Basses in San Francisco Bay area

[kwd]

Are any of you SF Bay Area residents who posted on this thread participating in the Stanford Jazz Workshop Weekend Intensive Seminar beginning Aug 5th?

[hdiddy]

OH yeah... and since we're on the subject. If anybody is into Latin/Salsa Tumbao playin'... look up David Belove. Cool guy, and one of the best latin bassists in the area. I met him at the Jazzschool as well.

[kwd]

Originally Posted by Maestro

I did start studying with a new teacher today, with a different twist than planned. I was planning to study with Glenn Richman, but while waiting for Glenn to get back to me in email, I found another teacher in Palo Alto, Seward McCain.

Thanks for the input on Seward. It's good to know how different teachers approach the instrument. I talked to Seward about 3 years ago when I was getting started. I couldn't afford him at the time. He's a great guy and the premier jazz teacher in the south bay area. I have a guitar player friend who has had Seward as a combo teacher and she has nothing but good things to say about him. I'm taking lessons from Bruce Moyer in downtown SJ and I'm very happy with him. He's a classical player but I'm more interested in getting a better feel for the classical tradition of the instrument so it works for me. I might circle back and take a few lessons from Seward at some point.

[hdiddy]

Originally Posted by Maestro

Huy, tell us a bit about the Jazzschool! That looks like a nice place to take workshops at. Were you happy with the workshops you took there?

The JazzSchool (www.jazzschool.com) is great! That's if you live not to far and are able to commute there... getting to Downtown Berkeley during rush hour is a b!t@#, and so is parking there. They teach nothing but Jazz and a little bit of Salsa.

Basically they got a whole buncha classes for all sorts of instruments, but the creme de la creme are the Jazz Ensemble classes. Some are basic repetoire groups, others are gear toward more advanced students where they'll study music of specific artists. I remember while I was there, they had a group examining the music of the Brecker Brothers. So they'll be groups doing Miles stuff and so on. Each group was basically a full band and would only have maybe a 2nd sax or something. I met Glenn Richman in his "Tunes in 12 Keys" (one tune in 12 keys or less each week) and we had a full complement, although we didn't have a bassist and a drummer so Glenn played bass for us. I was playing guitar at the time so it's super cool having a awesome bassist back you up despite how crappy you sounded. Seward McCain I believe leads a beginners ensemble there. The other Ensemble teachers are all really well known players in the area (John Wiitala, Wayne Wallace, Eddie Marshall, John Schott, etc.)

Anyways, anyone can take one of the courses, but to get into an Ensemble you had to audition and Susan Muscarella (the Director) would place you into groups that your skill level would fit in. I know some guys that they auditioned and failed cuz they didn't cut it and their chops were too weak. So it's nice because unlike some other schools (like Blue Bear... you prob don't wanna go there!) they dont' just let anyone in. That keeps the quality of the groups up and forces everyone to play better overall. Unfortunately, David Belove's group that I was in (Beginning Salsa) was the only bad experience I had there. The others I was with somehow made it past the auditioning process (or didn't have to do it) and the quality of the class showed. But David himself is a good player and teacher... it's just that the other students sucked.

But the rest was awesome! It's nice playing in a full combo and having an established player showing you all the tricks and nuances of the genre first hand. I was unemployed at the time so it was great to spend 8 solid hours a day for 10 weeks playing and practicing. It did me alot of good and I probably wouldn't trade it for anything. Personally, one of my goals is to get good enough and go back to join a more advanced combo.

Oh, and for those of you too far to go regularly, each quarter they have weekend workshops and performances that you can attend. The workshops are especially cool, cuz you can learn from some of the current-day greats that stop by to give a lecture. When Kenny Werner was playing at Yoshi's w/ Toots Thielemans last year, I attended his lecture about Effortless Mastery at the JazzSchool and got to see him play the same weekend. Unfortunately, they don't have a whole lot of regular classes for bassists except for the ones that Glenn teaches.

Check it out when you get the chance. Def worth it.

[Scot]

Good to hear you hooked up with Seward McCain. It sounds like you had a great lesson and he gave you some great stuff to work on.

-Scot

[contrabajisimo]

Hey Scot, or anybody who has any idea,

can you give me contact info for that Kamimoto store? Also, how much would it cost me to rent a decent plywood (mostly for arco) for the durating of one month? Any other places that rent uprights in San Francisco?

Thank you!

[Scot]

Kamimoto Strings
609 North Fourth Street
San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 298-8168
fax: (408) 298-8198
(800) 892-3199
http://www.kamimotostrings.com
kamimoto@saturn.he.net
Hours:
Monday - Saturday 10 am - 5:30 pm

Kamimoto has been great. I took the bass back to them to have the string height lowered to my teacher's specs and they installed an adjustable bridge and had the bass ready for me in hours. The one I'm renting is a fully carved Chinese (don't know the orgin) and was the best bass they had in stock at the time so it was a little more expensive than the normal price - it's a new bass selling for $3500. The rental cost for it is around $130 per month but I can apply up to 6 months of the rental towards the purchase of a bass. I think the normal price is around $100. With that said, are you sure you want a plywood bass for arco? I've heard plywood basses are not great for arco.

