Sun, 30 September 2007 This week's Contrabass Conversations episode features an in-depth analysis of the double bass orchestral excerpts most commonly requested at auditions. Double bassist (and regular Contrabass Conversations guest and ho-host) John Grillo discusses each of these excerpts--stylistic considerations, differences in articulation and bow strokes, and suggestions for effectively learning them--and then performs them. I believe that this project will be a highly valuable resource for bassists worldwide, and I'd love your feedback on this project! Learn more about John at his new blog ClassicalMusicNews.tv, and check out all of his older Contrabass Conversations appearances here. Excerpts covered: Beethoven Symphony No. 9; Beethoven Symphony No. 5; Brahms Symphony No. 1; Brahms Symphony No. 2; Shostakovich Symphony No. 5; Mozart Symphony No. 35; Mozart Symphony No. 39; Mahler Symphony No. 2; Schubert Symphony No. 9; Strauss Ein Heldenleben; Britten Young Person's Guide; Verdi Otello Comments[0] |
Sat, 31 March 2007  Click to listen (right-click to download)or click player below CBC 14 show notes Length: 29:23 e-mail: contrabassconversations@gmail.com voicemail line: 206-666-6509 website: http://contrabassconversations.com blog: http://doublebassblog.com This episode features Part 3 of our interview with double bassist John Grillo. You can listen to the previous two installments of this interview plus John's recital showcase in the archives of Contrabass Conversations. Click here for all episodes featuring John. Download the episode here (right-click and choose 'save as') Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes here (or visit www.contrabassconversations.com to subscribe using another program) New and Notes Rabbath visit to The Contrabass Conversations online store is now open! Visit http://contrabassconversations.com and click on the 'Store' button. You can also do the same from my blog at http://doublebassblog.com, or you can visit it directly at http://cafepress.com/doublebass. We've got a ton of different T-shirt designs, plus caps, coffe mugs, tote bags, teddy bears, wall clocks, and more, so check it out! Today's episode will feature the final part of our interview with double bassist John Grillo. John was on episodes 6 and 9 of the show, and he was also featured on our first recital showcase episode. Today you will also hear some tracks of John playing orchestral excerpts. I think that this is an interesting way of highlighting another facet of John's playing. You've heard a lot of John's solo work over the past few episodes, and you can now get an opportunity to hear a player of his caliber execute some orchestral excerpts. Before the interview you will hear the double bass solo from Verdi's opera Otello. We bassists get to play some very tense and dramatic music in a soli section during the final act of this opera, and you will get a chance to hear John play this. After the interview, you will get to hear John play another famous bass soli section from the opening of Mahler's Second Symphony. After hearing John today, we'll read some listener feedback and hear music from double bassist and conductor Terry Plumeri. Music from Terry
Plumeri Today we will also be featuring a recording of the tune Footprints from bassist and composer Terry Plumeri from his album Blue in Green. This album also features David Goldblatt on piano and Joe La Barbera on drums. Terry plays the head for each of these tunes with the bow as well as his solos, and I think you all will really enjoy it. I'd like to thank David Bell and GMMC records for allowing the use of this track. Terry's Biography Terry Plumeri has just completed recording the 4th, 5th and 6th symphonies of Tchaikovsky as conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic for a fall 2006 release on the GMMC CD label. In the past, Terry's recordings with the Moscow Philharmonic of his original compositions have received such words of praise from Fanfare Magazine as, "These well-prepared composer-conducted performances and recordings are both technically and esthetically stunning. The emotional curve of Plumeri's music has a dramatic inevitability that carries the listener along without questioning and leaves him fully gratified, very much like the best of Tchaikovsky's efforts." The Washington Post has said of these recordings, "Plumeri conducts the Moscow Philharmonic in a performance sensitive to the music's smallest nuances." Terry's innovative style of bowing jazz solos on the acoustic bass has garnered comments like 'Stunning, a very high level of music' from the Washington Post. Terry Plumeri's bowed bass work is endlessly compelling" from allaboutjazz.com. 'Extraordinary bowing facility' from Jazz Improv Magazine. In speaking about his latest jazz release Blue In Green, Jazz Improv Magazine has said 'The performances and solo improvisations on the parts of Terry Plumeri on bass, David Goldblatt on piano and Joe La Barbera on drums are outstanding. Blue In Green is an album bubbling with creativity, interactivity, magnificent improvisations, and the combined experience, sensitivity, and desire of three consummate musicians performing eight essential pieces from the jazz and standard repertoire. Go and listen.' While on scholarship to Manhattan School of Music in During the past 15 years he has written the music to 55 feature films, which includes the score to the award winning crime story One False Move, which has recently been added to the "New York Times List of the 1000 Best Films Ever Made". His score for One False Move was nominated for Best Score by the IFP Spirit Awards. Terry's lectures on music have been heard at the Smithsonian
Institute, Georgetown University, Maryland Art Institute and Terry has played with such jazz greats as Cannonball
Adderley, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Quincy Jones, Arthur Prysock, Frank
Sinatra, Joe Williams, Les McCann, Yusef Lateef, John Abercrombie and Woody
Herman. Notable performances include Carniegie Hall/ - - - - - Feedback from Glenn Gordon and David Bell closes the episode. Comments[0] |
