Bass World

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~---Departments:

President's Corner.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

II .. .. .. II .. .. .. II ..

2 Letter To The Editor

II .. II II . . . D .. D II II II

4 My Turn

D . . . . II II D II .. II II .. II .. II II . . . II II ..

7 Child's Play

II II .. II . . . II .. II . . . . II .. II

29 Hot Shots

II .. .. .. .. II .. II .. II II .. II .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. II

31 International Bass Club Directory

II II II . . . .

32 Bass Clubs ....

II II .. II II II II .. II II II . . . II II .. II II .. II

33 Centerfold

II II .. .. II II II .. II .. .. II .. .. II .. II .. II II .. II II

35 All That Jazz

II II II .. AI II .. II II II II II a .. a II II II II

39 Body

&

Bass

II .. II a rI II II . . . II .. R ..

47 The Latest Score

II .. .. II II .. .. II .. II .. II .. II II ..

50 Sounding Board '"

R OR .. '" AI .. OJ '" II . . . a

56 Luthier's Corner ....

II . . . . OJ D " .. " II II ..

65 Young Bassist's Page

D D " R ..

68 New Products ..

a . . . " II II '" .. '" II II II

71 Features:

The Path: Peter Warren's Story

II . . . . R II '" ..

11 Theodor Albin Findeisen

(1881-1936)0 ..

17 Millennium Suite for Violin and

Double Bass.. .. .. .. .. ..

II .. .. .. .. II .. '" /I .. II .. .. ..

22 Married to the Bass ..

II .. II II .. II II " II OJ II AI

27 Spotlight Double Bass 2005 .,

II . . . . " II

49 ABOUT THE A R T I S T

-ABOUT THE COVER ARTIST: This issue's cover artist is Sandra Muzzy. She lives in Bloomington, Minnesota, where she indulges her passion for painting and teaching watercolor. She is the past president of the Minnesota Watercolor Society and has exhibited her work widely. She was inspired to paint her daughter, Olivia-Rose, after sitting in on numerous bass lessons, rehearsals and recitals. Sandra was captivated not only by the sound of the bass but also its curvaceous lines and superhuman size. She has since sketched many images of musicians, but basses and bass players remain a favorite subject. Sandra was recently invited to sketch and paint members of The Minnesota Orchestra, and her work has been featured on two program covers for the orchestra. Sandra Muzzy can be reached at (952)854-7677 or at giggles@pclink.com.

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Some years ago I performed in New York City in a small alternative music venue. I did my thing and after the gig one of my musician fliends came up and said, "Wow, man, I really enjoyed your show." I was, I must admit, taken aback by "your show." It had been a good number of years since I'd in the US and

r

d missed this evolution in the local lexicon. I thought that I'd a concert. Hmm, what's going on here? In n1Y obviously outdated vocabulary, a show was entertainment and a concert was something else. It had not been my intention to come to New York to entertain my audience, to per-fonn a show. And this little incident got me thinking about an the ways music is used in our culture, about live music versus '" ,,-,I , ' , ' , . , 11.1I music and about the entertainment factor.

For young bassists today, with their hearts and ears full of music, it's a cOlnplicated world out there. Learning about the music industry, the music business, with an its various levels, is a real task. And then to situate oneself in that reality is also a very complex undertaking. Most of us start out wanting to play for to live music. But too often there's not enough money by our live activities to provide the material basics we need to live. In that case, what's the solution? Obviously there are lnany possible solutions, and each of us has to ure it out individually. Looking back at my 45 years of professional what I've dis-covered is that it doesn't really matter what kind of tnusic you Any kind of music can touch and make them different. Our task, no matter the kind of lllusic we're is to put our hearts into it, because it's our passion that comes over to our listeners and touches them.

Pre-recorded music is used in so many different ways: to unite us in group activities (sporting events, parades, rallies, lnilitary events, religious ceremonies); us with an envi-ronillent to do our thing (parties, relaxation sessions); (in body and tnind healing); stimulate (in and animals and on the work site); as sound (in the home, in elevators and buildings, in stores, at the mall); as (in film" in video, in theater); and to sen to our (CDs, tapes, DVDs).Itcan or replace live mances. When the feeling and the sound are right, plants grow better,mdpeople feel better. Playing for a microphone and a producer in a studio can seem like a cold but if we put our hearts into it, it can really work. Those good vibrations can travel over electric current.

Perfolming fun tilne in an orchestra, recording jingles in a studio, playing nights a week a bar or touring for lnonths on end with no off, these are aU very demanding careers. But when we accept these jobs, we must 'work hard to deliver the goods, to send out our heatis, as regularly as No lnatter whether we are sick, dissatisfied with the boss, unhappy about the working conditions, or whatever negative forces may be at work around us, when it's time to and none of that matters. Then only music matters, and we must give it our best and put our hearts into it.Idealistic? absolutely. Um-ealistic? No. We must find the strength to deliver the goods under almost any circumstances. And at the same time, life filay often to have other for us than what we were countingOll,or striving for.

that my desires or efforts haven't detennined the kind of music

overIny That's always been decided by the telephone. But the wonderful musical adven-tures and encounters that I've had in IllY life have happened thanks to the sound that comes out of my instrument. Nothing less, nothing lllore. And there seenlS to be a definite correlation between how lnuch of me I can put into my sound and how often the phone lings. Be it enter-tainnlent, recording or through the latest results of nlY ongoing search for every sound that lives in the bass, step one for me is to make sure that my head and lny heart are functioning. If they are working conectly, then my body can do the job.

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JoiUle Morton, Editor

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

I am writing in response to Barre Phillips' President's Corner

column regarding the use of tuners [Bass World 2004 28, no. 2].

At the very beginning of the column, Mr. Phillips makes an assumption that I would challenge. He says, "When I see a bassist tune his instrument by eye rather than ear, I shake my head and quiver, just a little." Well, I am one of those bassists who uses a tuner, and I can assure Mr. Phillips that I use my eyes, my ears and my brain when I tune and, indeed, throughout my entire practice session! I would like to say that I love using a tuner, and explain some of the reasons why.

