Features
Podcast Featuring Double Bassist Ranaan Meyer and More
Welcome to the Contrabass Conversations podcast from Bass Musician Magazine! Contrabass Conversations is a weekly podcast produced by double bass blogger Jason Heath. The primary goal of this podcast is to foster and develop learning and communication in the global double bass community. Interviews, performances, and double bass news and resources are covered on the podcast as well as listener feedback and cool bass links.
The podcast is intended to entertain as well as educate, and topics are presented in a lighthearted fashion on most episodes. As the podcast progresses, a body of reference material will continue to develop for future generations of double bassists.
If you have music that you would like to have featured of the podcast, would like to be considered as an interview guest, or have a guest or topic suggestion please contact us:
E-mail: contrabassconversations@gmail.com
Phone: 206-666-6509
Website: www.contrabassconversations.com
MySpace: www.MySpace.com/cbcpodcast
Podcast forums: www.TalkBass.com/cbc
We are featuring double bassist Ranaan Meyer for this first edition of Bass Musician Magazine.
Philadelphia area bassist John Grillo (a frequent guest and collaborator on the podcast) and I co-interviewed Ranaan, who is the bassist for the band Time for Three and has had a very interesting and multi-faceted career. In addition to hearing a few musical excerpts from Time for Three, this episode features music from German double bassist Guy Tuneh, Pittsburgh-based singer/songwriter Brad Yoder, Los Lonely Boys, and The Latin Soul Syndicate. Enjoy!
Ranaan Meyer on Contrabass Conversations
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Intro This week John Grillo and I will be featuring the first part of our interview with double bassist Ranaan Meyer. Ranaan is the bassist for the fabulous band Time for Three, which is really an unclassifiable band that melds classical, jazz, bluegrass, and other influences together into a really awesome and exciting product. In fact, rather than try to describe this band myself, let me just read this quote from Paul Newman: “To hear these three young guys is to be thankful that music was invented… If I had been able to create a sound like these kids a few years back, I might have thought twice about going into acting!” In addition to playing with Time for Three, Ranaan has performed alongside such diverse musical luminaries as Mark O?Conner, Duane Eubanks, has played in the bass sections of the Minnesota Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Baltimore Symphony, and has written commissioned scores for the Pittsburgh Symphony. He has also taught alongside Hal Robinson at the Strings International Music Festival and for Mark O?Conner?s String Camp. We?ll be hearing a couple of brief selections from Time for Three during today?s interview with Ranaan. To hear more from this band, check out their website at www.timeforthree.com. After the interview, we?ll be hearing a track from German bassist Guy Tuneh and will also feature a track from Pittsburgh-based singer/songwriter and podcast listener Brad Yode, “James Bond.”
Ranaan MeyBio: Ranaan Meyer, double bassist and composer, began his musical studies at the piano at age 4; at age 11, he took up the double bass (once he was big enough to hold it). He attended the Manhattan School of Music and graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2003. Beyond regular appearances with orchestras such as the Minnesota Symphony, Baltimore Symphony and The Philadelphia Orchestra, Mr. Meyer is also increasingly in demand as a composer, creating unique new works for his trio Time for Three as well as for solo bass and other ensembles. Most recently Mr. Meyer completed a commission, ?My Zayda? (for Violin, Piano and Double Bass) for the Kingston Chamber Music Festival in Rhode Island. Other recently completed commissions include a solo double bass piece for the Network for New Music, a double bass and harp duet as well as a set of Time for Three pieces for Astral Artistic Services and a Time for Three composition for the City of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Symphony, ?Of time and three rivers?. All commissions have been expedited through the American Composer?s forum. Mr. Meyer, also an accomplished jazz musician, has performed with Jane Monheight, Victor Lewis, Jason Moran, Mark O?Connor, Ari Hoenig, Duane Eubanks, Mickey Roker and many more. Ranaan, at age 19 produced, directed and performed in the very first Washington Township Jazz Festival which was also broadcasted live on Philadelphia?s WRTI. Mr. Meyer, an avid teacher, has held adjunct Double Bass Professorships at both Princeton University and the University of Delaware. He has spent several Summers teaching alongside Hal Robinson (Principal Bass of The Philadelphia Orchestra) at the Strings International Music Festival in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He has also taught at the Intermountain Suzuki Camp in Sandy, Utah and Mark O?Connor?s String Camp in San Diego, California. Albums from Time for Three: We Just Burned This For You Time for Three’s second album, recorded LIVE, in concert, January 13, 2006 in band member Zach’s hometown of Bowling Green, Ohio. $15.97 Order Now Time For Three The first album, featuring “The Orange Blossom Special”, “Bach Double”, and many more. $15.99 Order Now
Musical Guest: Guy Tuneh
Visit him online at www.guytuneh.com
Selection performed:
Leopold Mozart: Frosh Parthia -for violin, violoncello & bass
C.Altenburger-Vl E.Wehse- Vc G.Tuneh ?Kb.
