PODCAST · music
Contrabass Conversations
by Jason Heath
Contrabass Conversations features interviews and performances from top leaders in the world of the double bass. Podcast host Jason Heath dives deep into what makes these world-class artists tick. With 2 million downloads and counting, Contrabass Conversations is the most popular podcast for double bassists. Join the community and experience life on the low end of the spectrum!
Episodes
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1164: Eduard Marcu on winning the Lutine Prize
At just 18, London-based double bassist Eduard Marcu became the first bassist to win Junior Guildhall's prestigious Lutine Prize. Born in Romania and raised in London, Eduard began playing bass at age 10, developed his craft at Junior Guildhall, and performed with the National Youth Orchestra of...
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1163: Chris Johnson on Building a Bigger Dream Through Music
Chris Johnson is a New York–based bassist, educator, and creative force whose career spans the Sphinx Virtuosi, New York City Ballet, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and a wide range of chamber, commercial, and recording projects. He is also the founder of Strauss Hauss, a...
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1162: Jeanette Adams on community, creativity, and the touring life
Jeanette Adams is a bassist, educator, and member of the nationally touring progressive bluegrass trio Stillhouse Junkies. Raised in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and trained at Lawrence University, she now lives in Colorado, where she performs around 150–200 shows a year and helps expand access to...
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1161: Daniel Chiva Sanz on Intonation, Audition Prep, and Daily Mozart
Daniel Chiva Sanz returns to the podcast to discuss his latest project, Daily Mozart, a new technique book that applies concepts from his School of Patience books to the second movements and minuets of Mozart symphonies. Daniel shares how his work as a performer, teacher, and creator has led him...
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1160: What Bottesini Really Wrote - Mark Morton's Urtext Editions
Mark Morton joins Jason to discuss his decades-long project creating practical Urtext editions of Giovanni Bottesini's music. Drawing on 3,656 photographs of manuscripts from the Biblioteca Palatina in Parma, Mark has completed editions of 11 works so far, with the goal of eventually covering all...
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1159: Cole Davis and Jason Heath teach each other bass lessons!
Cole Davis is a bassist, composer, educator, and the creator behind Better Bass Lessons, where he brings a playful, practical approach to jazz bass education. In this episode, Cole and Jason Heath trade lessons across the classical/jazz divide, building on their previous New Simandl collaboration...
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1158: Neal Miner on Juzeks, Golden Spirals, and the Art of Playing Bass Melodies
New York City jazz bassist Neal Miner joins the podcast to talk about his new book of original bass-feature compositions, an 11-song collection designed for students and professionals to use in ensemble settings. Neal shares how longtime collaborator Chris Byars encouraged the project, how the…
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1157: Kathryn Schulmeister on Imagining Hands
Kathryn Schulmeister joins the podcast to talk about Imagining Hands, her debut solo album on Protomaterial Records. A bassist, improviser, composer, and University of Wisconsin faculty member, Kathryn brings together contemporary music, storytelling, extended technique, and deeply personal...
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1156: SoJung Kim's journey from Korea to the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
SoJung Kim joins the podcast to share her journey from discovering the double bass in Korea to joining the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. A graduate student at the Colburn Conservatory studying with Peter Lloyd, SoJung has performed with the One Korea Youth Orchestra and Orchestra Ensemble…
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1155: Orion Miller on preparation, structure, and trusting the process
Orion Miller joins the podcast to talk about his path from growing up in New York City to joining the San Francisco Symphony bass section. Orion studied at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University with Tim Pitts and spent formative summers at places like Tanglewood, Music Academy of the...
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1154: Dominik Wagner on teaching, competitions, and finding your sound
Dominik Wagner returns to the podcast for a wide-ranging conversation recorded during his visit to San Francisco for the 2026 Golden Gate Bass Camp. A prizewinner for many major solo competitions, Dominik has built an extraordinary career as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and...
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1153: Remembering Don Prell
Don Prell passed away in 2026 at age 97. Born in 1929, Don went on the road with the Frank Ortega Band, played with people like Buddy Rich and Chet Baker, and was in the original Bud Shank Quartet. He played for the San Francisco Symphony for 30 years and, after retirement, formed his own group...