First, I offer some background. I tuned using harmonics for more than 25 years and only started using a tuner about five years ago, though I now wish I'd gotten one sooner. I am an orchestral player, so when I tune with my tuner, I am tuning to the same A-440 that the oboist uses. When the oboe gives me my "A," I check my strings (using harmonics), and usually I am in tune. If not, I only have to make minor adjustments. I am done tuning in no time at all. Also, I like the fact that my strings are starting out at the "same point" each time I tune. It's much easier to adjust my pitch if I need to do so.

What I find the tuner most valuable for is generating pitches. I have found from experience that if you play something enough times, your ear will begin to accept it as in tune, even if it is not. So I will practice a piece of music with the root, third, or fifth on in the background. If I have a particularly difficult shift to prac-tice, I will set the tuner to the arrival note. Practicing this way has

really helped me to develop my sense of pitch and to play more in tune. Another way to explain this concept would be to use the fol-lowing analogy. If I asked you to make a circle using only paper and scissors, you could probably do a pretty good job. However, if you held that circle up to one made using a compass, you'd see all the places where you were a little off. Practicing with a tuner keeps me "honest" in the practice room. This then makes it easi-er for me to match pitch in my section and to blend with the rest of the orchestra.

Ultimately, time will determine whether tuners will become accepted tools of the trade. Some bassists will find them helpful and use them, and I say "bravo" to those bassists. And there will also be bassists who don't find them helpful. To those bassists I say "bravo" as well! Rather than opine that bassists who tune with tuners are missing the boat, I would suggest that we are taking dif-ferent boats to the same dock.

Respectfully submitted, Regina Barrett

Regina Barrett resides in Middletown, PAwith her husband Patrick (who is not a musician) and their two dogs and one cat. She plays with the Harrisburg and Reading Symphonies, free-lances, and teaches bass.

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The Online Journal of

Bass Research

www.ojbrllcom

The ISB's Online Journal of Bass Research (OJBR) is a scholarly electronic publication, accessible free of charge at www.ojbr.com.This refereed publication is published bi-annually as a means of fostering and communication original scholarly reseqarch per-taining to the history, development, function and features of the double bass and other related bowed bass instruments, their players and repertoires.

The ISS is pleased to announce the release of Volume 2,#1, which presents Shanon Zusman's critical review of the book, Studies in Italian Sacred and Instrumental Music in the 17th Century (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Co., 2003) by Stephen Bonta. for those researching the early history of stringed bass instruments, including the earliest incarnations of the violoncello, bass viol, and double bass, Sonta's more than 35 years of research is among the most important and oft-cited. The Ashgate book is a collection of sixteen of Bonta's essays, ranging from his first publication in the Journal of the American Musicological Society (1967) to his most recent article from the sympo-sium Sarocco Padano (2002).

Also still available is the OJBR's inaugural issue, Volume 1, #1, which presents Michael Greenberg's ground-breaking article, lIThe Perfect Storm: The Rise of the Double Bass in

France 1701-1816."

Call For Manuscripts

Original manuscripts reflecting a high quality of scholarship are

invited for consideration from scholars and practitioners in a wide

variety of arenas and disciplines relevant to the double bass or

related instruments.. Topics may be presented from any number of

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biogra-phy, and/or analysis, and may deal with subjects stemming from

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guidelines are available at www"ojbr..com .. To submit an article,

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View the website at wwwllojbrllcom"

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By

Chuck

Traeger

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smaller regional orchestras that schedule a five- or six-concert series each year, paying their musicians on a "per service" basis. These ensembles may be just as competitive to get into, yet they rarely offer a true salary, let alone benefits. Academic positions follow a similarpattem. Though most universities nowadays maintain a small faculty core (with each member of that core teaching a multitude of classes), a larger number of positionsinthe music department are often allocated to part-time faculty, who are paid tiny sums per hour (often much less than could be earned in the private studio) and who are offered little or no job security, benefits or potential for advance-ment. These kinds of positions, then, are the more realistic job poten-tial for most competent, college graduate musicians.

Welcome to the real world of making a living (or not) as a musi-cian! Not is it difficult to find and obtain work as a musician, but many of the jobs themselves will seem to be stuck in a lower standard of music-making than one experienced while in college.Itis a sad fact that many qualified (and perhaps even over-qualified) musicians may never find the kind of employ-ment for which they were trained. What I find especially worrisome is the common mantra that "if you are not spending every single minute possible of your time practicing, then you are wasting your time." With the current job environment, this philosophy simply doesn't always hold true. For even if one becomes a fabulous tech-nician on one's instrument, there is still no guarantee that there will be someone else out there willing to pay a salary for that expertise. Still, acknowledging the reality of the job market should not neces-sarily cause despair. The trick, in my opinion, is to acknowledge the reality before it sets in. In actual fact, the current "free market" environment leaves the door open for a lot of personal options, if one has the vision, courage and strength to find and forge an indi-vidual path. With this in mind, many musicians, both teachers and students alike, are exploring creative solutions to earning a living.

or

in

the

;enltu

.-

....

m

SSI

B

By JoiUe Morton

A number of years ago, there was an excellent article called "Careers for Cellists in the 21 st written by Jonathan Kramer and published in the ASTA (Autumn, 1992). In this alticle, the author performed a very interesting test. He count-ed up a total of approximately 1,500 salaried, full-time jobs for cellists in the US, the orchestral positions that paid $15,000 a year or more, plus all of the academic positions listed by the Music Then he contrasted that with the actual number of cello students who would be graduating from col-that year: at the time, there were 180 cello per-fonnance at Indiana alone. Kramer con-cluded that: "Our and conservatory system is turning out some of the world's finest cellists, sensitive artists with a command of the instrument who beautifully. However, for those who want to devote their lives to the art and at the same time earn a

liv-by it,the future is uncertain... How can

accommodate aU of those cellists?" Kramer have taken his a step further that most of the full-time jobs for cellists are and that it is a handful of posi-tions that even become available each year, not for graldwatlrlg cellists, but also for who are out of school and un(~mololve(:1.and cellists who are to find better PO:SltIons.