Alex at the Acoustic Bass Shop in South San Francisco also rents basses. I believe he has some Christophers and some Cremonas. He is also a luthier so I'm sure he would be albe to set up the bass to your specs. I spoke with him on the phone and he also said he could work out a rent with the option to buy deal.

Acoustic Bass Shop (String Bass Shop)
528 Magnolia Ave.
South San Francsico, CA 94080
Phone/Fax: (650) 872-7020
http://www.acousticbassshop.com/index2.html
alexbassist@netzero.net

-Scot

[contrabajisimo]

Thank you for the information! I appreciate it.

[hdiddy]

Since Sacto is only about 1-2 hours from the Bay Area, this site prob a worthwhile place to check out.

http://www.steveswanguitars.com/

Just thought I'd add to the list since we have a nice set of resources going in the thread. Link came from this thread:

Calin Wultur Basses

[hdiddy]

Originally Posted by Maestro

Mike Olivia over in Oakland also seems like he does decent work.

It's actually OLIVOLA, not Olivia. His site is www.basshouse.com just in case anyone gets confused.

[hdiddy]

Just to keep this thread up to date. Mike Olivola has since moved to New Mexico and is no longer in the luthiery biz. Although his wife continues to build basses. The website seems to be still active.

Alex Friedman is the best (and only) game in town now as far as I know.

[fourstringer]

If you're looking to buy a double bass in the Bay Area, I'd like to recommend Bruce Sexauer in Petaluma. Bruce is located less than an hour north of SF. Check out his web site at: thestringbass.com.

Bruce is a master luthier and really knows how to set up a bass well, as well as how to repair one if needed. I've found him to be friendly, honest, and a pleasure to deal with.

[Steve Swan]

Seward McCain of Palo Alto is known throughout the San Francisco bay area as a great jazz teacher. My customers who have been his students report rigorous study of foundation technique taught with patience and quiet enthusiasm. Seward's phone number is (650) 856-6406, email is jsmccain4@sbcglobal.net Seward often makes small adjustments on his students' basses to help them play better.

Jim Kerwin also teaches doublebass technique and performance from his home in Pacifica when he is not on the road with David Grisman. His phone number is (650) 738-1459.

To clarify where I am located these days, I moved back to the bay area from Sacramento about 18 months ago. My new shop is located in Millbrae, just a little south of the San Francisco international airport. Alex Friedman is just 6 miles north of me in South San Francisco and we visit each other a lot.

Steve Swan

[damonsmith]

A & G music: http://www.parduba.com in downtown Oakland do really fair and quality work. The luthier's name is Greg. The place is really oldstyle with customer serivice a high priority.
I have not heard positive things about the Jazz school, but I have heard Ritchman is a great player and that he Studied with Alan Silva.
The Berkeley Jazz Workshop http:www.berkeleyjazz.com is run by a fine bass player named Clark Suprynowicz.
Jim Kerwin is a really fine player, I heard a great solo of his on a Grisman cd.
Oh, and I teach bass in Oakland.

[MixedMsgr]

Hey first post! Good info in this thread. Thanks to all. I'm pretty much in the same spot as Scot. MV community school of music sounds intriguing. Anybody, take their courses for DB before?

[Roger Mouton]

You might want to contact Barry Green. He's in Oakland.

http://www.innergameofmusic.com/

Barry is Mr. Bass Pedagogue, IMHO. You will also get some good information on him from the ISB website:

http://www.isbworldoffice.com/index.html

Barry is a versatile bassist and he has some bass instrument connections in Oakland. He also jazz jams weekly with a guitar player friend of mine.

[jlilley]

I haven't been in the Bay Area for a few years, but when I lived down there a took lessons with Alex Baum (played with John Hicks and Johnny Nocturne, amoung others) in Berkley. He's a nice guy and a great player. I don't have his number handy, but if any one wants it PM me and I'll see if I can dig it up.
John

[greitzer]

Originally Posted by hdiddy

Just to keep this thread up to date. Mike Olivola has since moved to New Mexico and is no longer in the luthiery biz...

Sorry to hear that (although it sounds nice for him). Last year Michael did nice work on my bridge on very short notice, and he was a fine bassist, too. He played pretty regularly around the East Bay. Sorry to hear he has moved away.

And to add to a previous recommendation, Greg Smithson also is a good bass luthier, he works for Best Instrument Repair on 14th Street in downtown Oakland -- it's a subsidiary of A&G Music, which is just a few doors away. Greg's bass workshop is down in the basement so you have to cart your bass down some stairs (and what goes down must eventually come back up). Parking also is a pain in downtown Oakland, but Greg does a fine job.

[Roger Mouton]

A&G Music in Oakland is where you can find Barry Green as well. Couldn't remember the music store when I posted earlier.

[winston]

This thread is getting me excited--I'm moving to the East Bay this summer (looking at places in Albany/Berkeley/Oakland/El Cerrito).