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1152: Noa Eve on Late Bloomer, Edgar tuning, and finding your own musical lane
Noa Eve (NoaBass) joins the podcast to celebrate the long-awaited release of *Late Bloomer,* a debut album that blends virtuosic arco playing with the rhythmic grit of bluegrass, old-time, and acoustic music-making. We talk about the "10 years in the making" arc from Jason first hearing Noa play…
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1151: Hal Robinson on technique, teachers, and tools that work
Hal Robinson joins the podcast for a wide-ranging conversation on bass pedagogy, sound, and the practical fundamentals that actually move the needle. Hal reflects on his path from early studies with Paul Ellison to a career that spans major orchestras and shares how working alongside influential...
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1150: Mary Ann McSweeney on Broadway Bass, Fado Roots, and the Reality of Subbing
Bassist, composer, and educator Mary Ann McSweeney joins Jason to talk about a career that spans Bay Area roots, L.A. training, and the demanding, ever-shifting world of Broadway and studio work. Mary Ann shares how piano and violin shaped her musicianship, what it took to become a stronger…
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1149: Caleb Quillen on auditions, orchestral sound, and leading by example
Caleb Quillen returns to the podcast to talk about the path that took him from growing up in Sugar Land, Texas, to principal bass of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Along the way, he reflects on formative teachers, including Dennis Whittaker and Paul Ellison, the influence of the Boston bass...
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1148: Georgia Wartel Collins on Practice, Texture, and Creative Freedom
Photo credit: Oscar Benjamin Berg Bassist, improviser, and genre-crosser Georgia Wartel Collins joins us today to talk about the winding path that led her to New York, via Gothenburg, Trondheim, and Amsterdam, and how a deeply musical family shaped everything from early street performances to a...
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1147: Unsung Songs - David Bowden Goes Solo
Glasgow-based bassist David Bowden joins the show on release day for Unsung Songs, a solo double bass record shaped by years of gigging and arranging. David talks about coming up in London before moving to Glasgow for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, finding a creative home in Scotland's...
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1146: Twelve Bees in a Jar - Rosie Moon's Dragonetti Waltzes on Three Strings
Rosie Moon joins us today to share the story behind *Twelve Bees In A Jar, her* multi-year Dragonetti project exploring his music on gut strings, a three-string bass, and a convex "Dragonetti" bow. Rosie talks about how a chance encounter with a bow at a UK bass shop kicked off a deep dive into...
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1145: Bowen Ha on his audition process
Bowen Ha joined the San Francisco Symphony at the start of the 2024–25 season after training at Juilliard with Timothy Cobb and Harold Robinson, and appearing as a substitute with major orchestras. Born in Shanghai, Bowen's path ran from piano to cello and finally to bass, through Interlochen…
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1144: John Goldsby on Big Band Bass
John Goldsby returns to the podcast to celebrate Big Band Bass, a project that spotlights the double bass at the front of the band alongside the legendary WDR Big Band and arranger/conductor Bob Mintzer. We talk about what it felt like to close a 30-year run in one of the world's rare full-time...
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1143: Professional Instruments Aren't Luggage with Valentina Ciardelli
Valentina Ciardelli , double bass professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and an active performer/educator, returns to the podcast to talk about a project that goes way beyond the practice room: fixing the chaos of traveling with large instruments. Check out Valentina's work…
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1142: Slow Water, Deep Grooves with Stephan Crump
Stephan Crump is a Brooklyn-based bassist, composer, and educator whose work moves fluidly between groove, spacious sound-worlds, and collective improvisation. We dig into the making of Slow Water, the magnetism of deep feel, and how growing up in Memphis—and spending a lot of life near the...
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1141: Gut Strings and Time Travel - Michał Bylina on Early Music
Michał Bylina is a Polish bassist and composer whose work bridges early music performance and new music for the instrument. In this conversation, Michał shares how a love of the past pulled them toward gut strings, Baroque style, and the Vienna bass tradition, plus the path from studying in…
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1140: Isaac Trapkus on Rosin, Hidden Manuscripts, and Open-Source Music Tools
Isaac Trapkus is a bassist with the New York Philharmonic, rosin maker, and developer of Monkey Wrench DB—a tool that syncs sheet music PDFs with YouTube performances. He's also the creator of a free urtext-style edition of the Koussevitzky Double Bass Concerto, based on a previously unknown...
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1139: Building The Sub Pool with Thomas Zera
Bassist and arts administrator Thomas Zera joins us today to share what changed between our first chat years ago and now, including life in the Utah Symphony and the path that led to building his new project, The Sub Pool. We dig into what The Sub Pool is, why orchestra sub lists so often "run...