Itshould be self-evident that this problem is not limited to cellists.

f-\1I1E{ JIB!! 1it is difficult to come up with accurate numbers, there is

a similar for musicians of all types, even fewer, on the instrument. For bassists, jobs can be few and far between. Orchestras, after aU, a mere handful of and may not post vacancies for years on end, until someone retires after a full lifetime with the ensemble. Not are there few full-time chamber music and solo po~;lt1()ns for bassists, but many bassists as ...-._ emID1()Vees. whose and benefits are based on the number of students teach. It is a sad fact that many quali-fied, and even double bassists may never find the kinds of salmied, mainstream for which they are trained. Double bass teachers and their students are, out of necessity, having to be creative to find solutions to thispJl.'-''l..n.,,",JI..Ll.

But let's assume for a moment that one does find a vacancy, pass the audition/interview with colors and land the job. Has any-one else out there noticed that most positions these days are not "full-time" work? In his Kramer optimistically included orchestral cello that paid as little as $15,000 a year. Can a person survive on that salary, let alone support a family and save for retirement? Many orchestras employ musicians only on a

1)<11[-111111::: basis. The reality is that of the roughly fifty ICSOM

orchestras (these might be termed the "better" and "higher paid" orchestras in the US), only one or two of them will post vacancies for a particular instrument in any given year. Yet there are many

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that asking "Would you like fries with that" or "Is that a single or a double espresso?" requires no skills whatsoever! In all seriousness, I feel that no matter how great the player, there is a real bene-fit from taking time to explore the many sides of one's personality, and finding ways to use all of those sides to make a decent living. In this way, you serve your own needs, while at the same time becom-ing more likely to find a niche in the pro-fessional musical world where you can become financially and creatively stable.

JoeUe Morton received her undergradu-ate degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and Masters and Doctoral degrees froIn the University of Southern California, and studied double bass with Joel Quarrington, John Gowen, Tom Martin, Roger Scott, Ludwig Streicher, Frantisek Posta and Paul EUison. She now plays on period instruntents, and is active-ly sought after as a chantber nlusician, soloist and clinician.

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skills are not luxuries; they are necessi-ties.

In the process of acquiring these skills, bassists may actually become more mar-ketable and economically self-sufficient. During the periods when they are unable to find "desirable" work as a bassist there is something to fall back on. I have many friends who are excellent musicians who have "tided themselves through the rough periods" working as secretaries or doing computer programming, etc. to help pay the rent while they free-lance, or to help pay for the airfare and practice time to get to their next big audition. I am yet another kind of example, since I was classically trained and always expected to be an orchestral bass player. But I enjoy writing, and somewhere during my studies I became fascinated by early music, with its emphasis on chamber music and music history and informal pre-concert lecturing. Contrary to my original career plan, I now find myself editing a magazine, giving lec-tures at conventions and coaching all kinds of chamber music. I still love double bass playing, but the career that "found me" (and that came as a byproduct of some of my other skills and interests) is extremely satisfying and rewarding. It

also makes my life a lot eas-ier financially and permits me the freedolll to really rel-ish my performance oppor-tunities when they come along.

Although learning other skills might cost bassists some time they might other-wise be spending in the practice studio, I feel that this time is well spent, and very often carries over in unexpected ways to one's playing. Certainly, the hours I spend at the com-puter do nothing to help my bass playing technique. On the other hand, I gain a lot of insights into music mak-ing durmak-ing the hours I enjoy "being myself' and" feel-ing good about myself," since they all contribute to what I have to express through my music. For those unwilling to devote time to cultivating mar-ketable skills, remember Like Jonathan Kramer, I am strongly in

favor of adopting a broader education for musicians in general. This isn't to say that musicians shouldn't practice as much! They just need to supplement study of their particular instrument or specialty with study of other subjects of their choice. In many cases, the broader a musician's skills, the more marketable they become. This is particularly true in the case of university-level teaching. Even if an applicant holds a doctoral degree, many colleges cannot afford to hire, or are unwilling to pay a living wage to someone who is only able to teach a single subject area. Truthfully, it is more "cost effective" for colleges to hire some-one who is qualified and willing to teach a variety of subjects. At first blush, while most performing musicians might be appalled at this concept, other subject areas with which they are likely to have some degree of familiarity, if not profi-ciency, thanks to their general musical training might include music history, the-ory, composition, ethnomusicology, per-formance practice, chamber music and/or conducting (choir or orchestra). These subject areas then, might supplant a bassist's ability to teach in their own spe-cial performance area. Bassists who have skills in multiple academic areas will clearly have an edge over the ones who

onlyplay the bass.

At the very minimum, all bassists should make an effort to master some basic "survival skills."Itis a frequent sur-prise to me how many musicians I have met are loathe to type and use the com-puter, who are ignorant of how to write a business letter, how to conduct them-selves professionally on the telephone, how to balance their accounts, or even compile deductions for their income tax returns, etc. These skills are necessary for coping with life in general, but they are also the way we represent ourselves pro-fessionally, when applying for and main-taining jobs! In order to get an audition or interview, for example, one has to know how to type a resume and cover letter. As a professional performer, one will be speaking with contractors and personnel managers to work out the details of employment, not to mention the interac-tion between one's students and/or audi-ence. As responsible members of society first and self-employed professionals sec-ond, musicians also have to know how to balance their own checkbooks and file

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SEll 1798

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P

t

The Path:

r Warren's

St

ry

By Chris Kosky

The life of a musician is often very interesting, if not easy. The places we go, the people we meet, where we end up from whence we began-the path. The path

that, if we're lucky, gets us to ourvoice,

and beyond ...

In 1969, four double bassists went into a New York recording studio and began improvising freely. Unwritten and unspo-ken - with unplanned appearances by other musicians-Bass Is was born. The album made music history, as well as earning a five-star rating fromDown Beatmagazine, but the real triumph is the music. Peter Warren brought this bass quartet to the stu-dio that day, but what brought Warren to the bass and to his voice?

Peter Warren

Born in New York to Czech immigrants, Peter began his musical journey on the violin. His grandfather was a Gypsy violinist, his father played bass, and so Warren was exposed at a very early age to classical, Gypsy and folk music styles. The family's move to Long Island landed Warren at Hempstead High School, which boasted the nation's best sym-phony orchestra. Guest conductors and soloists were a staple of this public school's outstand-ing music program. While at Hempstead High Warren, like many fourteen year-old boys, began to grow, and because of his big hands, "the violin wasn't doing it for me." So he switched to cello and progressed rapidly, becoming the protege of Josef Emonts, former fIrst cellist of the NY Philharmonic under Toscanini. Of this time in his life Warren says, "I was having trouble in school, I was into music and nothing else." A simple state-ment, but also perhaps a fust indication of the path he was taking. Recognizing Warren's talent, the head of the Hempstead H.S. music department arranged for a scholarship, enabling the young cellist to take private lessons at Juilliard with Luigi Silva. Warren thrived in this environment and even played a recital in Carnegie Recital Hall, though he admits, "I always took liberties when I played..."

