Contrabass Conversations

Spread and focus.

That's what Trevor Davis thinks about as he makes his basses.

It's all in the arching. That's what makes an instrument sound great.

But Trevor didn't just magically know this from the start.

Carving scrolls during the night shift at 7-Eleven. Dragging his half-made first double bass back and forth across country. Making violins during the day and sleeping on the floor by his workbench at night.

Winning a certificate of workmanship at the 2013 International Society of Bassists Convention.

Getting hired at a luthier at Robertson & Sons Violin Shop.

How did he get from the night shift at 7-Eleven to making award-winning basses and working at one of the world's great instrument shops?

Thanks to our sponsor!

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Enter the D'Addario strings giveaway for Contrabass Conversations listeners at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

The first Royal College of Music International Double Bass Festival will be taking place on October 16, 2016. Gabriele Ragghianti, Dan Styffe, and Alberto Bocini discuss this exciting new event on today's episode.

This event is free and requires no tickets, so be sure to check it out if you can!

This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings! Check out their Zyex strings, which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut.

Enter the D'Addario strings giveaway for Contrabass Conversations listeners at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

Our teachers shape us more than we realize. Having the right teacher is critical for achieving our goals.

Sandor Ostlund has had a staggering set of quality teachers throughout his life journey.

First, he studied with Hans Sturm. Then he worked with Richard Davis. From there, he found his way to Paris to study with François Rabbath. In Paris, he met Paul Ellison, with whom Sandor would study with for his DMA. In fact, Sandor was the first student to every receive his DMA with Paul at Rice University.

Sandor has gone on to have a major impact in the world of the double bass. He teaches bass at Baylor University, works as a clinician across the United States, and has released a fantastic solo album of new works for the double bass.

We dig into all kinds of topics:

• how Sandor continues to find inspiration
• lessons Sandor learned from Paul, François, Richard, and Hans
• what to do if you only have an hour to practice
• finding your path in the music world

…and much more!

Links:

Sandor's website

Leap of Faith (album)

This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings! Check out their Zyex strings, which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut.

Enter the D'Addario strings giveaway for Contrabass Conversations listeners at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

Most musicians don't have a day dedicated to them in their hometown.

Shinji Eshima does. In 2011, the city of Berkeley, California named the day December 6th Shinji Eshima Day, in his honor for his contributions to the arts.

Even fewer musicians play an instrument featured in a Degas painting.

But Shinji Eshima does. His Plumerel bass is the very same instrument painted by Degas in L'Orchestre de l'Opera.

Shinji's impact on the double bass world has been tremendous. He has performed with the San Francisco Ballet and San Francisco Opera Orchestras for decades.

He teaches at San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. His students have gone on to perform with the San Francisco Symphony, Utah Symphony, London Philharmonia, Montreal Symphony and the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam.

In 2011, the San Francisco Ballet commissioned him to write a ballet. RAkU was the result, and it has been performed across the globe by the San Francisco Ballet. RAkU has also joined the repertoire of The Joffrey Ballet. Swimmer, his third ballet for the San Francisco Ballet, premiered in 2015.

We talk about Shinji's early years on the instrument, studying with David Walter, performing in the pit, getting into composing, and much more!

If It's Tuesday it Must be Up-Bow from Soliloquy album (performed by Patrick Neher)

San Francisco Ballet in RAkU (YouTube)

RAkU: A Conversation with Shinji Eshima (YouTube)

Swimmer - ballet composed by Shinji Eshima (YouTube)

Shinji's 1843 Plumerl double bass as portrayed by Degas in Orchestra of the Opera

Listener feedback links:

• Ray Parker - bassist
• Ira Gold's new project on mockauditions.com
• Jason's appearance on The Entrepreneurial Musician
• Jason's appearance on A Musical Life

This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings! Check out their Zyex strings, which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut.

Enter the D'Addario strings giveaway for Contrabass Conversations listeners at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

Jazz is Frank Proto's native language.

Growing up in Brooklyn, Frank spent his days studying with Fred Zimmermann and his nights hanging out at Birdland.

I love hearing Frank describe what it was like studying with Fred. In fact, Frank's lesson slot was right after Charles Mingus.

Frank's journey from the jazz clubs of New York City to the Cincinnati Symphony is remarkable...and that's putting it mildly!

Here are just a few of his many career highlights:

• Bassist and composer-in-residence for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
• Over 20 large-scale works premiered by CSO
• Countless shorter works and arrangements premiered by CSO
• Over 400 performances of Carmen Fantasy for Trumpet and Orchestra
• Over 500 performances of Casey at the Bat
• Composed music for Dave Brubeck, Eddie Daniels, Duke Ellington, Cleo Laine, Benjamin Luxon, Sherill Milnes, Gerry Mulligan, Roberta Peters, François Rabbath, Ruggerio Ricci, Doc Severinsen, Richard Stoltzman and Lucero Tena

I could go on and on.

Frank has impacted the world of the double bass immensely.

But he has gone way beyond that.

Best of all, he hasn't slowed down. In fact, he is continuing to explore new ideas and unexpected collaborations.

