ALDEN COHEN
Oakland, CA - USA
How long have you been playing? Tell us about how you got started/your background in playing.
I’ve been playing the double bass for 22 years. My musical career in the SF Bay Area started after advancing to the finals for the San Francisco Symphony Double Bass Substitute List auditions in 2003 and 2005.
Auditions I’ve won and currently hold contract positions with are: Santa Cruz Symphony (Principal) Oakland Symphony (Assistant Principal) Berkeley Symphony Monterey Symphony.
My passion for playing music started with wanting to learn the soundtrack music to movies I grew up watching. I’ve had the pleasure of recording top leading video games, performing in the Game of Thrones tour, performing live Orchestra and Film shows as well as on stage with major bands like “The Who.”
What kind of bass/basses and bows do you use?
I play an unmarked early 1900’s Italian Bass and a 2000 Reid Hudson Bow.
Do you have a quarantine project you are working on?
I’ve created many arrangements of pop, video game, movie and classical music for two Basses. My most recent video is the Theme to Legend of Zelda - https://youtu.be/E2JGlsmBItk
Photo by Kevin Monahan
ANDY BLOOR
Derby, United Kingdom
How long have you been playing? Tell us about how you got started/your background in playing.
I started playing at around 8 years old when the school music teacher held up a bass in assembly and asked who would like a go at learning it. I said I quite liked the look of it and the rest is history. I studied Music at University, but now work as an academic and only play as an amateur. I’m lucky enough to play with a phenomenal local amateur orchestra (Nottingham Philharmonic) and am constantly amazed they let me in!
What kind of bass/basses and bows do you use?
My bass is a factory made German bass from around 1870. I use the French style of bow and had it locally made when I lived in Kent in the south east of England.
Do you have a quarantine project you are working on?
I worked on the Dvorak project (and thank whomever has the task of editing it. I only hope they had auto-tune!)
CHRISTIE ECHOLS
West Hartford, CT - USA
How long have you been playing? Tell us about how you got started/your background in playing.
Christie Echols is a double bassist, electric bassist, composer, and singer specializing in contemporary music and extended technique while remaining active in the worlds of orchestral, chamber, musical theater, and jazz performance. Christie has commissioned, premiered, and written new works for double bass and voice and is passionate about new music; her performance of Caroline Louise Miller’s “Hydra Nightingale” for solo bass was featured at the 2019 International Society of Bassists Convention. Appearing regularly as bassist with ensembles, bands, and jazz combos, Christie has performed with the Amarillo Symphony, Midland-Odessa Symphony, Jim Laughlin Quartet, Austin Brazille Jazz Trio, and Foot in the Door Ensemble. In 2016, Echols won the Ernst Bacon Memorial Prize performing Libby Larson’s “Four on the Floor” for piano quartet; as a member of 208 Ensemble, Echols was featured at Treefort Music Fest performing Missy Mazzoli’s “Magic for Everyday Objects.” Echols received her Bachelor of Music in Performance from West Texas A&M University studying under Dr. Nicolas Scales. As an undergraduate she was awarded the Paul Tillotson Jazz Scholarship and the Idaho Jazz Society’s Rachael Loehr Friesen Award. As a bassist, her summer festival experience includes work with Gary Karr (Karr Kamp) and Andy Butler (Sun Valley Summer Symphony); as composer she has attended Wintergreen Summer Music Festival. She received her Master of Music from The Hartt School in May of this year and is currently working on her Artist Diploma in composition. She is a student of Robert Black and Gilda Lyons.
What kind of bass/basses and bows do you use?
2014 Upton Bass Brescian Solid Wood Flat Back, Travel Neck with C extension. Samuel Kolstein French Bow, Pernambuco.
Do you have a quarantine project you are working on?
Follow me on instagram (@queen_bassist) to view my improvisation videos. Additionally, I have been working with the Itty Bitty Bassist Committee (@ittybittybassist) to bring awareness to bass players of all body sizes. I am also proud to be apart of the Virtual Bass Ensemble team by running the composition side of our ensemble.