Around this time, the draft reared its ugly head, so Warren did what many young men with musical talent at that time were doing-he auditioned for tdoing-he service symphony orchestras. He won a

olidarity

The last tour that Warren took to Europe before returning to the U.S. was to Poland. The tour was government-sponsored, and the band bused between performance sites. Because they were busing, Warren says they had a lot of interaction with the Polish people. The solidarity movement was going on at the time, and Warren was moved by the plight of the people-the extreme gov-ernmental control, the poverty, and the rampant alcoholism, particularly among the young. He recalls, "I heard a few folk melodies that were familiar to me, that were kind of like I remembered from my grandfather, and so on the plane home, I wrote out this folk melody, and ...I'm the only American the plane ... we're flying back to New York ... and these people had managed to somehow get sponsorship and visas and money to get to America. For me it was what it must have been like for my dad when he came over on the boat and they saw the Statue of Liberty. And as we came intoJFK [airport], we had to make several passes and I said to the people, 'that's America right down there,' and they all rushed to one side of the plane and the plane lurched!

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[laughs] [And I thought,] this is the new world for them; it's amazing! I was so touched by it that when I got back I said I have to make a statement."

Warren had a house band gig at a club called 55 Grand Street, where he played with guitarists Mike Stem and John Scofield (sometimes together), drummer Victor Lewis, and others. (Interestingly, Jaco Pastorius would fre-quent the session and sit in.) This gig provided ample opportunity for musical experimentation, so when a chance to record came, Warren took these musi-cians into the studio in hopes of fulfill-ing his latest musical vision. Warren tells a story behind the title cut: "Only a hom riff was written out. We got ten minutes into it, and I stopped them and said, 'Look, we have to talk. This is what this music is, imagine this: imag-ine you're Polish and you've never been to the big city before, and you go to the big city to get a job, and you find out that there's no work. And if there is work, you can't make any money. And you decide with your friends to rebel against it. So this is like a siege, like a war, and it's a war between these peas-ants and the bureaucracy that's ruling the country. And at the end is this joy-ous happiness that your efforts have come out right.' " Scofield was key in the whole thing, "so I said to think of Gypsies and balalaikas [imitates tremoloing balalaika]-and he got it, and that was it! One take! Boom!"

spot in the Air Force and was promptly shipped to Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas for basic military training. Under the heading of "we can laugh about it now," his cello, as personal property, was subject to inspection! Due to manning shortages, and because he had the requisite educational level, theAirForce made Warren an officer. However, instead of being sent to the Air Force orchestra in Washington, D.C., he says, " they sent me to a drum and bugle corps in Cheyenne, Wyoming in six feet of snow! and I didn't know ... drums and bugles I was a cellist!" The path of a musician often curves, loops, and zigzags, and at this point in time, crazy as it seemed, Peter Warren was only getting started....

After his stint in the Air Force, Warren landed a job in the Atlanta Symphony, and here we see two very important milestones on his path: one was the beginning notion of his musical conception or vision, the entirety of which wouldn't come for a few more years. As he puts it, " ... to be honest, in the orchestra, although I loved the sound of it all and the teamwork involved, I stuck out. I really stuck out, because I wasn't trained for that, I was trained to be a soloist. I disagreed with the frrst cellist's bowings and his phrasing, and it was a constant bat-tle." The other Atlanta milestone was his introduction to bass playing. A clarinetist in the orchestra who also played saxophone convinced Warren that he could make some money in the off-season by playing bass in dance bands. "And my opinion at that time [was] that ...bass players were something

lowerthan cellists, we kind of looked our nose down at these guys. So I wrapped my fingers with tape ... I didn't know anything about chord changes ... [but] I could read of course. I went on the road with a band [laughing] called 'Dean Hudson and His ,Moon Over Miami,' and we toured all over the south. I had bleeding, blistering fin-gers ... at that time there weren't any metal strings, and I had borrowed a Kay bass [with] the action this high on it and it was tearing me up. I was terrible! I was really a lousy bass player. But, I was making some money during the off-season."

After two seasons with the Atlanta sym-phony, Warren's path took him through Dallas and on to Las Vegas, with the goal of landing a job in one of the pit bands, which at the time had the highest pay scale in the country. He figured he would have a good chance at landing one of these gigs because he played both cello and bass. After the required six-month waiting period, Warren

Peter Warren in the studio, 1998.

was hired as a cellist in a band at the Flamingo Hotel, where he met Ella Fitzgerald's bass player, Frank DeLaRosa. "DeLaRosa really turned me around. He said to me, 'You have to make up your mind what you're going to do ... if you're going to play the bass ... you have to get yourself a real instrument.'"

Warren took DeLaRosa's advice to heaJ.1 and went to Los Angeles where he traded one of his cellos for a bass. While in the shop that day, Warren noticed another bass player trying out bows and offered the man his advice as to which bow was the best. Warren introduced himself, and the gentle-man responded, "My name is Chuck Israels." Israels told Warren that he was playing with Bill Evans at the famous west coast club Shelly's Manne-Hole that evening, but at this point Warren was so new to jazz that he did not even know who Bill Evans was! So that evening he went to the club and said,"wow!"Bill Evans' trio had blown his mind. Back in Las Vegas Warren began to listen to morejazz~at that time many great bands went through there. He took some lessons from Frank DeLaRosa and began to feel comfortable playing the bass. When the Tommy Dorsey Band came to Vegas, they needed a bass player and Warren ,vas looking to get back east, so he joined the band and played with it until it went back to New York.

Back in New York and off the Dorsey band, Warren took a few lessons with Chuck Israels and jumped into the life of a freelance

(15)

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Warren says, this was the 1960s, and many of the musicians were experimenting with different styles of music, different instru-ments, and the music of other cultures.