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1138: Seasons of Creativity with Casey Lipka
Casey Lipka is a Los Angeles–based singer, songwriter, bassist, and collaborator with a gift for building community around music. In this episode, Casey shares the winding path that brought her into jazz voice, bass, and a creative life that blends composing, performing, and heartfelt projects....
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1137: Lloyd Goldstein celebration podcast
This episode with Johnny Hamil and friends is a celebration of the music of Lloyd Goldstein. Enjoy this, and be sure to join Johnny and company March 21st at 11am Central Time via Zoom. You can visit KC Bass Workshop for more information and details. Connect with DBHQ Join Our Newsletter Double...
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1136: Finding Your Sound - Marlonius on Craft, Groove, and Identity
In this episode, we're joined by bassist, composer, and bandleader Marlonius aka, Marlon Martinez, the creative force behind the Marlonius Jazz Orchestra. We talk about growing up in a deeply musical family, moving through a serious classical conservatory track at Colburn, and the long arc of...
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1135: John Mietus and the World-First "Butterfly Lovers" on Double Bass
John Mietus is a composer, double bassist, and conductor, currently Associate Principal Bass with the Auckland Philharmonia. Born in Hong Kong and raised in Ohio, John started playing bass at age four and went on to study with some legendary teachers while building a career that spans orchestral...
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1134: Still Waters - The Art of Bass with Niklas Lukassen
Niklas Lukassen is a German bassist, composer, and doctoral researcher splitting his time between London and Berlin. His bandleader debut album Still Waters releases February 20th on Kurt Rosenwinkel's Heartcore Records with liner notes by Ron Carter. The quartet features Ben Van Gelder on...
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1133: Bird Watching and Bass Lines - A Conversation with Jon Henriksson
Jon Henriksson is a Stockholm-based double bassist and composer who has become one of the leading voices in the contemporary Scandinavian jazz scene. Born in 1996 in Gothenburg, his path to the bass started when a high school big band director gave him just two months to learn the instrument for…
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1132: Chris Jennings on Traveling the World with a Double Bass
Chris Jennings is a Canadian left-handed double bassist who's been based in Paris since 2002, traveling extensively across jazz and world music projects to all corners of the globe. A D'Addario Orchestral Artist, Chris has carved out a unique niche playing in ensembles where there's often no bass...
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1131: 8 Weeks to the Jam Session - First Notes to Walking Like a Pro with Matt Rybicki
Matt Rybicki is a jazz bassist, author, and educator who helps bassists of all levels master jazz bass. Through his online courses and YouTube channel, Matt makes jazz bass education accessible to students worldwide. His new course, 8 Weeks to the Jam Session: First Notes to Walking Like a Pro,...
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1130: Bass is for everyone! Deep-Dive with Gaelen McCormick and Michael Geib
Join us for a conversation with two frequent podcast guests, Gaelen McCormick and Michael Geib, as they discuss their recent article Bass Is for Everyone!, published in the American String Teacher journal. Gaelen is the Director of the Eastman Performing Arts Medicine Center and a passionate...
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1129: Rohan Dasika - Exploring Heritage Through Classical Indian Music
Rohan Dasika has been a double bassist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 2022. From a musical Melbourne family, Rohan started on piano, then played trombone and tuba before finding double bass in high school. He studied with Duncan Allen (Melbourne Opera, jazz), Sylvia Hoskin (MSO), Max...
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1128: Hannah Marks on Finding Her Voice
Hannah Marks is a bassist, composer, and educator living in New York City. She has performed at festivals including the Detroit Jazz Festival, Hyde Park Jazz Festival, and Kennedy Center, and currently leads an acoustic jazz quartet featuring NYC's most in-demand musicians. Hannah teaches at...
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1127: Stephen Tramontozzi on Basso Antico
In this episode, San Francisco Symphony Assistant Principal Bassist Stephen Tramontozzi joins Jason to talk about his new solo album Basso Antico. Alongside his orchestral work, Steve has built a wide‑ranging career as a soloist and educator. He has released a series of solo recordings, including...
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1126: Adam Kubota on Postmodern Jukebox and beyond
In this episode, we sit down with Adam Kubota, bassist and bandleader of the internationally acclaimed Postmodern Jukebox. Adam shares his musical journey—from studying bass with Barry Green to becoming a key figure in one of the most innovative ensembles reimagining modern pop hits with vintage...