GABRIEL MONTICELLO
Atlanta, GA - USA
How long have you been playing? Tell us about how you got started/your background in playing.
I started playing the upright bass in 1995. I had played bass guitar for a few years and was in a progressive rock band. The guitar teacher at Valdosta State University had heard us and convinced our guitarist to enrol. Watching his rapid progression, I knew that this was the step I needed to take. I had one problem. I didn't read music or play the upright bass. I bought a beat up used bass and proceeded to learn as much as I could. My audition can best be described as a comedy of errors. Fortunately, VSU had to pad the rolls and allowed me in on a probationary status. "Understand that we reserve the right to kick you out at any time, and we probably will" the department head informed me. "That's alright", I replied, "If you kick me out after six months, I will be six months better than I am today". I refused to let them kick me out.
What kind of bass/basses and bows do you use?
I own a Kolstein Fendt double bass which I named Frank. The maker of my bow is unknown. I bought it because I love the way it feels in my hand. It is a German style bow and has a treble clef inlay on the frog.
Do you have a quarantine project you are working on?
Where do I start? I revamped my webpage www.GabrielMonticello.com . I have recorded two albums worth of material for the Russian rock band, space mirrors as well as finished production on one album and started recording a second album for the US and UK based rock band Bridget Wishart and the Band Of Doctors. I have also done some video recording for the Savannah Philharmonic and several for the Virtual Bass Ensemble. I continue to teach virtual lessons and The Atlanta Chamber Music Festival ran a virtual camp this year.
On a non-musical level, my wife and I adopted a special needs dog, a German Shepherd mix named Amelia. I also am working on a halloween yard display that will be quite impressive 😉 Even when things "slow down", there are simply not enough hours in the day.
JAKOB GRÜTER
The Hague - The Netherlands
How long have you been playing? Tell us about how you got started/your background in playing.
Exactly 10 years now. I am not a professional bass player. Playing bass is for me something I do with great love and passion, especially playing in orchestras, still it is a hobby, at the end. I got first attracted to the bass when the orchestra at my High School was looking for a new bass player, offering lessons, too. However, I could not convince my parents. A few months later I was playing with a chamber orchestra in concert - my second/first instrument is the flute. Afterwards the orchestra came together for celebrating the concerts we had played. The wife of our principle violinist told us that she found it a lovely concert but missed the deep sounds - the orchestra had noone playing bass. On the way home I discussed it again with my mother - a few weeks later I had my first lesson. I only had a few weeks of lesson when I was first asked by an orchestra to join - not even half a year after my first lesson I played the first time in concert with the bass. It was a catastrophe, at least from my perspective. However, playing bass developed to a very big passion. 3 years later I had my first concert with a big symphonic orchestra playing Mahler 4th symphonie - I had a hard fight maintaining the quality required in this orchestra. During my studies I intensified playing on the bass and switched to a 5-string bass. And playing in symphonic orchestra developed to a central part of my life.
What kind of bass/basses and bows do you use?
I play a 5 string bass from Rubner about 60 years old. It is a 4/4 bass, about 2m from pin to top. I gave him a name, too: Elias. I have two bows, one from Egidius Dörflein, the other is a Pfretzschner bow. Both are German bows, I also use the german way of holding the bow
Photo by Veerle Bastiaanssen
KIRBY KARPAN
Juneau, AK - USA
How long have you been playing? Tell us about how you got started/your background in playing.
I've been playing the bass for 14 years, since fifth grade when my school orchestra started up. My favorite animal was a whale, and I (rightly) figured that the bass was the coolest instrument since it looked like it could make some sweet whale noises.
Since then, music has been an important hobby and something that I can fall back onto for comfort. I played in community orchestras in small-town Minnesota, and then kept playing at DePaul University in Chicago, and now I'm a thankful member of the Juneau Symphony here in Alaska. Although I didn't make music my career, it is still a very important part of my life and a welcome recluse.