"Itwas at that time [c. 1966-67] that I started to experiment with the basses. Playing with two basses, then three. Glen Moore stayed with us for awhile. And Glen and I played a lot together. With David Izenzon (Ornette Coleman's bass player), we formed the New York Bass Revolution-a group that sometimes had as many as ten bassists in it. We used to playa game, we'd take numbers and put them in a hat, and everybody would take a number, but they wouldn't tell the other person what number they had. So the idea of the game was that the number one bass player solos first and the other three accompany, then when num-ber 1 was through, numnum-ber two would play, but there was no music. So the intention was we had to listen and not get in the way, because as you add bass players, it can get pretty muddy. Now I have some tapes where it justdid not work;itjust came out mud, absolute mud! Especially when we had a multitude of bass players."

In 1969 Warren booked some late evening studio time and went with his jam

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drummer Barry Altschul, who played with Paul Bley and Gary Peacock. Warren says, "That loft became like a meeting place for musicians just coming to New York, any-time somebody wanted to play, the loft was there. We played 24/7, we just played all the time, we could play up until the wee hours of the morning, nobody

bothered us, nobody disturbed us. I met when they frrst came to town, Dave Holland, John McLaugWin, the Brecker Brothers, the loft is where they came. nickname used to be 'The Phone Book,' wanted to find any musician any-where in the world, had his number. [Barry] would just invite people, he wouldn't even tell me, he'd say, 'come on by, you can stay,' because we had room, guys could stay overnight."

Warren played elec-tric bass for a while with guitarist Danny Kalb's band Blues Project II. Kalb, he says laughing, "had the reputation of being the fastest guitar player around - and also the loudest!" But, as jazz bassist."[I wasn't] making very much

money, [I was] playing in trios.. down to the union floor on when had open call andI would take anythingI could get. .. but all the time 1was leaning towards that's what I wanted to play.I had some kind that came out into this.I realized after listening to some great bass this is sedous stuff and if1want to make a career of thisIhave to put as much energy into it asIdid as a cellist. At that time, there was a I mean guys hung out, it was possible to hangout, it didn't cost

any money, guys were anxious to meet other guys, there was a real going on, there were to go all the time." Through connections Warren landed a job in singer Dionne Warwick's fIrst band, a job he for three years. his tenure with Warwick he traveled all over the world, but he

remembers a six-week tour (the Schlitz Jazz

Tour) that came out of a Jazz

Festival appearance. Warwick was the headliner, but a few great artists were also on the bill, and WaITen said, "I get out on the road and I hear Thelonious Monk for the first time and 1 heard Burton for the first time, I met and hung out with Miroslav Vitous, Larry Coryell, Steve Swallow ... all these great guys, and I said, '1 can't this music anymore. I've got to move on. It's time to move on.' And 1 was really a lot of money at the time, but it was time to leave, to pursue playing the bass for real."

After leaving Warwick's band, Warren got a loft apartment and a roommate, jazz

(l to r) Joachim Kahn, Philip Catherine, Jean Luc Ponty, Peter Warren and Oliver Johnson in the early '70s.

(16)

NO SATTERIES, NO PRE-AMP

some types of free jazz playing that'snot the

idea- the idea is not to blend. I guess because of my background I wanted it to fit together somehow. And Bass Is is a very

good example of that, because at some place in each one of those pieces it blends togeth-er. Everybody gets on the same wavelength." Shortly after theBass Is session, Warren

and his (now) wife went to Europe. Originally Europe was going to be a stop-over on the way to India to find a guru. But while in Italy, Warren heard, and was so moved by, a group called The Trio, which he says "wasthe band in Europe at the time."

Barre Phillips, saxophonist John Surman and drummer Stu Martin were The Trio, and he followed them to Belgium, where they were living. "As soon as I got to Belgium," recalls Warren, "and started to hang out with the guys, they got me my fIrst gig, and it was the Baden-Baden Free Jazz Festival. And there was Dave [Holland]; Johnny Diani, great African bass player; Steve Lacy; Don Cherry. Steve Lacy did a thing with PM radio, he'd put on this static, let's play with this, right? [laughs] So for me, I was never subjected to any of that stuff before, and yeah, I liked it." At this point Stu Martin said to him, "You don't need a guru, you need to play music!" So that is what he did in Europe for the next five years.

During this time Warren got to know Barre Phillips, "I had heard Barre in New York, of course. I knew who he was, but I had never met him. [He is] a very special guy who really helped me immensely, and not only with gigs and stuff, but as a men-tor. Just listening to his stuff when he would play alone in his house was inspir-ing because you'd say, 'Wow, OK, I can do that. The bass can do that? Wow ... ,,, Warren stills plays an Otto Rubner bass (c. 1950) that was given to him by Barre dur-ing that stay in Europe.

Barre's influence on Peter Warren was great, but after returning to New York and joining Jack DeJohnette's band, Warren found what he calls the biggest influence on his bass playing. "I was very fortunate to play with Jack DeJohnette. IthinkI learned more in the times that I spent withhimthan in my lifetime about what a bass player is really [for], what is your job, what are you supposed to do, what is your responsibility. And you have a responsibility.Ifyou're going to be playing with other people, there's a responsi-bility as a bass player that you have to assume. I always sayget with a drummer.If this is the kind of music you want to play." [smiling] "Lethimthinkhe's the boss, that's says, "I've got the tapes somewhere... that

was interesting as well," however, when the album was released, only the acoustic mater-ial was used. At one point in the session, other musicians dropped by and joined in, includ-ing pianist Chick Corea, saxophonist John Surman, and drummer Stu Martin. Warren's roommate Barry Altschul also snuck in dur-ing Subra Har, an Indian-influenced piece,

and began tapping on the side of Warren's bass asifhe were playingtabla!

Warren remembers this session, "We just listened to each other. The whole idea of free music is to listen. That old thing about less is more is absolutely true. We had to make music and stay out of each other's way and every-thing was going to be fIrst-take, roar as it is,if it's out of tune, it's out of tune. The whole idea was to make it work, play this music and make it work. And many times it failed, but the times that it worked it wasso special! That record

not only got a five-star review inDown Beat,

but bass players were listening to it! And some of them were saying 'these guys can't play,' but other guys recognized that there was some-thing going on here."

