Lefty jazz bassist Chris Jennings

Interview by Laila Kirchner

Are you right- or left-handed?

I am definitely left-handed. In sports and for the computer mouse I use my right hand, because I learned it like this. But I throw a ball with my left hand.

Did you write with your left hand from the beginning onwards?

Yes. But in the beginning my parents would have to put the paper into the mirror sometimes, to be able to read what I have written, because I was a bit dyslexic. I don't know what I did exactly, but the letters where backwards.

How was the situation with musical instruments in Canada?

I started with the classical guitar. I was about four or five years old and turned it around, when my parents left the room. So they let me do it and bought me a left-handed guitar. When I entered junior high school, there was a concert band, and they played jazz-music. Therefore, I learned the bass-guitar. With the bass guitar in the second year, I changed to a special school, which had a good music program. There was a person who got me a double bass right away and wanted me to play right-handed. But after some days I said, “It is too hard, and I want to play left-handed.” So we changed the strings around. A couple of years later, I got my own double bass. It was changed on the outside, but the inside was still backwards (right-handed).

Is that possible with the double bass without breaking the table? What does a half-modified instrument sound like?

It was not a good quality instrument, but somehow, I managed to make it sound good. Today it's hard for me to play it and I don't know how I managed to get the sound that I did out of it. By the time I started to play double bass, I had been playing the guitar already for around six years, so it was already too late to start over and change it.

I observed that those left handers, who started with the left-handed guitar as their first instrument and
later changed to others like lute or strings kept the left handed playing up. There are many left-handed guitars and it is acknowledged to play them inverted to right handers.

Yes, with the guitar it is common, and instruments are available. It is less an issue. But a left-handed double bass is so rare in the orchestra and other ensembles. There must be a special reason, to play it.

So you have been lucky, that this teacher allowed you to continue to play left-sided?

If I would have known that I will travel as much as I do today with the double bass all over the globe by flight, I think I would have preferred to play right-handed. On one side, I am happy to play my own instrument often, and avoid a fight on stage or always have to rent one. On the other side, it is very complicated to organize everything and it's quite hard to rent a good lefty double bass, if necessary. As a jazz freelancer, it is complicated to explain to every new group, that I need to take it along and produce a higher amount of costs. Only the Taxi drive from my home to the airport will cost 140€ with the flight case.

But in all the groups I play in, people come from different places
around the globe, so the budgets are different anyway. Once I play the concert and they hear me play, they know why and the costs for traveling with my instrument are all validated. But it is extra work, and you could say that I am a professional travel agent for traveling with a double bass, which is really rare today. I know all the train stations, all the airports, the ins and outs with being there with the double bass, information that the agents in the travel agencies don't even know. I can tell you which airport I can go through with the double bass in Italy and which ones to avoid and which flights work and with which you could have problems.

This is not a typical hobby for a professional musician! Do you still play on your first instrument?

No. I now have two double basses. One was made for me by Thomas Martin, a well-known luthier in England. And my master on the double bass is the bassist, Palle Danielsson. He was the double bass player for Keith Jarret in the 70's. I studied with him for about eight years in Sweden. He stopped playing a very famous Danish bass to play a bass made by this luthier. When I was studying with him, I had to get a real bass, because I still was playing this plywood bass, and I was becoming professional. And Thomas Martin said to me: “If you like Palle's bass, I only made it with this special quilted maple wood. Normally, they don't make double basses out of quilted maple, rather violins. So if you want, I have just enough to make a second one. The wood is coming from Canada.“ It was a kind of destiny to get the sister bass of my master with Canadian wood. So he made this left-handed instrument for me and everything is backwards. This bass is already 21 years old.

Since then, I now have a second double bass which I found from Canada. A man contacted me, saying he is not playing any more, and he played left-handed. And about 50 years ago he had the bass turned around in the inside. The bass is actually 160 years old. I took this double bass to New York and had a surgery to make the neck coming off. It is a very old bass, but it is actually my travel bass.

