Interview and Performance with James Oesi

Artistic Director of the Dutch Double Bass Festival

We managed to catch the great James Oesi for an interview and a stunning solo performance during the 2021 Dutch Double Bass Festival.

James Oesi is a virtuoso double bass soloist based in the Netherlands and is a well-known artist in the classical and contemporary music world. He also founded and is Artistic Director of the Dutch Double Bass Festival, now in its third edition, which shares the beauty and versatility of the bass with wider audiences. We were invited to the 2021 festival by James to host their 'Talking Bass' live Q&A sessions with some of the performing artists including Dave Holland, Ben Williams, and Božo Paradžik. We had a fantastic time at the festival and are looking forward to their next edition in 2023. You can find out about the incredible lineup of artists at the 2021 festival here.

Don't miss James' solo performance at the end of the video (28:58), filmed right in the middle of the foyer at the beautiful Theatre Zudplein in Rotterdam, host of the 2021 festival. He plays J.S. Bach's Suite for Solo Cello, No. 2, Sarabande.

TIMECODES:

00:00 Introduction
01:09 DDBF line up 2021
02:24 The bassist’s revolution theme
05:32 Balancing programmes with new and old music
10:32 James’ bass + demo
16:18 The story of James’ bass
22:30 Strings
24:26 Bow
27:05 What’s next for DDBF?
28:58 Performance