The Golden Gate Bass Camp has been uniting the San Francisco Bay Area bass community for over 20 years, and it continues to grow and evolve each summer.

Founded by Inner Game of Music author and former Cincinnati Symphony principal bassist Barry Green in the mid-90s, this camp is now under the directorship of Richard Duke.  In recent years, Richard has incorporated more and more eclectic bassists into the faculty, and the camp is a great mix of double bass and electric bass.

The Bay Area is filled with outstanding local electric bass talent, and Richard has enlisted quite a line-up of faculty for 2018.

Electric bass sessions this year will include left and right hand technique, slapping and popping, groove playing, improvisation, pedals, and looping.

Michael Manring is a one-of-a-kind talent and an incredibly inspiring artist and teacher.  Sitting in on Michael’s slap bass class last year was one of the major highlights of the week for me.  Michael has a warm and relaxed teaching style, and he gets students to open their minds to all sorts of new sonic and technical possibilities on the instrument.  Michael will also perform some solo numbers—not to be missed!

Bill Gould of Faith No More will lead a studio recording master class of Wednesday, June 20th as part of the camp’s Expo Day.  This day is a chance for people to check out basses, amps, and accessories from a variety of industry vendors.  Bill will cover recording the bass, EQ, phasing, micing and direct line options, locking in with the drummer, and producing music.  Also, you can attend Expo Day even if you can’t make the entire week of camp.

Cody Wright will be joining the faculty in 2018 to offer his inquest and engaging take on groove, technique, and improvisation, covering both finger style and pick playing.  I’m really looking forward to checking out Cody in person!

Dan Robbins is a Bay Area electric bass master, and he whips up an engaging sonic palette of looped lines and pedal explorations.  I love watching students crowd around Dan as he explains how he builds tracks through looping and what he can do with octave pedals, delay, and other assorted tools in his electric bass toolkit.

In addition to all of these wonderful electric bass artists, the 2018 faculty will include great double bass artists (many of whom also play electric bass!):

• Jeff Denson– jazz bassist and composer, faculty member at California Jazz Conservatory
• Donovan Stokes– trailblazing composer, performer, and teacher at Shenandoah Conservatory
• Joseph Conyers– Philadelphia Orchestra Assistant Principal Bass
• San Francisco Symphony members Scott Pingel, Daniel Smith, Steve Tramantozzi, and Charles Chandler
• Megan McDevitt– master double bass performer and teacher as well as a long-time former camp attendee!
• Sascha Jacobsen– tango bassist
• Ernesto Mazar-Kinderlan – longtime bassist for Cuban supergroup Charanga Habanera

This week of bass goodness is sponsored in part by Zon Electric Basses.  Steve Zon lives in San Francisco, and he generously donated a Zon bass to auction off at the 2017 camp.  Michael Manring and other faculty members perform on Zon basses, and it’s great to see such a strong presence of these great instruments at the event.

There will also be a Faculty Concert Thursday June 21 at 7 pm at the Drew School. This is a great opportunity to see all of these artists in action, and you’re welcome to attend this concert even if you can’t make the entire week of camp.

Learn more about all that’s going on at the 2018 Golden Gate Bass Camp and reserve a spot now at goldengatebasscampsf.com!