And beside these two travel basses, I have an upright electric bass, made by French luthier Hervé Prudent, which I use in a lot of groups for more exotic travel. It is harder to play, because it doesn't 'sing' like a double bass, but it feels like a double bass. I already had an electric bass custom-made when I was 14. With my teacher from Canada, we ordered the pieces separate from all over US and Canada and had it assembled to make my dream-bass – a six-string electric bass. My latest instrument looks like a Saz, is invented and made by the same French luthier who made my electric bass. He calls it a Sazulki. I found it hanging in his atelier, when he repaired some travel damages of my instrument. Two times I just tried it. The third time I bought it, as it was custom made left-handed for someone who could not pay it in the end. It has the shape from a Saz, but the back is flat like the guitar. It sounds 'oriental' (Turkey, North Africa) but the string tuning is similar to an electric bass so I can play a lot of harmony on it.

In your opinion, how are the functions of the hands in double bass playing? Should the dominant hand pluck and bow or better stop the strings?

I think, when you begin to play the double bass, it definitely makes a difference, and it is an advantage to bow and pluck with your dominant hand. But to be really honest, with time, musicians go down different musical paths. During this process they will naturally compensate I think, to master their instrument and be able to play what they want to play. Maybe handedness determines the path or the style of a person a little bit? Sometimes the rhythm comes from the bowing hand, sometimes, if the bow slows down, it is created by the percussion of the other hand.

This is an interesting view! Do you teach any students who play left-handed?

Yes, but these are mostly people who are left-handed and who heard that I play left-handed und want to get a lesson. In the past where I taught younger kids, I taught them right-handed and it was never brought up. I had a couple of times that people asked me about it. But I refused to give them an answer, because I think they must make their own decision and do what they want to do. I don't want to make them play left-handed or right-handed only because I told them to do so. I was hesitating to give them “the right answer.” They were already confused, because this person said this and the other the opposite. I just explained to them what I did and the positive and negative
effects of it. If you decide to be a left-handed double bass player today, it really makes traveling complicated, for example, and I don't know if it is really worth it. It depends on what do you want to do. If you just play it as a hobby, have your bass at home and only have to drive it to the gig, it's fine and doesn't matter that much. But normally jazz-double bass players get their instruments on stage. For me it is an extra administration job to plan and manage the logistic of my instruments. But if I am on the stage, I know it is well worth it! Some of the right-handed double bass players go to these festivals and have to play on horrible instruments. The few times I traveled without my bass, because it was broken during travel or the flight schedule was too risky. On the flight, I felt

like a pianist, but on stage it was terrible. I recognized that I do all this effort to enjoy the time performing on stage.

Once for example, we had to leave from a concert in Uzbekistan and take a night flight to Istanbul and from there arrived in Portugal for the soundcheck. My double bass would definitely not have arrived, so I had to borrow a right-handed bass, take the strings off and reverse them, which is time consuming and of course the bass was backwards in the inside which is really unideal. The double bass and I had a big fight to make it sound on stage. So the novelty, to be a normal passenger in the air plane wore off quickly actually. I would prefer the argument in the airport check-in and have fun on stage.

So how is your position on stage and does it affect the other band members?

I don't think they really notice it. The only time they notice is with the drummers. I like to stand on the side of the hi-hat. But we also play in groups where it is not a case, it is not such a big deal. It's just more a habit or more a tradition. But for example, when I play in duo I prefer to stand on the left side of the other person. So if it is a guitar player, our instruments are in the middle of us. The reason is, that when I hold my Instrument, I naturally look to the right side and can face the other person. When I would stand on the other side, I constantly would be turning and then the instrument would be turned away from the audience in the front of us. That is more a logistic problem, and I would guess, that a right-handed player would prefer to stand on the right side. In the normal jazz band, it is more important where you stand on stage for the logistics and the sound technics. Of course, I want to be in the belly of the grand piano, if possible, so that my instrument will be between me and the piano. It just depends on technical things, if it is different. For example, when I play in a very tight jazz club, where the bass is used to fit in this little certain corner, and when I come it doesn't work. It is funny and they just have to move stuff, to create a good space.

