Music has a curious way of finding its way back to you, sometimes after long detours and unexpected detunings.
About myself
I took classical piano lessons as a child, but I didn’t find them very engaging. The lessons felt more mechanical than discovery—a focus on memorization and precision that left little room for truly feeling the harmony and beauty within the music. As a student, I loved listening to American music (like the Beatles and Michael Jackson) on FM radio and classical CDs (The Planets was my favorite), along with some late-night jazz. In high school, I picked up the electric bass because I found the guitar tricky for chords, and I was drawn to the emotional depth of the bass. I enjoyed playing solo from time to time.
After graduating high school, I spent three years on the California map, U.S. server while attending community college with the goal of transferring to a four-year university. During this time, I developed a strong interest in classical music, often visiting the college’s computer lab to watch videos of symphony performances featuring Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and listened to Chopin and Bach. Mozart’s melodies were pure perfection, imprinting themselves indelibly in my memory. Beethoven’s explosive expression stirred my very blood, as if his compositions ignited something within me. And Tchaikovsky, though dark, held a beauty that glowed like a hidden light in the shadows.
However, my experience in California also exposed me to American gym culture, and I became obsessed with working out. At some point, the CPU of my brain became more consumed with deciding whether to bench press with dumbbells or barbells than whether to listen to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 conducted by Furtwängler or Toscanini. I went from weighing 60 kg right after high school to nearly 100 kg in two years—bodybuilding became a psychological addiction for me.
Three years into my time in the U.S. server, a local friend invited me to a jam session. At that time, I didn’t own a bass guitar, so I bought a cheap one and a small bass amp on Amazon for about $100. That session, where I mainly played Red Hot Chili Peppers songs(like Snow, or Californification), was my first taste of the joy of jamming and connecting through music.
I can’t quite recall how I got into jazz, but I think it started after that jam session when I began to explore how to create interesting solos, which led me to improvised jazz. In the summer of 2016, I took a leap and moved to Minnesota State University. Shortly after arriving, I attended a jazz big band concert sponsored by the university. The authenticity of the walking bass from the double bass captivated me. I quickly rented a double bass from the university and started playing.
My passion shifted from weightlifting to music, and jazz gradually took over my life. I founded a jazz club at the university and held jam sessions with its members. These sessions never grew stale for me. I frequented local jazz clubs for late-night sessions, attended jazz festivals, and integrated music into my daily life(Though I chose Economics as my major, I found myself spending most of my time in the company of music students). At that time, I listened more to Charlie Parker and Coltrane than to jazz bassists, especially Coltrane. Initially, Coltrane’s playing unsettled me; I expected jazz to be a smooth conversation, but his solos blazed with intensity, more like a firestorm than a dialogue. Yet, over time, that energy pulled me in.
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I owned a hybrid double bass that I bought at a local violin shop, aside from the one I borrowed for a few months at college. I remember it was challenging to play walking bass due to the high action of the strings, and I didn’t bring it back to Japan; I sold it there.
After graduating from college, I returned to Tokyo Map, Japan server and started working there. Although I temporarily stopped practicing the music, I had an electric bass at hand, so I played it nightly in my small apartment in Tokyo. When I was under a lot of stress from work, it was really nice to have time to play music. The passion for music gradually waned with the daily desk work and unchanging routine. Instead, I became obsessed with outdoor activities in the order of camping, winter mountaineering, climbing, and cycling(road bike). Simultaneously, I became addicted to lifting and my weight increased again from 60kg to 100kg.
After graduating, I returned to Tokyo and started working. Though I temporarily stopped practicing music, I still had my electric bass, which I played at night in my small Tokyo apartment. Playing music became a soothing escape from the stress of work, but my passion for music began to fade amid the monotony of desk life. Instead, I became obsessed with outdoor activities—camping, winter mountaineering, climbing, and cycling—I also became addicted to lifting again and my weight crept back up from 60 kg to 100 kg.
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One day, I stumbled upon a YouTube video of Anton Davidyants covering Michael Brecker’s solo.
Initially, I found it too dissonant and atonal, making it uncomfortable to listen to. Yet, I sensed something powerful hidden within the music—a whirlwind of energy packed into four beats, reminiscent of the shock I felt when I first heard Coltrane. The more I listened, the more I began to decode its complexity.
A few days later, I clicked on another video: “Common Ground” by Michael Brecker.
It resonated deeply with me, bringing tears to my eyes. Brecker’s sound reached the deepest part of my soul, revealing a spiritual layer within me. It was a powerful experience as I realized that a spiritual layer exists in the human heart. I was immediately curious and looked him up, it was Michael Brecker, marking this as the first time I learned his name. While “Peep” showcased Brecker’s vibrant and tense but colorful modulations at breathtaking speeds, “Common Ground” struck me with its soulful melodies and guitar imitated pentatonic/triad phrases combined with fast hard bop phrases. It amazed me that both pieces were created by the same artist.
Since then, I’ve immersed myself in Brecker’s music, reigniting my passion for music. In January 2024, I bought a used veneer double bass online and resumed practicing. The lower string action and ease of playability delighted me, though I felt a twinge of emptiness regarding my previous struggles with the high-action double bass. Now, I practice with my SLB300 and became my main instrument.
The journey from jazz to bass to double bass is one I want to explore further, though finding information online can be challenging amidst the clutter of affiliate marketing and monetization. Still, I’ve heard that the number of people engaging with music / double bass is at an all-time high.
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I hope that what I write can help someone, somewhere.
<Musicians I like>
Michael Brecker and Coltrane. Bird, Miles, Joe Henderson, Rollins, Monk, Pat Metheny, McCoy, Elvin Jones, Bill Evans
<Favorite bassists>
Yuri Goloubev, Christian McBride, Marco Panascia
I look forward to enjoying this musical journey until its end.