BASS INSTINCT

Bass Instinct – a bass sextet from Vienna, is a highly recommended ensemble which combines orchestra players from three important Viennese orchestras and Jazz bass players.
Six extraordinary bassists from Austria, all with different musical backgrounds and all living in Vienna, except Peter Herbert who resides in New York and Paris. Musicians who are connected through their passion to the raw/mellow deep tones of the double bass plus their individual way of playing it: Gina Schwarz (freelance jazz and Hans Koller Prize as Side(wo)man of the Year 2007), Peter Herbert (freelance jazz, Professor for Jazz Bass at the Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität Linz and Hans Koller Prize 2001), Timothy Dunin (Professor for Double Bass at the University for Music and Dramatic Arts Graz/Expositur Oberschützen), Herbert Mayr (Principal Bass with the Wiener Philharmoniker), Gerhard Muthspiel (Principal Bass with the Wiener Volksoper) and Ernst Weissensteiner (Principal Bass with the Wiener
Symphoniker).
Even though it is the same instrument, the art and way of playing it is different. Bass Instinct is a living attempt to create music which leads all these different techniques and styles together to advance and challenge them.
A very important part of their program is the search for the fields of tension between common genres and a search for dialog between composed and improvised music, no matter what direction it may take (percussive, orchestral, grooving or virtuoso). The listener experiences a rare sound spectrum that travels through a wide range of sounds produced by the double bass. Performance on six basses, natural, acoustic, unplugged!

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY

Bass Instinct (Camerata Tokyo)
Illusionista (Zappel Music)
Ernst Weissensteiner      Solo & Duets Ernst Weissensteiner Double Bass (Zappel Music)       
                                              Reinhard Süss: Symphony, Concerto, Trio Wiener
                                              Concert-Verein, Ulf Schirmer (VMS)
Herbert Mayr                      Beethoven Septett Wiener Kammerensemble (Denon)
                                              Schubert Oktett Wiener Kammerensemble (Pon Canyon)
Gina Schwarz                    Schwarzmarkt (ATS Records)
                                              In The Zone feat. George Garzone (ATS Records)
Peter Herbert                    Naked Bass Peter Herbert Solo (Buzo Records)
                                              Taqasim Marcel Khalife/Bachar Kahlife/Peter Herbert -Connecting Cultures
Gerhard Muthspiel           Satie Amarcord Wien (material records)
                                              Bilder einer Ausstellung Amarcord Wien (homebase records)

“This music is fascinating and expertly played”
 Tim Perry, MusicWeb International