This week on Contrabass Conversations we are concluding the interview with double bassist Kathryn Nettleman that we began on episode 12 of the podcast. Also, this week we feature some jazz bass from Brooklyn musician Kevin Tkacz plus current news on the bass scene. Enjoy!
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CBC 27 Show Notes

Release Date: 7/1/07
Length: 30:28
Website: www.contrabassconversations.com
E-mail: contrabassconversations@gmail.com
Blog: www.doublebassblog.org

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Intro

Thanks to Jeff Turner for the great interview last week!

This week we’ll be featuring part 2 of our interview with double bassist Kate Nettleman, which we started on episode 12 of the podcast.

Kate is a classical double bassist located in the Chicago area, and she regularly performs with the Minnesota Orchestra St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Chicago Symphony and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. In the first part of the interview we talked about her early training at Juilliard and Yale, plus her experiences at the New World Symphony and Naples Philharmonic so check out episode 12 to hear about Kate’s early years on the instrument.

After the interview, we’ll be hearing a track from Brooklyn-based jazz bassist Kevin Tkacz titled ‘Yo, Jimmy!’, so here we go with the second part of our talk with Kate Nettleman.

Interview

Musical Guest:

From Kevin Tkacz

Improv4 (Yo, Jimmy!)

http://www.kevintkacz.com/

This track, as well as the majority of the record, was improvised. No
discussion before we played; we just played. The trio had played together
for the first time as a group the night before, so the high quality of the
music we made (if I can be a pompous ass for a minute) is testament to the
great players I was able to work with. They are Bill Carrothers (piano) and
Michael Sarin (drums). I hope to be able to get this band working again by
spring of next year. Various scheduling and geographical difficulties make
this a challenge, though, so we'll see.

The title came after the fact, as I was listening to the mixes to decide the
sequencing and I realized that the opening phrase I played bears a striking
resemblance to something I heard Jimmy Garrison play on a 'Trane record. So
it's an homage, albeit accidental.

News and Notes

-URL switched from jasonheath.blogspot.com to doublebassblog.org – don’t worry, you don’t need to change anything if you’re linking to my site or have bookmarked anything on my site. Putting in my old URL or doublebassblog.com will take you there.

-Upcoming guests will be Ranaan Meyer (who John Grillo and I are interviewing this weekend) and Minnesota Orchestra bassist Colin Corner. Colin has been a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic and the Vancouver Symphony prior to joining the Minnesota Orchestra, and hearing from a young player who has had such success will really be a great thing for bassists everywhere.

-Luthier directory is now up and active. If you click the ‘bass luthiers’ tab on my blog you will be taken to a page featuring a listing of luthiers by state, then alphabetically within each state. I am also including an index so that you can quickly skip to one luthier. Otherwise, you can browse through all of the listings one after another and check out the kind of work that different shops do.

In addition to contact information like address, phone number, and website, I am including map directions for each shop, plus photos of their work, background information on the luthiers at that shop and the kind of work they do, and any other relevant information.

You can comment on any shop and add information or share your experiences at that shop, and doing so will help this grow into a valuable resource that is more than just a list of addresses and phone numbers.

This kind of project takes time, so I only have a few shops listed now. I will continue to list more each day. Feel free to e-mail me your suggestions for the directory, or leave a comment.

-The Contrabass Conversations website is getting a massive overhaul this summer. The site that is currently up at ContrabassConversations.com was intended as a placeholder until I could get some time to put up a really slick site, and I’ve got the time now (yay, summer!), so expect to see some changes in the next few weeks. Your experience with the podcast won’t change at all—everything will stay the same—but the Contrabass Conversations site will offer a lot of increased usability. You’ll see—it’ll be awesome.

-The Weekly Wrap-Up is a new feature on the blog that I think will help folks to get an easy summary of what the bass news of the week has been/. Things move pretty quickly on the front page of the blog, and it’s easy to let some important stories slip by, so this wrap-up will summarize what’s been going on for the week. You can also subscribe to just the wrap-up if you like. Simply click the tab labeled ‘wrap-up’ for more details.

Music provided by:

Hathead - Roll & Go -Songs from the Lost Hard Drive

and

FonkMasters - The Fonks on Music Jam (new outro)

From the Podsafe Music Network

Check them out at www.music.podshow.com

Click to listen (right-click to download)
or click player below

CBC Episode 12
 

Show Notes

e-mail: contrabassconversations@gmail.com

voicemail: 206-666-6509

website: contrabassconversations.com

blog: doublebassblog.com

Episode Length: 26:31

 

This week's episode features double bassist Kate Nettleman.  Kate is a great friend and an excellent bassist based here in the Chicago area.

 

Kate's bio:

 

Kathryn Nettleman - as a young student of Neil Courtney, Assistant Principal Bass with the Philadelphia Orchestra, she performed with numerous local ensembles including the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. During this time she twice received the New Jersey Governor's Award in Arts Education. She attended The Juilliard School as a full-scholarship student of Homer Mensch and following graduation spent a year studying with Don Palma at the Yale University School of Music. For several summers she performed in the Aspen Music Festival and the Spoleto (USA) Music Festival.

Ms. Nettleman then spent two seasons in the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, during which time she was involved in a wide variety of solo and chamber music performances, musical outreach projects, and served as co-chair of a concert series. In 2001, she was awarded by her colleagues there the "NWS Musician of the Year Award for Artistic Leadership." The following year she served as a section member in the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, where she was active as a performer in introductory musical programs for elementary and middle school children.

Currently living in Chicago, Ms. Nettleman performs regularly with many local ensembles including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Symphony II, and Grant Park Symphony. She serves as a volunteer friendly visitor to the elderly through Resurrection Health Care Home Health Services. In addition to making music, she enjoys running, gardening, reading, and vegetarian cooking and baking.

You will be hearing some duets on this episode that Kate and Jason recorded at the 2007 Whitewater Winter Bassfest.

 

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We also had some feedback this week from Ben Huff.  Ben writes:

 

Hi Jason,
I just wanted to let you know how much I really enjoyed this most recent podcast with Andy Anderson playing...wow! A couple of things really struck me. One, I really liked the artistic liberties he took with the Paganini Moses Fantasy, especially in the 2nd variation; he made it very lyrical, despite the fact that the variation is literally one whole, nasty lick. Also, it was great to hear his version of Bottesini #2. I kind of made Edgar Meyer's version of the concerto my reference for what is  'okay to do and not okay to do', especially in regard to tempo. But after having heard Andy play it, this wonderful, liberating thought hit me, 'Andy's a fantastic player, and he plays it slower, so that means it's okay to play it slower!' Last, the Monti Czardas was perfect.

 

Thanks!
Ben