Once I played in the Orchestre Colonne in Paris, where my teacher was playing and invited me to get this experience. Because of my left-handed playing they put me in the very end, even though there would have been much more space for the two opposite bow directions in the front. There in the back it was a big deal for them. They were very amused, and we tried to adjust. I took off all my pickups and bow holder, so that they wouldn't see, that I am a jazz musician. They found out, little by little. In the classical Orchestra it is fine to play opposite and share one music stand. Actually, half of the section should play left-handed.

I agree! When I played left-handed in an Orchestra, it finally didn't disturb anyone.

Also for teaching it is practical, because it is a mirror image. Especially with little kids. I tell them: “Just look at me and do the same thing!” Actually, what I do for about 10 years now, if there is a jam-session in a festival I go to it and I play the right-handed double bass backwards. I stand on my side, and the strings are inverted for me. Because it is such a great effort to bring my bass and must wait hours to play one little song for a very short time. This is quite fun now, even if the session is not so interesting musically, as it is a challenge for me to play backwards. I am excited to go down and just do it. It is quite impressive to see how the brain will adapt quickly! I tell people, it is like if I give them the Canadian computer-keyboard instead of the German one. After about an hour you will feel comfortable with it and if you go back, your brain is going to have a hiccup. And with the strings it is similar. Of course, if you rely on unconscious reflexes and stress yourself, you play the wrong note. But if you concentrate it is possible. It gets easier time by time, even if I didn't do it for about five months. One very important thing is the way you pull the strings, especially with pizzicato! The direction of the pizzicato has a big impact on the out-coming sound. So if I play an instrument from the other side, there is less low and less sound coming out of it.

Of course a challenge for the brain! I did this also several times just for fun. Did you meet other left-handed players in some bands or ensembles? Some guitarists for example?

Yes, off course! There were several. But with the guitarists it is not that important. More, if there is a left-handed drummer who plays reverse. That always is a nice opportunity to play on the right side together in a lot of situations.

Did your left-handed playing caused any funny situations?

Once I was playing in the Opera of Damascus. We arrived really late at night before and when I opened up the case, my instrument was decapitated, ironically spoken – the neck was broken and only linked through the strings with the body of the instrument. But they said: “No problem! We have an orchestra and can get you a double bass.” On the next day, they kept telling, that someone will bring me to the room where the double basses are. In these countries you have to be very patient. So we waited a few hours and then we finally found out, that the room was in the very top about in the attic of the opera and went up there. But it was locked and the guardian, who had the key went home for lunch. So we had to wait another hour. And when I finally entered the room, there were four basses from the orchestra. Two of them were completely destroyed and unplayable. As for the other two, one was without endpin and something was broken, and the last one had problems too. So I had to choose the best of the worst and then invert the strings, which were old and rusty. It was horrible. This was the one time, I didn't restring it back. Usually, I sit down after the concert for 30 to 40 minutes putting strings back. But in this case, it was not worth it, because nobody would have recognized it, as it was in a horrible, unplayable condition.

I have basses, which I borrow all over the world, a couple of basses. So in Tokyo, Japan there is a bassist Nobuykui Watanabe, he has two left-handed basses which are really beautiful basses. So when I go there, I can use one. And there is Jan Gregorka in Slovenia, who has quite a nice bass, which has a 15 centimeters diameter hole in the side. I still don't know why. It's a real left-handed bass. So when I am in Slovenia or Slovakia, we meet and he lends me this bass. So in a couple of

places like this, where I know, that I can borrow basses, I just take advantage of it and travel with a suitcase only.

For you it would be an advantage, if there would be more left-handed people playing reversed basses?

I guess yes. But it is also complicated to organize. There is also a great bassist in New York, Joris Teepe who often borrows my bass when he comes here. So it is a little system. But we must organize and I have to be around. So it's pretty easy just to take my bass and show up.

Are the different and not generalized shapes and sizes of the double basses difficult to manage?

Yes, but the setup is more important, especially for the pizzicato playing. Because some people love to play a bass in a certain way. The strings must be lower or higher. When I have to reverse the strings of an instrument by emergency, the low strings go on the part where normally the high strings are. So you get the opposite sound effect: The low strings are very low action, almost too easy to play, and can't develop a good sound and the high strings are very tight and high and very hard to play with less sustain. I usually take small pieces of paper, fold them and put them on the bridge. So I can change the height, and I even have a nailfile, so that I can file a little bit and adapt. I mean, if it is someone's bass I know, I can't do that. But if it is some of these horrible instruments I referred to, no one will be hurt and even not the instrument.

