Ep. 10: Danny Ziemann
My guest today is a world renowned musician, course creator and author of a series of books from the acclaimed “Low Down Publishing” company: jazz bassist Danny Ziemann.
We’re going to talk about how his bass playing took him from living in the freezing cold tundra that is northern New York, to living all the way, in the freezing cold tundra that is Vienna, Austria.
OK, maybe Vienna isn’t exactly a tundra, but everything seems freezing cold to me compared to southern California, so…there’s that.
If you’ve ever wondered what it might sound like to rework the bass lines of a Beethoven symphony, What Shostakovich and Count Basie were doing in the same classroom,
Or if a person who started out as a heavy metal guitarist playing seedy bar gigs could transform into a world class jazz bassist,
We are going to deal with all of that, and more.
You’re even going to find out exactly WHAT is fermenting in Danny’s pantry, right at this very moment.
Turn the treble all the way down and the bass all the way up, because it’s time to talk with Danny Ziemann.
About Danny
For Danny Ziemann, being a musician was inevitable.
A native of Buffalo, New York, Danny’s passion for music began at age nine with dreams of becoming a heavy metal guitar virtuoso. A couple of years later, though, he was introduced to jazz bass and that was the end of that. After hearing a Ray Brown recording, the steady pulse and sound of a walking bass line was hypnotic for him. The supportive role of the bass suited his personality while allowing him the freedom to improvise. Danny’s love for music took him through a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree at the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Jeff Campbell, James Van Demark, and Bill Dobbins. After college, Danny was mentored by bass legend Larry Grenadier, a veteran of the Brad Mehldau Trio.
As a professional jazz bassist, Danny performs internationally and records copiously. Right out of college, he was invited to tour with Gordon Webster and began touring with him internationally a few years later. In 2017, Danny was first bassist with the prestigious Focusyear Artist Diploma Band in Basel, Switzerland. There, he performed with acclaimed jazz artists such as Joshua Redman, Dave Holland, Steve Swallow, Wolfgang Muthspiel, and Becca Stevens. Recently, he had the pleasure of playing with Jorge Rossy, Sheila Jordan, Matt Wilson, and other icons of the jazz world.
In addition to playing, Danny also teaches and writes books on jazz bass methods. Throughout his teaching career, Danny has encouraged and challenged students from a place of positivity to bring out the best of their musical abilities. Finding himself without adequate resources to teach his students, Danny took matters into his own hands and wrote his own series of books, receiving encouraging feedback from the bass community. This prompted Danny to found Low Down Publishing in order to continue producing books for music educators and independent learners. As if all that weren’t enough, he also produced three video courses on performance as a tutor for the website Discover Double Bass. A highlight of his teaching career was in the fall of 2018, when he was interim professor of jazz bass at the Eastman School of Music.
When Danny isn’t being a musician, he practices latte art once or twice a day while indulging in his morning espresso ritual. For him, coffee provides balance. Or maybe that’s just his excuse to hide a caffeine addiction.
Links
Instagram: @danny.ziemann
Facebook: Danny Ziemann
Publishing: Low Down Publishing
Website: dannyziemann.com
Books/Recordings
“I'm Old Fashioned”, Jerome Kern, (Danny Ziemann Trio)
Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
Chet Baker Sings, Chet Baker