"There are several free jazz players who really do play noise, but I could never figure that out, at some place it must cohere. But in

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OK. Lethim thinkhe's in control. What I learned from Jack: time is like a flying wedge that's always going fOlWard. If you listen when Dave Holland plays time, he's so on top of the beat, yet he's not rushing. And it's that on top thing that propels it fOlWard. Playing with drummers and really listening to what they're doing is where you learn that. AndI played hours and hours with Jack alone, just the bass and the drums."

Warren also says, "Jack DeJohnette [coined] the phrasemulti-directional music,

whichIthink really puts a nail on it, in that we are a product of all the things we've heard, and so somewhere in the music that would come out." Warren played in DeJohnette's bands on and off from the mid-1970s through the early 1980s, and then worked with guitarists Mike Stem and John Scofield, among many others. With Scofield, DeJohnette, trombonist Ray Anderson and saxophonist John Purcell, Warren recorded,Solidarity (see sidebar).

So where is WatTen on his serpentine path now? He currently livesin New York City with his wife,TVProducer Arlene Shennan, and their two cats. While recovering from a bad fall several years ago, Wan'en said he had "had time to think. I've had so many rewards

with music, I have to give it back somehow, the best wayIcan. As bassists, when we get to a certain level, we're obligated to pass on whatever we've learned to the next set of bass players. We have a term called 'the cats,' well, the cats of my generation are all passing away. I'd like to give this information thatI have. I'm a great coach.I like workshops.I like interaction,Ifmd that a lot of musicians today, because the technique comes so quickly they're somehow missing something. There's a growing process that perhaps is missing."

"I've been fortunate enough, I've had such great karma musically, in thatI did the cello thing and took that to where it was going to go,Idid the pop music thing, the rock thing and took those to where they were going to go, and thenI went into the bass and took that to where it was going to go, and stayed there. So I'm a happy camper with what has happened in my life. And I've always been a student. I feel if you are a master, then you have a real

obligation, [laughing] and who wants that? The evolution of bass playing for me, was the classical influence, becauseIwas a cel-list first, and the idea to make everything sound beautiful when you can is it. The bass is a voice that's come into its own. I

think what happens is we become people pleasers; we want to play what people want to hear, and sometimes that limits you from playing your own voice... I think, for me, I've been fortunate enough to have been associated with people who let me play my own voice."

Peter Warren Partial Discography: Under his own name:

Bass Is (Enja) Solidarity (Jappo)

As a sideman:

Tin Can Alley (ECM) Special Edition (ECM) Cosmic Chicken (Fantasy) 13 and3/4(Watt)

Trinity (Enja) Spontaneous (Enja) This Way Out (MPS) Interchange (MPS)

Going To The Rainbow (MPS) Open Strings (MPS)

Donna Lee (America) Twet (Polski) Vibrations (Enja)

Live From Donaueshingen (Phillips)

(18)

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(19)

Theodor Albin Findeisen

(1881-1936)

Portrait ofFindeisen, now located in the Gewandhaus Orchestra archives, kindly provided by Hans-Rainer lung. This is a copy ofa portrait that hung in the double bass room of the Leipzig conservatory for many years, as confirmed by Arno Milller. (It was still there when Preben Fahn¢e visited the conservatory with the late Gewandhaus bassist Konrad Siebach in Leipzig in 1989.)

By Ture Damhus and Preben Fahnee

It is our impression that many double bassists today do not know of the latel9th-early 20th century German bassist Theodor Albin Findeisen, who was a Gewandhaus Orchestra double bassist, chamber virtuoso, composer, and the creator of a complete line of study material for the double bass extending to the highest level of virtuosity. His uniquely thorough and creative method books and technical studies deserve recog-nition in wider circles, as do his other com-positions and his interesting opinions as aired in the articles in Der Kontrabass (a newsletter for the German Double Bassists' Association, published from 1929-1930).

Not much seems to be known about the life of Findeisen, though he studied the dou-ble bass at the Konigliches Konservatorium

der Musik in Leipzigl

with J. O. Schwabe from 1904-1906. Schwabe was clearly fond of his pupil, since he inscribed Findeisen's graduation diploma with the words:

"Herr F. participated in my teaching on a regular basis, is very talented and was my most hard-working student. His technique on the double bass is excellent, and to his clean intonation he adds a beautiful, full tone. He played solo pieces twice at the institute soirees with great success." In 1922, Findeisen became a bass pro-fessor at this conservatory himself and he also held a position as a member of the esteemed Gewandhaus Orchestra (in Leipzig) from 1907-19362

• He died quite

suddenly on March 3, 19363 •

Other than this very limited biographical information, we have not found much men-tion of Findeisen in history books; he is mentioned only in passing by Alfred Planyavsky (1970, 1984) and Paul Brun (1989, 2000) for the variant of the German bow frog named after him, and for a couple of the statements published in Der Lehrer

des Kontrabafi-spieles (his method book).

However, in our attempt to uncover more information about this elusive bassist, we have had the pleasure of corre-sponding with two of Findeisen's former

students: Arno MUller and Erich Hartmann2

• Hartmann has been a double bassist in the Berlin Philharmonic and is a composer of numerous pieces involving the double bass. MUller describes Findeisen as a kind-hearted man and a successful peda-gogue. Hartmann agrees, adding that he was serious and tolerated no laziness. And lessons were always interesting, for Findeisen would improvise accompa-niments at the piano while students played.

In Findeisen's days, European double bass play-ing was influenced by three quite clearly defined and dif-ferent traditions: Italian, French and German-Czech schools. The latter of these may be said to have had three hubs, in Prague, Vienna and Leipzig. As a teacher, Findeisen initially used the Simandl Method and he also edited the Storch-Hrabe etudes. As already mentioned, he was a student of the Leipzig con-servatory and later taught there himself. Thus, he was clearly influenced from all three parts of the German-Czech school.

In spite of having access to materials from a variety of schools, Findeisen must have desired more teaching materials and a different approach to bass playing in gener-al, for over the course of his career, he com-posed an impressive series of tutors under the heading Der Lehrer des

Kontrabafi-spieles, 25 technical studies and a number

of regular solo pieces for the bass. A sys-tematic list of these is provided in the sum-mary at the end of the article . Note that not all opus numbers are represented in this list-ing; we have been unable to determine what all the remaining numbers cover.