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1125: From Double Bass to Viola - Navigating Musicianship with Stephanie Patterson
In this inspiring episode, Stephanie Patterson returns to share a deeply personal journey of resilience and adaptation. After experiencing serious health challenges that made it impossible to continue playing the double bass, Stephanie made the courageous decision to return to the viola—an...
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1124: The Journey of Creating a Bass Concerto with Jim Beckel and JuFang Liu
In this episode, we dive deep into the creation of Memoirs in Time, a groundbreaking new bass concerto with composer Jim Beckel and Indianapolis Symphony Principal Bassist JuFang Liu . This commission represents a significant addition to the bass repertoire and showcases the incredible…
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1123: Exploring Tango and Ethnomusicology with Laura Camacho
In this episode, we sit down with Laura Camacho, a double bassist, tango composer, and ethnomusicologist originally from Buenos Aires and now based in Austin, Texas. Laura shares her fascinating journey from performing with the ensemble Las del Abasto in Argentina—including opening for tango…
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1122: The Joys of Chamber Music with Uxía Martinez Botana
Join us for a conversation with Spanish double bassist Uxía Martínez Botana, who shares her journey from facing skepticism as a woman in classical music to becoming a celebrated soloist, chamber musician, and educator. Based in Amsterdam, she tours internationally with ensembles like the Budapest...
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1121: In-depth with Gary Upton - The Craftsmanship Behind Upton Bass
In this episode, Gary Upton, the founder of Upton Bass, joins us for an in-depth conversation about the craftsmanship, innovation, and business of building double basses. We explore a wide range of topics including the growing popularity of 5/8-sized basses, the development of Kay-inspired…
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1120: Kinda Out West - Aretha Tillotson's Tribute to Western Canada
In this episode, we sit down with Edmonton-based jazz bassist and composer Aretha Tillotson to discuss her highly anticipated second album, Kinda Out West, releasing on November 7th, 2025. Following her Western Canadian Music Award-winning debut, Introducing Aretha Tillotson, this new album pays...
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1119: Orchestral Insights with Andy Anderson
In this episode, we sit down with Andy Anderson, the newly appointed Clinical Assistant Professor of Double Bass at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. With over two decades of experience performing with some of Chicago's most prestigious ensembles, Andy brings a wealth of knowledge and...
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1118: Gaelen McCormick on Simandl's 30 Etudes
In this episode, renowned bassist and educator Gaelen McCormick joins us to discuss her newly released annotated edition of Franz Simandl's 30 Etudes, published by Carl Fischer. For over a century, these etudes have been a cornerstone of double bass pedagogy. Gaelen's fresh annotations bring new...
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1117: Darren Sacks on teaching double bass
In this episode, we chat with Darren Sacks, a double bass audition coach, UMass Boston Associate Lecturer, and Greater Boston freelance bassist, to discuss winning strategies for double bass auditions. Darren shares insights from his 9 years of coaching experience, during which he's helped…
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1116: Rodney Slatford on publishing
In this episode, Jason Heath interviews Rodney Slatford. Rodney is joined by his friend Mike Coombs, who helped facilitate this conversation. Together, they explore Rodney's remarkable career as a performer, educator, publisher, and advocate for the double bass. As founding Chairman of the Yorke...
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1115: Tim Rinehart on audition breakthroughs
Tim Rinehart is the Principal Double Bassist of the Oregon Symphony. A graduate of Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, Tim studied with Paul Ellison while also earning a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. He is the winner of the 2025 International Society of Bassists Orchestral Division...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Contrabass Conversations features interviews and performances from top leaders in the world of the double bass. Podcast host Jason Heath dives deep into what makes these world-class artists tick. With 2 million downloads and counting, Contrabass Conversations is the most popular podcast for double bassists. Join the community and experience life on the low end of the spectrum!
HOSTED BY
Jason Heath
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Contrabass Conversations have?
Contrabass Conversations currently has 1000 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Contrabass Conversations about?
Contrabass Conversations features interviews and performances from top leaders in the world of the double bass. Podcast host Jason Heath dives deep into what makes these world-class artists tick. With 2 million downloads and counting, Contrabass Conversations is the most popular podcast for double...
How often does Contrabass Conversations release new episodes?
Contrabass Conversations releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 1000 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
Where can I listen to Contrabass Conversations?
You can listen to Contrabass Conversations on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Contrabass Conversations?
Contrabass Conversations is created and hosted by Jason Heath.
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