Once on a tour through Siberia, Russia, I had to borrow basses along the way, and it was quite interesting to change the strings around every time. They were very skeptical and worried about it. But I handled the Instrument very careful and nothing happened to them.

There should be adjustable bridges, like those, which luthiers use to replace the real bridge temporarily, if they want to work on it ore replace it!

Another thing I do is, I take balsa wood, which is a very light wood, and cut squares in the size of the foot of the bridge. I take them with me and when I have to, I can push up the bridge. The luthier from New York David Gage, who changed my bass into a travel bass taught me a lot of little tricks. Thomas & George Martin who made me the double bass of my dreams also taught me tricks. With the help of these luthiers I can fix little problems all on my own. In the beginning, when people said, I must restring a bass, I didn't even know, how to do it. But now I can restring them like a luthier, without the fear to destroy the instrument by turning it around for some hours.

Do you also turn around the bridge?

No, that doesn't work because the table is hand carved and not perfectly symmetrical. You turn the strings around and then you have to compensate. For example, the lowest E-String is sitting on top
of the hole of the thinner highest G-String. In certain bridges the angle is more than in others. Once I played an important big concert in Lecce, in Italy in a really nice amphitheater and had to borrow and restring a right-handed bass. During the soundcheck, everything was fine because we were quite relaxed. But then in the concert I started to play a bit harder and suddenly heard a big crack. It was the E-string that fell off the bridge, because the small hole, made for the G-string didn't hold it enough. First, I thought the bass broke. But then I realized: Wow, one string is gone. I pulled it up and put it back and kept playing. But snap, it went again three further times. The technicians were
looking concerned, what to do and even the journalists started to realize what happened. It was a tense situation, and I just had to end up playing it so light that it didn't fall off. I think the fact, that it happened was, that the little groove was also in a wrong angle and couldn't hold the thick e-String. So I had to play most of the concert with the three higher strings. Another issue is the bow. The bows are bend slightly in a right-handed or left-handed way. The bow makers heat up the wood. If I use a right-handed bow, it is going to be curved a bit in the wrong way. The same happens, if a right-handed person uses my bow. So if we use a bow, bend to the wrong side, it is counterproductive to our playing, but it's all very subtle.

Do you play the French bow, with the top grip? This is very rare!

Yes, I play the French bow. In the beginning I played the German bow using an underhand grip. But Thomas Martin, the luthier, who built for me the double bass, had a lot of French bows and inspired me. I think it's easier to play percussive with this bow. But as soloists a lot of people play French. Before, I didn't really know how to hold the bow and learned a lot of stuff that never worked. So I studied with him, he is also a virtuoso, to learn more about the bowing. His technique is really nice. Since he taught it to me, I have a much better sound. It helped me a lot!

How do you deal with the fingerboard, which is also asymmetric?

Yes, on purpose I got fingerboards, which are totally symmetrical. Otherwise, there are three strings going up and the low E-string is going down again, so that there is enough space to vibrate. If I borrow basses like this, it doesn't work at all, if I try to change the strings. Fortunately, most of the basses have round fingerboards. That's more common.

That's interesting! Most cellos have asymmetric fingerboards and only when I built my lefty Cello, I got a round one for the first time. What are your experiences, changing between right and left playing students?

There aren't so many differences. I take it as it is. For me it is interesting to observe, that everyone has a stronger and a weaker arm, how they adapt to this and which strategies they develop on their instrument.

Sometimes I ask myself, whether it would have been easier, if I would have learned to play right-handed. I don't know whether I would have any problems in playing or could adapt easily. But I so much time for travel research, which is a big aspect in my career as a musician. On the other side I am very grateful to be able to play on my own bass. We spend so much time with our instruments. Most of my colleagues practice at home on their good instrument but play mostly instruments of less quality on stage. The pianos on festivals might be of a good quality, but basses aren't. So beside all the effort I am happy, to have my own good instrument most of the times.