NEWS OF NOTE
Jazz bassist Dennis Irwin, who appeared on more than 500 recordings, died on March 10th in New York City after battling cancer. He was only 56 years old. Like so many freelance musicians, he had no health insurance. The jazz community rallied to support him with a number of benefit concerts to assist him with medical bills. He died the same day as a benefit concert at Lincoln Center. Part of the concert's proceeds will go toward Mr. Irwin's medical expenses and the rest will go, according to his wishes, to other musicians in need through the Jazz Foundation of America. Irwin was born on November 28, 1951 in Birmingham, AL and grew up in Atlanta, GA and Knoxville, TN. He first played the clarinet and saxophone, but switched to double bass while attending North Texas State University. He moved to New York City in 1974 and became an in-demand side musician, playing with trumpeter Ted Curson, and vocalists Jackie Paris, Betty Carter, Annie Ross, Ann Hampton Callaway, Tania Maria, and Mose Allison. In 1976, he joined guitarist John Scofield's band, which also included Joe Lovano, and continued to collaborate with Lovano and Scofield for years afterwards. In 1977, he began a 3-year stint with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He went on to work with Stan Getz, Johnny Griffin, Horace Silver, and Chet Baker. Besides his son, Michael, he is survived by his companion, Aria Hendricks, a brother, David Irwin; mother Daisy Godbold, and father, David E. Irwin.
Barre Phillips, Israeli bassist Jean Claude Jones and Mark Dresser are organizing a predominantly bass-centric festival in Jerusalem, slated for Spring, 2009. DEEP TONES for PEACE will be an opportunity for double bassists to add their deep voices to the growing worldwide appeal for peace in the Middle east. "We sincerely hope that our music (classical, jazz and contemporary) will be received as it is being offered, as a sharing of distinct musical languages and structures that co-exist and are appreciated by all participants," says festival co-founder Mark Dresser. For information go to http://deeptones4peace.blogspot.com/
Bassist and composer Israel "Cachao" Lopez, died on Saturday, March 22, at age 89, in Miami. He was born in Havana to a musical family, and performed over three decades with the Havana Symphony Orchestra. He and his brother also wrote hundreds of songs for dance bands and orchestras, which were credited with the creation of the mambo, improvised from the traditional Cuban "danzon." The mambo revolutionized popular Latin jazz and dance music. In the '50s Cachao and his fellow musicians popularized the "descarga," high-energy jam sessions blending jazz and Afro-Cuban influences. He left Cuba in 1962, and began performing with leading Latin bands in New York City, collaborating with stars like Tito Puente, Tito Rodrigues, Machito, Chico O'Farrill, and Eddie Palmieri. He fell into musical obscurity during the 1980s after moving to Miami, only to be re-discovered by the Cuban-American actor and directory Andy Garcia. Garcia's 1993 documentary "Cachao, Como Su Ritmo No Hay Dos" (Like His Rhythm There is No Other) led to new recordings, including the Grammy-winning album "Ahora Si!" in 2004. Cachao led a mambo all-star orchestra in Carnegie Hall. His friend, Cuban-born reed player and composer Paquito D'Rivera, wrote a concerto for double bass and clarinet or saxophone, "Conversations with Cachao," which premiered in June 2007 at Caramoor. D'Rivera was working on a new piece for Cachao when he learned of his death. "He was what a great musician should be. He represented what true versatility in music is all about."
Nate West, second prize winner in the Age 15-18 division of the 2007 ISB Double Bass Competition, has been invited to perform on National Public Radio's "From the Top." He will be perform Frank Proto's Carmen Fantasy with the show's host Christopher O'Riley at the piano, Charles Washington's Midnight Child with the trio Reiziger (Eric Gratz, violin, Stephanie Price, viola, and Nate on double bass). The show will be held at the McCoy Community Center for the Arts in New Albany, Ohio, Friday April 18th at 8 PM.
Renaud Garcia-Fons will tour Canada with his trio in summer, '08. Confirmed dates so far include: June 22 - Toronto Jazz Festival; June 23 - Ottawa International Jazz Festival; June 25 or 26 - Victoria (JazzFest International); June 27 and 28 - Vancouver International Jazz Festival; June 29 - Calgary Jazz Festival; and June 30 or July 2 - Montreal Jazz Festival.
Go to www.vimpvideo.com to order a DVD of the 2007 ISB convention at Oklahoma City University. The DVD includes interviews, sights, and sounds of the largest ISB convention ever, plus performance clip extras and more.