Undoubtedly, pedagogical material was Findeisen's most important contribution to

the bass world. Because so few of his materials are known to players these days, we therefore concentrate our article on a discussion of two of his major works in this area.

Der Lehrer des

KontrabaB-spieles

The Lehrer des Kontrabafi-spieles

method book is in five parts, and along with the technical studies introduced below, it is almost certainly Findeisen's most impres-sive contribution to the bass literature. Intended to "reform" bass pedagogy, Findeisen was very ambitious and envisaged I

(20)

Findeisen

s

graduation diploma from the Leipzig conservatory, courtesy of Hans-Rainer lung.

Kontrabass,in which nobody was spared, neither the "hectic coffee fiddlers and other so-called artists with their overtly trem-bling vibrato ," nor the orchestral conduc-tors who ask for vibrato from a bass sec-tion in situasec-tions where he felt they should understand that this may compromise a focused tone quality and clean intonation. Other interesting aspects to Findeisen's approach are his strong aversion to open strings and his warnings against using extensions (the four fingers system) because of the strain it puts on the hand and the intonation problems that ensue (of course, instruments and strings were dif-ferent then).

Findeisen's language is colorful, some-times harsh. When the preface to Der

Lehrer was printed in No. 4 of Der

Kontrabass, Findeisen declared: "This method is dedicated to all bassists with deteriorated hand positions, poor bow management and lack of knowledge of positions (95% of all bassists)"!

The first volume of Der Lehrer men-tioned both Italian, French and German bow grips. Unusual today, the French grip is shown in a photograph where the thumb is placed on the bottom planar surface of the frog. Findeisen explains that he advo-cates the German grip, based on many years of experience with both French and German grips and careful analysis of the anatomical implications of both ways of holding the bow. In a separate article in

Der Kontrabass, however, Findeisen argues even more forcefully and passion-ately in favor of the German bow grip, using language that implies it is almost the moral duty of any good German bassist to play the German way! His passionate arti-cle on this subject came as a reply to an article by the composer and former bassist Hans Hermann, who also after having also tried both ways of playing was entirely in favor of the French grip.

The 25 Technical Studies

that the books would accompany bassists throughout their careers (apparently assum-ing that was not the fate of earlier methods). In the preface, he stresses the following two aspects as the most important ones distin-guishing his method from its predecessors:

1) Teaching a clear sense of positions on the fingerboard. (There are fingerings here and there in the books, but more often just indications of positions.)

Findeisen by the way advocates an energetic technique for the left hand. 2) Playing with an explicit strategy for

bow division (how much bow to use and which parts of the bow). In the method, Findeisen also gives detailed suggestions for how to practice vibrato and when to apply it. Vibrato was evidently a pet-peeve for him, since he also published an article on that subject in Der

In the preface to his publication of the 25 Technical Studies [in the original print-ing of the studies, where-remarkably-an English trwhere-remarkably-anslation was also provided; though no preface is included in the mod-em International Music Company reprint], Findeisen describes the development towards more technically demanding orchestral parts that necessitate the cre-ation of new study material for bassists to perfect their technical command of the

(21)

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instrument. His technical studies are thus intended to enable the bassist to "master even the most difficult parts of modern orchestral literature" .

Each technical study is composed as a 16-bar theme(A-Bfonnat, 8 bars each) fol-lowed by variations or improvisations on the theme, however, keeping the rhythm and styIe of the original theme. The studies grow longer and longer over the course of the series, ending at a length of 3 to 4 pages. Along the way, various meters are explored: 3/4,4/4,9/8,12/8 and Findeisen also fulfills his goal of exercising all keys, including Db major,

P#

major,etc.

Musically and technically, these studies are very accomplished. In contrast to many other technical studies, one never becomes bored while practicing the ones by Findeisen. This is in accord with Findeisen's own proclamation in the pref-ace toDer Lehrerthat we must get away from "idle running" when practicing on the bass.

Some of the advice by Findeisen in the preface may be outdated in that it was influenced the state of the art with respect to particularly the gut or metal-wound gut strings of the time. For exam-he advises players to tune texam-he bass in solo tuning: F#-B-E-A in order to produce a "more forthcoming and less tiring sound for the ear than the original tuning ," but to ensure the player can handle the string ten-sion physically. He again also cautions that the use of extensions in the left hand should only be used by "advanced players with a big hand," otherwise they cause problems playing in tune.

Cmasing remarks

With his method, his teaching and his work as a performer, Findeisen contributed tremendously to the development of the German double bass tradition. His influ-ence would undoubtedly have been much broader if it hadn't been for his untimely death and the war (WWII) , which inter-rupted the distribution of his music and method books.

Our search has not, unfortunately, been able to yield a full inventory of all of Findeisen's music. If others were willing to complete the catalogue of his works and work towards republishing all that is out of print, it would be a most worth-while enterprise. Itwould also be inter-esting to create a discography of

Findeisen's music~ we only have refer-ences to a couple of recordings.

Notes

1) Today called the Hochscule fur Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy." We would like to thank Christine Peich and Maren Goltz from the conservatory's library for their assis-tance with research on Findeisen in their archive.

2) Findeisen auditioned for the 'sec-ond position as principal double bassist' in1906, together with A. Starke and M. Schulz~Starke won the position, but left the orchestra in 1907 and Findeisen replaced him without re-auditioning. Hans-Rainer lung has provided us with

some interesting excerpts from the corre-spondence in the orchestral administra-tion entailed by these events. lung is a violinist in the Gewandhaus Orchestra who is currently working through vari-ous official archives containing informa-tion about the orchestra (which dates back to 1743 and has employed about one thousand musicians since then!). The private archive of the orchestra unfortunately was lost in a fire during

the Second World War. Claudius Bohm of the present-day Gewandhaus archive kindly introduced us tolung. It was lung

who then led us on to Arno Milller, who again pointed to Erich Hartmann as a useful source.

3) Hartmann has sent us copies of the touching newspaper notices about Findeisen's death sent in by his wife and children, by the conservatory and by his orchestra colleagues. His all too early passing was clearly felt as a genuine loss.

