument Company. Upton's Concord model is the first truly authentic New England double bass that they've made. Beautiful sloping shoulders (the same upper bouts as their Gary Karr Upton Double Bass), Busetto corners, Prescott ff-holes, flat maple back and sides (many grades available) with deep ribs (lined outside) and a deluxe spruce top combined with a finely detailed scroll, button and hand-cut tuners that pay homage to Prescott while keeping with their own highly-revered and uniquely New England tradition of instrument building.

Bass Violin Shop - Offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome!

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!

What's it like working with four of the most famous bass teachers all at the same school?

How does eye movement affects learning and performing?

Why is mastering the bow so crucial for a bass player's development?

We answer these questions and much more on this episode featuring Susan Cahill.

Susan is a Chicago native and a graduate of Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music where she studied with Bruce Bransby and Lawrence Hurst as well as Stuart Sankey and Murray Grodner.

She has been a member of the Colorado Symphony since 1997 and teaches at the University of Denver.

• Part 1 - Sweet Home Chicago
• Part 2 - working with teaching titans: the approaches of Stuart Sankey, Murray Grodner, Lawrence Hurst, and Bruce Bransby
• Part 3 - best ways to build your chops

• Susan's website
• her Colorado Symphony page
• her University of Denver faculty page
• Vaughan Williams Piano Quintet in c - Festival Mozaic
• Sue playing Failing
• Cahill - Blue Light John Novacek / Susan Cahill

The Upton Bass String Instrument Company. Upton's Concord model is the first truly authentic New England double bass that they've made. Beautiful sloping shoulders (the same upper bouts as their Gary Karr Upton Double Bass), Busetto corners, Prescott ff-holes, flat maple back and sides (many grades available) with deep ribs (lined outside) and a deluxe spruce top combined with a finely detailed scroll, button and hand-cut tuners that pay homage to Prescott while keeping with their own highly-revered and uniquely New England tradition of instrument building.

A440 Violin Shop - An institution in the Roscoe Village neighborhood for over 20 years, A440's commitment to fairness and value means that we have many satisfied customers from the local, national, and international string playing communities. Our clients include major symphony orchestras, professional orchestra and chamber music players, aspiring students, amateur adult players, all kinds of fiddlers, jazz and commercial musicians, university music departments, and public schools.

Bass Violin Shop - Offers the Southeast's largest inventory of laminate, hybrid and carved double basses. Whether you are in search of the best entry-level laminate, or a fine pedigree instrument, there is always a unique selection ready for you to try. Trade-ins and consignments welcome!

Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!