ask me anything

Do You Have a Question?
WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT BASS SETUP?

I own two basses: one is a Juzek made in Germany in 1950 and it is set up with a mix of steel and gut strings – you can hear it on most of my solo album “Autoportrait.” The other one is a Thibouville-Lamy made in France circa 1840 and it was originally a 3 strings bass converted into a standard 4 strings. It has a flat back and a beautiful dark finish.

As far as sonorisation, I like to use the David Gage Realist or Lifeline pickup for my monitor, combined with an Ear Trumpet Lab Nadine condenser microphone for the house, to get a more acoustic sound. In the studio I really love the AKG C12, combined with Schoepps for the stereo image.

DO YOU TEACH? WHAT IS THE BASS WORKSHOP?
For the moment, I teach private students, either in New York where I live or online with streaming. I like to focus on continuity and regularity rather than a “once in a lifetime” lesson with a hefty homework load. I believe that this approach is more beneficial for the student as we can monitor the progress regularly and adjust accordingly. In teaching, feedback is essential!

Over the years, my students have included bassists Sylvain Romano, Viktor Nyberg, Adam Gay, Geraud Portal, Alex Gilson, Nicolas Corso, Kevin Yosua, Stavros Kaltampanos, Brady Lynch, Derrick Zhang, Stephane Caroubi, Dave Penneman, Jesse Henege, Philippe Brassoud, John Chapman, Sam Sugerman..

I have also started a Patreon page called the Bass Workshop. Here I share informations through videos and PDFs about many aspects of playing the bass and music in general. It is updated bi-weekly, I see it like a forum of ideas, tips, advices, concepts, practice exercises which can leave a lasting impression on someone’s music path. A little bit like that awesome lesson you had with a musician in New York who showed you something that you’re still using three years later.

For more info: https://www.patreon.com/bassworkshop

HOW WAS IT TO STUDY WITH RON CARTER?

This was one of the best musical experiences of my life. I had the opportunity to see Mr Carter every week for 4-5 years and really get to work on the fundamentals, step by step. As I like to describe it, it took me eight month to go from half-position to the seventh position.

We’ve worked on sound, bass lines, voice leading, posture, left hand/ right hand coordination, awareness, ears, creativity, repertoire, and so much more. He helped me open my mind and find my voice, to build a strong musical concept regardless of the style I want to perform.

WHERE CAN I BUY SHEET MUSIC?
You can find all of my compositions (and transcriptions) on this website either as individual charts or as an album bundle. They are in PDF format with Sibelius scores + transposed charts to be played with a band for sax and trumpet. My solo bass album charts include specific fingerings for the bass when a passage is technically challenging. For my latest album “The Contrapuntist” which is a Jazz and Classical project, you can find the full score of my string quartet “Le Miroir” with all individual parts, as well as all the Jazz charts.

All of these items are available in my Chart Shop

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR Newsletter

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER &
GET A FREE SINGLE
"BLUE"

Thanks for signing up! Enjoy your free track sent to your email by Clovis Nicolas