Olivier Babaz
Jazz Double Bass Tutor
Olivier Babaz is a French double bassist and composer living in Montreal, Canada. Renowned as a jazz bassist with incredible bowing technique, as well as for his stunning performances of double bass and kalimba.
In May 2019 we published Olivier Babaz’s first course for Discover Double Bass, ‘Jazz Bowing’. It comprises 5 hours of HD video across 61 lessons. The course covers a wide range of essential topics from advice on technique, the bow hold, improvising bass lines and solos with the bow, playing melodies and much more.
In April 2020, Olivier’s second course ‘The Creative Improvisor’ was released. In this course, Olivier teaches fresh, exciting ways to approach improvisation on the double bass, approaching subjects such as playing percussion on the bass, reharmonizing chord progressions, and ear training.
“There is already a lot of material out there for learning classical bowing, but many students find it hard to relate to jazz. I have put this course together to help and inspire you on your journey as an improvising bassist with the bow.”
Hear olivier babaz play
In this video, we feature clips from our course Jazz Bowing by Olivier Babaz. There are 9 short performances that we enjoyed and wanted to share with you.
Olivier blew us away with this video, where he demonstrates and discusses how to play the keyboard and double bass at the same time, using it for practice and performance.
behind the scenes of the recording sessions:
“Many know Olivier Babaz for playing kalimba at the same time as bass, but he’s also incredible at jazz bowing!”
Interview with OLIVIER BABAZ:
In this video Olivier is interviewed by Discover Double Bass's founder, Geoff Chalmers. They discuss a range of topics relating to playing jazz with the bow. These include, is playing classical bass a requirement? Which bassists who use the bow should we check out? And why don't more jazz bassists use the bow?
In this video, Geoff Chalmers and Olivier Babaz discuss what equipment is suitable for playing jazz with the bow
Olivier’s Courses:
Olivier has released two courses with Discover Double Bass: Jazz Bowing and Creative Improvisor. Watch the trailers below to find out more and begin your improvisation journey!