Links to check out:

Frank Proto on Wikipedia

Liben Music (Frank's publishing company)

Brandeis Jazz Festival - Fred Zimmermann, Charles Mingus, Gunther Schuller, George Russell

Brandeis Jazz Festival (YouTube)

All About Rosie (YouTube)

Harry Lookofsky: Stringsville

'Round Midnight - Harry Lakoofsky performance (YouTube)

Music featured in this episode (all written by Frank)

• Sonata No. 2 - with Catalin Rotaru
• Sonata No. 3 - with Szymon Marciniak
• Sketches of Gershwin - with Eddie Daniels
• String Quartet No. 1
• Duo for Viola and Double Bass
• My Name is Citizen Soldier
• Variations on Dixie
• Ghost in Machine

This episode is brought to you by D'Addario Strings! Check out their Zyex strings, which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut.

Enter the D'Addario strings giveaway for Contrabass Conversations listeners at contrabassconversations.com/strings!

Craig Butterfield loved Edgar Meyer's bass playing ever since discovering it.

Lately, he has been following in Edger's footsteps. Performing American roots music with mandolinist Jesse Jones is now a key creative outlet.

Craig also teaches at the University of South Carolina. He shows young bassists how to hone their technique to explore creative new paths.

Craig also loves recording. He mixes and masters his own recordings in ProTools. His popular YouTube overdub videos have gotten tens of thousands of views.

We talk about:

• his time studying with Jeff Bradetich at the University of North Texas
• touring with Maynard Ferguson
• career opportunities for musicians

...and much more!

Craig's website

Craig's YouTube Channel

Pisces (new album with Jesse Jones)

Stickerfoot (album with Jesse Jones)

Corey Brown started out on the "traditional" music school path.

Starting out at the University of North Texas, Corey left and became a graphic designer. He began developing on the web in the early 1990s.

Fast forward a few years, and he created Squidoo with bestselling author Seth Godin. Squidoo became one of the most-visited websites ever with over 85 million monthly visits.

First, he created and ran the official Jaco Pastorius web site, working on it from 2002 to 2007 and again in 2014.

Next, worked on the Portrait of Jaco… the Early Years box set. He designined and produced the packaging for the release in 2003.

In 2008, he founded no treble, which turned into the most popular online bass magazine on the web.

With over a dozen regular contributors and hundreds of thousands of monthly visits, no treble has re shaped the way bassists worldwide connect with and learn from each other.

Learn about Corey's fascinating career fusion of music and design in this interview!

Links to check out:

no treble

Corey's blog

Corey's web consulting

Corey on Facebook

Corey on Twitter

Corey on LinkedIn

Nina DeCesare's creative musical quest is inspiring.

First, she won the 14 and under International Society of Bassists solo competition. Then she won it again for the 15-18 division.

She studied at Rice University, Tanglewood, and Domaine Forget. Also, she won a scholarship to study with François Rabbath in Paris. Nina ended her time at Rice by winning a position with the Oregon Symphony.

She has done more in her brief career than many do in their entire life.

In fact, she went through a serious playing injury during her time at Rice University.

Her bass playing ground to a halt for months.

But through careful analysis, she changed her approach to the bass. She problem-solved her way out of the injury and changed her approach to the bass in the process.

We talk about what it was like studying with George Vance and Paul Ellison, playing in Portland bars, thoughts on training as a soloist versus as an orchestra player, and much more!

Links to check out:

Nina's Website

Nina's YouTube Channel

How an Injury Saved my Playing (blog post by Nina)

Too many young double bassists prioritise solo technique over orchestral expertise (by Chi-Chi Nwanoku - from The Strad)

Hans Sturm isn't afraid to reinvent himself.

Everything changed for Hans when he first met François Rabbath. Before he knew it, he was in Paris soaking up these new concepts.

Fast forward many years, and we find Hans playing the second Rabbath Concerto with Sylvan Rabbath on piano. If you look at the music for this concerto, you'll see that François dedicated this piece to Hans.

But that's not it. Hans also realized that not everybody could hop on a flight to Paris to study with François. So he began to think...

How could he get these teachings to a wider audience? What could he to do take these concepts beyond the printed page?

Here's the answer:

• Art of the Bow
• Art of the Left Hand

Hans has reinvented himself in many ways throughout his career.

He shaped the digital plan for the International Society of Bassists during his time as president.

He explored creative uses of DVD technology in the Art of the Bow and Art of the Left Hand.

He even left the stability of a tenured position for new adventures in a different part of the country.

Through these journeys, he has brought tremendous value to the bass community. His commitment to education and to furthering his own education throughout these chapters of his life.

Learn more about his time working with Richard Davis, Jeff Bradetich, and François Rabbath, practice techniques, and the genesis of this most recent album A Day in Paris!

Hans' website

A Day in Paris (new album)

Art of the Bow

Art of the Left Hand

Our Rabbath Technique video series (you'll love the cats in the background)

Diana Gannett might be the most thoughtful double bass teacher I've ever encountered.

Her approach to teaching is comprehensive and nuanced. She incorporates everything from group warm-ups to Aikido principles on her website. Every bassist out there should have this site bookmarked!

But she's not just a great teacher—she's a jaw-droppingly talented performer.

You have to hear her sound to believe it. She energizes every note she plays with this magnificent and distinctive tone.

We go deep into her approach to teaching and feature excerpts from her wonderful solo album Lady Bass. I know you'll enjoy this episode!

Diana's website

Lady Bass (solo album)

Diana's Practice Room resources (bookmark these!):

• Study Sheet
• Practice Modes
• Toys
• Bass Class Exercises
• Phase Warm-Ups