Andrew Kohn is collecting the writings of Theron McClure with hopes of publication. If you have any copies of Ohio Bass Notes, please contact him at Andrew.Kohn@mail.wvu.edu or by phone at 412-621-3758.
COMPETITIONS, MASTERCLASSES, WORKSHOPS AND FESTIVALS
The 2008 Bass Encounters event, sponsored by Thomastik-Infeld, takes place in Vienna, Austria, April 17-19. This is the fourth festival since 2001. A series of concerts and workshops will be presented by the following artists: Duncan McTier, Wayne Darling, Georg Breinschmid, Avishai Cohen, Dean Ferrell, Bass Instinct, Renaud Garcia-Fons, Franco Petracchi, Joel Quarrington and Eddie Gomez. The venue is the Porgy and Bess Club in Vienna. For more information, email bass-encounters@thomastik-infeld.com. For a list of hotels in Vienna, go to www.wien.at.
The 38th Annual University of Northern Colorado/Greeley Jazz Festival, April 24-26, 2008, will feature presents its first National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Night, featuring NEA Jazz Masters bass/guitar duo Ron Carter and Jim Hall. Ticket sales begin December 1; call 1-800-315-2787 or 970-356-5000, or go to www.ucstars.com. For more information go to www.uncjazz.com or call 970-351-2394.
Mark your calendars for April 27, 2008, and the Pittsburgh Bass Symposium at Duquesne University, with guest artists Hal Robinson, Paul Ellison, Max Dimoff and Rob Nairn, and Duquesne faculty members Jeff Turner, Jeff Mangone and Micah Howard. Sponsor/exhibitors include Bob's House of Basses , Shank's Strings, George Rubino, bow maker, and luthier Michael Magee. For more information email Micah Howard at micahbhoward@comcast.net.
Double bass studies at Ottawa Suzuki Strings "Sound Encounters" music camp in Ottawa, Kansas, June 11-20, 2008, will featured guest artist Harold Robinson, principal bass of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Also on the faculty will be Dennis Whittaker, principal bass with the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and instructor at the University of Houston, and bass instructor Kristi Knecht from Kansas City. Go to www.ottawasuzukistrings.org or contact Dennis Whittaker, (713) 743-3379.
The 21st Annual Jeff Bradetich Master Classes, June 9-13, offers a concentrated week of classical training for aspiring bassists including lots of technique, solo classes, orchestral study, and ensembles. In addition, the 8th Annual Beginners and Intermediate Bass Camp are offered June 11-13 with Jack Unzicker and Jessica Gilliam-Valls. The Elite Soloists Program, June 2-6, accepts five participants by audition to receive one lesson every day and play in four solo master classes during the week. For information go to www.music.unt.edu/workshops.
Free tuition, room, and board are available to bassists accepted for the WABASS Institute for the 21st Century Bass Player, June 22-29, 2008, in Wabash, Indiana. Faculty members include Hal Robinson, Ranaan Meyer, and Eric Larson. Send your 10-minute DVD audition by March 31, 2008 with material of your choosing. From jazz to excerpts and concertos, pick your best 10 minutes and send it in! Anything goes! For information go to www.wabass.com, or email wabasscamp@yahoo.com.
The 15th Annual Hammond Ashley Memorial Double Bass Workshop will be held June 23- 27 at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington, offering advanced classes with Max Dimoff, principal bass of the Cleveland Orchestra and Jeff Bradetich. Beginner, intermediate and adult classes are taught by Todd Gowers, Ben Musa, and Miriam Chong. Contact Todd Gowers at toddgowers@wwdb.org
The 13th annual Golden Gate Bass Camp takes place July 6-13 at the Valley Center for the Performing Arts, Holy Names University, in Oakland, California. Faculty includes Barry Green, director, Mary Knysh, Diana Gannett, Donovan Stokes, Inez Wyrick, Kristin Korb, John Clayton, David Young, John Kennedy, Dustin Williams, Richard Duke, Ed Williams, Pat Klobas and Alan Scofield. The Ray Brown Jazz Course, July 10-13, will be led by artistic director John Clayton, with a faculty that includes Pat Klobas, Kristin Korb, Richard Duke and Ed Williams. For information or to register, go towww.innergameofmusic.com/basscamp/.