Sat, 24 February 2007 Click to listen (right-click to download)or click player below Contrabass Conversations Episode 9 - Interview with John Grillo Part 2 Show Notes Release Date: 2/24/07 Episode Length: 34:37 Jason is joined by new co-host Courtney Lawhn for this episode of Contrabass Conversations. Courtney is a harpist, but don't hold that against her--she has a lot of experience with the bass and does a great job on the show. You can find Courtney's website at www.chicago-harpist.com. We will start this episode with Schgweik Farht, one of the movements from David Anderson's seven double bass duets. You will also hear the Bach Gigue from the third cello suite and the second movement of the Schubert Arpeggione Sonata. John will be assisted by Peter Guild- Double Bass(member Pittsburgh Symphony) on the Anderson duets and by pianist Alaine Fink on the Schubert. In this second part of our interview with John Grillo, Jason and John discuss the gear John plays on, his thoughts on French and German bow, his experiences in the opera pit, and his experiences with freelancing. John also offers advice to music school students on how to establish a freelance career in various metropolitan areas. Look for the conclusion of this interview in a March episode of Contrabass Conversations. To hear the rest of the Schubert, Bach, and Anderson pieces, check out John's complete recital at contrabassconversations.com. His recital is the first installment for Recital Showcase #1, and you can find it at either that website or at doublebassblog.com. Jason and Courtney conclude the episode with a discussion about their experiences performing the Schubert, and the new Contrabass Conversations MySpace page, which can be found at myspace.com/cbcpodcast. Comments[0] |
Sun, 11 February 2007  Click to listen (right-click to download)or click player below This is a special Recital Showcase edition of Contrabass Conversations featuring the music of John Grillo. John was interviewed on Contrabass Conversations episode 6. This episode is a live performance of John's complete recital, which was performed in Pittsburgh, PA in 2006. Recital Program: Bach Suite No. 3 for Solo Violincello Allemande Sarabande Bourrees I and II Gigue John Grillo, Double Bass Schubert "Arpeggione" Sonata Allegro Moderato Andante Allegro John Grillo, Double Bass Alaine Fink, Piano David Anderson-Seven Double Bass Duets Kibbles & Kibitz Parade of the Politically Prudent Pigs Gustav's 11 O'clock Dance Schgweik Farht Lament Blue Cheeze Rush Hour Peter Guild- Double Bass(member Pittsburgh Symphony) John Grillo - Double Bass Stanley Chepaitis-Slow Dance Duet for Violin and Double Bass (Transcription-John Grillo) Stanley Chepaitis- Violin John Grillo - Double Bass Stanley is a violin professor at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Original piece written for violin and cello. About John Grillo: John started playing Double Bass at the age of 11. He attended The Julliard School during high school and was a scholarship student at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana where he studied with Lawrence Hurst. After graduating from IU, he attended the Manhattan School of Music completing his Masters Degree with Timothy Cobb. Mr. Grillo performed at The Tanglewood Music Center from 1994 to 1996. Other festivals include the National Repertory Orchestra, Festival di Due Mondi in Italy, and Pacific Music Festival in Japan. John was a member of the New World Symphony from 1999-2002. His other professional engagements include performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Opera, Wheeling Symphony, Memphis Symphony, and the Sarasota Opera. John was a faculty member with The Pittsburgh Music Academy from 2002-2006. Future engagements include the Princeton Symphony and the Philadelphia Classical Symphony.
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Sun, 4 February 2007 Click to listen (right-click to download)or click player below This week's Contrabass Conversations episode features an interview and musical performances from double bassist John Grillo. John has got some great insight into the world of the bass, and this interview was both a lot of fun to do and very informative and interesting. CBC #6 Show Notes episode length: 36:24 Release Date: 2/5/07 Today's Episode features an interview with double bassist John Grillo with musical tracks from one of John's recent recitals. John Grillo biography: John started playing Double Bass at the age of 11. He attended The Julliard School during high school and was a scholarship student at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana where he studied with Lawrence Hurst. After graduating from IU, he attended the Manhattan School of Music completing his Masters Degree with Timothy Cobb. Mr. Grillo performed at The Tanglewood Music Center from 1994 to 1996. Other festivals include the National Repertory Orchestra, Festival di Due Mondi in Italy, and Pacific Music Festival in Japan. John was a member of the New World Symphony from 1999-2002. His other professional engagements include performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Opera, Wheeling Symphony, Memphis Symphony, and the Sarasota Opera. John was a faculty member with The Pittsburgh Music Academy from 2002-2006. Future engagements include the Princeton Symphony and the Philadelphia Classical Symphony. Double bass tracks for this episode consist of excerpts from David Anderson's Seven Double Bass Duets and Slow Dance by Stanley Chepaitis. Complete information: David Anderson-Seven Double Bass Duets Kibbles & Kibitz Parade of the Politically Prudent Pigs Gustav's 11 O'clock Dance Schgweik Farht Lament Blue Cheeze Rush Hour Peter Guild- Double Bass(member Pittsburgh Symphony) John Grillo - Double Bass Stanley Chepaitis-Slow Dance Duet for Violin and Double Bass (Transcription-John Grillo) Stanley Chepaitis- Violin John Grillo - Double Bass Stanley is a violin professor at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Original piece written for violin and cello. Feedback from listener and double bassist Ben Huff. http://doublebassblog.com
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Contrabass Conversations
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