It’s been posted elsewhere but just had to share this video of the amazing piece we did at Duke Chapel a week ago. Music doesn’t start until about 20 minutes in. If you like to watch musicians milling about and tuning and talking watch from the beginning. There’s a very delicious ensemble of 5 bass […]
Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri Read More »
Photo documentation of my building a 6 string D violone with the help of master luthier and good friend John Pringle. The project was begun in September of 2012 and finished – well, mostly finished – an hour before rehearsal on January 30, 2013. There were still many coats of varnish to do. The instrument
Saw an interesting story about a fund raiser for feeding hungry folks in the Northwest part of the country. They used Kenny G’s name, which, of course got them in a little trouble but the story is great – you can read it here: http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/11/30/kenny-gs-manager-calls-us-up-to-shout-at-us-about-the-slog-vs-kenny-g-holiday-charity-challenge and in the comments section was a reference to another article
Never Did Like Kenny G. Read More »
Brian Bromberg has set up an Internet radio station that plays all music by bassists from all genres. Bass on the Broadband has an excellent web based player but you can also stream through your favorite player on your computer. Upcoming shows will include Classical Showcase on Sundays. This weekly internet radio broadcast solely for the classical
World’s First All Bass Radio Station! Read More »
I often have to remind students to use vibrato sparingly and intentionally. Depending on their age I have various ways of communicating this. Recently I saw the following on Facebook: Vibrato on every note is like putting ketchup all over the music. I tried that on a young student yesterday but then his dad informed
Vibrato You Could Drive a Truck Through Read More »
http://thetrichordist.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/letter-to-emily-white-at-npr-all-songs-considered/ Recently Emily White, an intern at NPR All Songs Considered and GM of what appears to be her college radio station, wrote a post on the NPR blog in which she acknowledged that while she had 11,000 songs in her music library, she’s only paid for 15 CDs in her life. Our intention is not to
My sister sent this recently. When my parents split up when we were younger many family memorabilia “disappeared”. Lately things have been “reappearing”. I thought this was forever lost. This was one of three nights playing at Carnegie with a stellar list of soloists.
How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall? Read More »
As a bassist I spend most of my musical life as an accompanist. It’s a special skill and one I quite enjoy – doing everything I can to make other musicians sound good. In a jazz setting I frequently get to “solo” – to improvise melodies while others accompany me – but most of the time it’s laying down the harmonic foundation and playing with the right nuance and subtlety to allow the “real” soloists (vocalists, violinists, saxophonists, etc.) to shine through. It has been said that every bassist is a closet cellist – that instrument that imitates the sound and range of the human voice more than any other. And it is true, I have….
The Closet Soloist (Diva Wannabe) Read More »