Po Brun:A history of the double bass [pub-lished by the author in English translation, 1989]

Po Bran:A New History ofthe Double Bass

[Paul Bmn Productions, 2000].

AoPlanyavsky:Geschichte des Kontrabasses

[Hans Schneider, 1970].

Mo Grodne..: Comprehensive catalog of music, books, recordings and videos for the double bass [4th edition, 2000, volume l~ Grodner Publications].This catalog registered all the lnusic below except the first concerto.

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Volume 29, Number 1 19

(22)

Highlights of Findeisen's Production

As well as providing a list of Findeisen's compositions and arti-cles, we have tried where possible to list the names of the modem publishers for these editions, so that interested readers may obtain copies of the works. Some of the music is classified as out of print or is only registered as published by C.F. Schmidt, Heilbronn (a publishing house which does not exist under this name anymore). Teaching materials

Der Lehrer des KontrabafJ-spieles-eine Grundschule fur die hohere Lagen-, Bogen- und Fingertechnik.

Basic method book for the higher positions, bowing and finger techniques; 5 volumes, each approx. 50 pages. Published by F. Hofmeister, HotbeimfTaunus and Leipzig; fIrst volume copyright C. Merseburger, Leizig, 1930, last volume, 1938; later, in English by International Music Company, New York, and by M. Baron, New York, asComplete Method. Findeisen did not live to oversee

the publication of the two last volumes; this task was undertaken by his orchestra colleague of 30 years, Max Schulz.

25 Grosse technische Studien fur KontrabajJ durch aile Tonearten zur Einfuhrung in die moderne Rythmik, Harmonik und Vorlragsweise, opus 14.

25 technical studies, in 4 volumes, originally published by C.F. Schmidt, Heilbronn, later republished (except for the prefaces) by International Music Company, New York.

Konzert-Etiiden fur KontrabajJ

20 studies for double bass by Storch and Hrabe, edited and pub-lished by Findeisen; later pubpub-lished as 57Studies for String Bass, by

International Music Company, New York.. Emanuel Storch was a fme bassist of the Prague school who played in the Gewandhaus Orchestra from 1859-76. He brought these studies by his teacher, Josef Hrabe. Solo pieces (double bass with piano)

Nixenreigen-Fantasie, opus 9 [Nymphs' Round Dance Fantasy], published by C.F. Schmidt, Heilbronn.

Accompanied by a poem by Ludwig Ankenbrand (whom we now nothing else about) and a nice picture of a bassist playing in the wood surrounded by nymphs. A copy of this picture was painted by A. Miihleisen in 1943 and presented by Findeisen's successor Max Schulz to his former student Arno Muller as a wedding gift. The orig-inal was an oil painting by a painter by the name of Mirwald. The order of creation of the poem by Ankenbrand, ·the fantasy by Findeisen and the painting is not known to us or to Muller, who com-mented that it could well have been a collaboration with the painter; Findeisen was a man with a good sense of humor. The copy painting was donated by Arno Muller to the Danish Double Bass Society.

Karnevalszene, opus12, published by C.F. Schmidt, Heilbronn.

Konzert No.1, opus15 [with piano accompaniment; but orches-tra parts were available upon request to Findeisen himself], pub-lished by C.F. Schmidt, Heilbronn.

Elegie (Am Grabe des Freundes), opus19, published by C.F. Schmidt, Heilbronn.

Konzert No.2, opus 25 [in 1movement], published by C.F. Schmidt, Heilbronn and Leipzig.

Note: In a talk given at the bass convention in Mittenwald in

1991 ("Die Bedeutung der Prager Schule fUr die Padagogik des Kontrabass-spiels"), M. Gajdos indicated that there are three con-certos by Findeisen. But we have not been able to obtain any addi-tional information on a third concerto.

Double bass and violin

Romantische Suite, opus 10,published by CF. Schmidt, Heilbronn [Grodner (2000) also mentions a version for piano and double bass.]

JS.Bach: 10Inventionen[arranged for double bass and violin, with fmgerings, by Findeisen], published by C F. Schmidt, Heilbronn.

This music was kindly provided to us by Erich Hartmann. Miscellaneous Compositions

Quartettsuite fur4 Ceili oder Kontrabiisse,opus 26, published by C. Merseburger, Leipzig.

Kadenz zum Simandlkonzert,opus 34, published by C.F. Schmidt. Articlesl

) Das Vibrato2

)

Eine Reform der Padagogik des KontrabaBspiels3 )

Deutsche oder franzosische Bogenfiihrung (2 articles) Mein werk 'Der Lehrer des KontrabaBspiels'4)

1)All articles in Der Kontrabass, a newsletter for the German

Double Bassists' Association; only5issues published in all, in the years 1929-1930.

2) Also appeared in Heft IV ofDer Lehrer des KontrabafJ-spieles.

3) An introduction to Der Lehrer des KontrabafJ-spieles, which

was offered at a favorable subscription price to the association

ine~bersin no. 3 ofDer Kontrabass (November 1929).

4) lightly revised version of the preface toDer Lehrer.

Ture Damhus is a chemist by train-ing (and servtrain-ing as such in his daily job), and an enthusiastic bass amateur. He co-edited Bastidende (the magazine of the Danish Double Bass Society) with Preben Fahnr/Je for 12 years and has also served as international repre-sentative on the ISB board of directors.

Preben Fahnr/Je is a professional bassist and guitar player in classical music as well as jazz. He holds a degree in musical edu-cation from the Royal Conservatory in Copenhagen and has taught several gener-ations of Danish double bassists and elec-tric bass players. He has published teach-ing materials for the double bass and the

electric bass, most recently The Nordic Bass with Henrik Bjr/Jrn Rasmussen [Edition Wilhelm Hansen, 2003}.

(23)

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When Peter Wilson (violin) and Aaron Clay (double bass) fonned a duo in 1997, repertoire for violin and double bass was scarce. Following a 1998 appearance on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Clay was inspired by the fast approaching Y2K to composeMILLENNIUM: Suite for Violin and Double Bass (from their CD Bridging the Gap, reviewed on

page 64.) The score and parts for "MILLENNIUM" are available at www.bridgingthegaponline.com. The third movement,Escape from History, is reprinted with permission of the composer.