Jiri Slavik Interview & Solo Performance 

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INTERVIEW NOTES:
In this video, I meet one of the European bass scene's most exciting artists, Jiri Slavik. A student of the Italian virtuoso Massimo Giorgi (1953 - 2020), Jiri is a classically trained improviser with strong roots in traditional Czech music.
I've seen Jiri perform live as a solo artist twice and each concert was a masterclass in double bass performance. His playing was so compelling and he took the whole audience with him on his sonic exploration and masterful improvisation. Jiri's music has stuck with me, so when I heard he was visiting London in July 2022 I jumped at the opportunity to meet up and discuss all things double bass. In our discussion, we reference renowned contemporary bassists such as Barre Phillips, ‪@deldresser‬, Peter Herbert, Dave Holland, Clayton Thomas, John Eckhardt, and Sebastian Gramss. Please join us in the comments to highlight other bassists in the contemporary music world. It would be great to celebrate and share their music.
At the end of the video, Jiri performs a moving rendition of Deep River, an anonymous African-American spiritual that was performed by Charlie Haden and Hank Jones on their album Come Sunday.
Many thanks to Jiri Slavik for sharing so much and I hope you enjoy this discussion as much as I did.
- Geoff Chalmers
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction
01:05 ISB Convention performances
04:43 Mark Dresser, Barre Phillips & more
08:32 Barre Phillip's Crossbows
09:30 5-string double bass
11:12 Influences
13:02 Deep Tones for Peace
15:36 Solo bass performance
23:08 Samuel Beckett quote
25:07 Solo performance
INTERVIEW LINKS:
- Jiri Slavik - www.jirislavik.com
- Jiri endorses ‪@DaddarioOrchestral‬ strings
- Jiri's performance of Autumn Leaves at the 2019 ‪@InternationalSocietyofBassists‬ convention • Jiri Slavik - Intro an...
- Deep Tones for Peace: / deeptonesforpeace2020
- This interview was made possible by the kind support of Fred Thomas - fred-thomas.co.uk/
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