Guy Tuneh Bio: Guy Tuneh has been studying in Germany and performing internationally. He is noted for his intense musical involvement and phenomenal performances, combining virtuosity and musicality. Mr. Tuneh has been active as a solo performer, chamber musician, orchestra and opera bassist. Having begun as a violin student at the age of 6, he was drawn to the tone color of the double bass, joining Prof. Michael Klinghoffer’s bass studio at the S. Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University. Later, he continued his bass studies under Prof. Barbara Sanderling at the Hochschule Für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin, he is now working towards a Solo Artist Diploma with Prof. Wolfgang Güttler at the Hochschule für Musik in Basel. Additionally, he took master classes with Yoan Goilav, Gary Karr and Miloslav Gajdos. His orchestra performances included engagements as a principle bassist with the Berliner Kammeroper, Ensemble “Echo” in the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Theater Erfurt, and most recently with the Solistes Européens Luxembourg. As an orchestra bassist Mr. Tuneh performed under such distinguished conductors as Kurt Sanderling, Zubin Mehta, Sir Simon Rattle, Nicolas Harnoncourt and Christian Thielemann. Winner of a Villa Musica Scholarship, Guy Tuneh has performed all over Germany as a chamber musician and a soloist to great acclaim, and participated in chamber music and solo performances recorded by the SWR (Southwest German Radio). These performances included collaborations with Ulf Rodenhäuser, Guy Braunstein, Christian Altenburger, Wen-Sinn Yang, Martin Ostertag, Hermann Bäumer, and other distinguished musicians.The “Allgemeine Zeitung” described his performance as youthful and exuberant.
News and Notes: We?ve got a great line-up of future guests coming up here, including some more interviews with people outside of the classical bass realm. I am interested in continuing to broaden the types of guests on this program, and while it will always probably be at least somewhat weighted toward the classical orchestral side of things (seeing as how that?s what I do and where I come from), I?m talking with some really prominent electric bass and crossover players, so expect to hear some interviews with players who have worked in rock and fusion settings.
One of our future interview guests is actually going to be Guy Tuneh, who you just heard magnificently play that Leopold Mozart selection. I have also been in correspondence with some other European guests, and I look forward to bringing more perspectives outside of the United States into the show.
Podcasting is global and the double bass community is global and I want to make sure that this show continues to become more and more global. One of the things that really sets podcasting apart from traditional radio is that it is accessible anywhere in the world to anyone with an internet connection, and, as with the blog, I want to make sure that the show reflects the global nature of the medium.
In addition to new guests, we?ve got a wealth of material sitting in the archives from Rob Kassinger, Michael Hovnanian, Francois Rabbath, Eric Hochberg, Greg Sarchet, Jeff Turner, and many other guests, so expect to hear more of this in the next few weeks. Many of the first parts of these interviews wrapped up just as they were getting juicy, so I?m sure that folks out there will be interested to hear some more perspectives from these and other former guests.
This is currently the only active bass podcast for either double bass or electric bass. A couple of excellent podcasts have podfaded, and I feel a responsibility to include some electric bass content as well and to feature guests who work on both instruments, and we will start to see some of that, although the show will still be predominantly about the double bass.
I am also planning on featuring even more music on the podcast, and including submissions from a wide range of sources. If you?d like to have some music played on the podcast, please e-mail us here acontrabassconversations@gmail.com and we?ll get it set up for you. Remember, one of the things that make podcasting really cool and unlike traditional radio is the community involvement and interaction between host, guests, and listener. My door is always open, and I welcome comments, ideas, submissions, guest interviews, and the like. As with my blog, I see this as a community podcast, and I want to continue to grow and develop it according to what you, the listeners, want.
Double bassist and Contrabass Conversations frequent guest Phillip Serna is now a regular contributor to the bass blog. You will see his signature at the bottom of any posts he has contributed. This week he wrote an excellent piece on the Octobass. Check it out if you didn’t get a chance to do so earlier this week. We put out two blogging/podcasting/subscribing how-to posts this week. One post was written by me, while another post was a great tutorial on how to subscribe to blogs and why it is a good idea.
For more bass news and a summary of what?s been going on in the community, visitwww.doublebassblog.org and click on the Weekly Wrap-Up. There, you?ll get a nice summary of this week?activities.
One More Track From Pittsburgh-based singe/ songwriter Brad Yoder ? titled James Bond ? bassist Kevin Kehrberg on this track. You can visit him online atwww.bradyoder.com Music provided by: The Fonkmasters From the Podsafe Music Network Check them out at www.music.podshow.com
Latin Soul Syndicate Shake It From The Adventures of Johnny Loco
Download “Shake It” (mp3) from “The Adventures Of Johnny Loco” by Latin Soul Syndicate Lovecat Music
- Buy at iTunes Music Store
- Buy at eMusic
- Stream from Rhapsody
- Buy at Napster
- Buy at Rhapsody
More On This Album Los Lonely Boys Heaven From Live at Blue Cat Blues ? Dallas, Texas
Download “Heaven” (mp3) from “Live At Blue Cat Blues – Dallas Texas” by Los Lonely Boys Blue Cat Blues Records
- Buy at iTunes Music Store
- Buy at eMusic
- Stream from Rhapsody
- Buy at Rhapsody
- Buy at Napster