George Vance's 2008 Summer Bass Workshop will be July 7-11 at Albert Einstein High School in Silver Spring, MD. Faculty members include Francois Rabbath, Anthony Bianco, Etienne Lafrance, Robert Oppelt, Robert Peterson, Tracy Rowell, George Vance, Ali Yazdanfar, and luthier Christian Laborie. For more information call 301/588-9275, email George@slavapub.net or go to www.slavapub.net.
The 3rd Mittenwald International Masterclass with Jeff Bradetich is scheduled for August 4-9, 2008. Come to the historical town of Mittenwald, Germany, hometown of Pöllmann double basses and Mike and Ralph Krahmer. Guest instructors include Timothy Dunin and Andreas Bennetzen, artistic director. For more information contact Andreas Bennetzen at info@dynamobass.dk, or go to www.music.unt.edu/mittenwald.
Double bass study is now on the schedule for the 23rd annual International Master Classes for Strings, Professor Petru Munteanu, founder. Gottfried Engels will be guest bass professor for the event, August 8-18, at the Kloster Schoental in Germany. For details and registration information, email Petru.Munteanu@gmx.de.
The third World Bass Festival in Wroclaw, Poland, Irena Olkiewicz, director, is scheduled for August 10-17, 2008. Mark your calendars and go to http://www.doublebass.vel.pl/wratislaviaeng.php for more details.
The 2008 Vail Jazz Festival Summer Workshop in Vail, CO, August 23-September 1, holds a special music-in-residency program for 12 gifted and dedicated high school musicians. The faculty includes John Clayton, Jeff Clayton, Terell Stafford, Bill Cunliffe, and Lewis Nash. Full and partial scholarships are offered to students accepted into the workshop. For more information call 970/479-6146, or go to www.vailjazz.org.
The International Performers' Competition, hosted by the Czech Society of Bassists and the Brno International Music Festival, will be held September 14-20, 2008 in Brno, Czech Republic. For information and application go to www.mhf-brno.cz/mis/en/, or email jelinekmilos@volny.cz.
The 5th International Double Bass Competition "Johann Matthias Sperger" will be held at Ludwigslust, Germany, September 29 - October 5, 2008. Applications due August 15, 2008. For more information contact artistic director Klaus Trumpf, info@klaus-trumpf-sperger.de, or go to www.spergergesellschaft.de.
ABCDF, The French Bass and Double Bass Society, will hold the second-ever International Bass Symposium at the National Superior Conservatory of Paris (www.CNSMDP.fr), October 30 through November 3, 2008. Renowned artists of all genres - classical, contemporary, avant-garde and jazz - will give masterclasses, showcases, clinics, recitals and evening concerts. There will also be an exhibition of publishers, makers and bass shops, and a composition competition. The player's competition will have five categories: solo, orchestra, jazz, contemporary and mini-bass (ages 7 to 18 years). Among the dozens of guest artists scheduled are: Bozo Paradzik, Dan Styffe, Roman Patkolo, Jeff Bradetich, Teppo Hauta Aho, Daniel Marillier, Thierry Barbe, Joel Quarrington, Gottfried Engels, Diana Gannett, Miloslav Jelinek, Hans Sturm, Francois Rabbath, Paul Ellison, Tom Knific, Mark Morton, Catalin Rotaru, Rufus Reid, John Patitucci, Riccardo del Fra, Renaud Garcia Fons, Barre Philips, Stefano Scodanibbio, Tobias Gloeckler, David Sinclair, Rob Nairn, Joe Carver, Michael Greenberg, Richard Myron and many more. For more information go to http://www.contrebasse.com/en/news/index.html and www.bass2008.com. The Bass 2008 team can book the hotels for you, or you can register on contrebasse.com and post a message to find free housing with a Parisian bassist. Questions? Email Thierry Barbe at tbarbe@gmail.com.
ON SALE NOW
Go to http://www.isbworldoffice.com/isb_shop/merchandise.html to purchase the new orchestra tuning version of Paul Ramsier's "Divertimento Concertante on a Theme of Couperin," and the new double bass piano reduction of Peter Askim's "Islands" Concerto (solo and orchestra tunings available). Order either online, or by printing out and mailing in the downloadable order form.
More posters, 2007 convention t-shirts and videos on sale at http://www.isbworldoffice.com/isb_shop/isb_shop.html. Looking to sell your bass, bow, or CD? Use ISB Classifieds to help sell it! Check out the ISB website (click "Shop" on the toolbar) for more information!
Mark your calendars for the 2009 ISB convention, June 8 through 13, 2009 at Penn State!
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