By Caryn Hirshhorn
Centretown resident and principal bass player for the National Arts Centre orchestra, Dennis James, stands by his enormous instrument while the orchestra warms up.
“Let’s take it from bar 26,” NAC orchestra guest conductor Joseph Silverstein says while flipping through the sheet music.
The orchestra begins to play the harmonious, soothing music and every member appears intoxicated by the sounds.
James’ hands move briskly to the tempo of the music, his right hand pressing the strings of the cello-like instrument, while his left hand sways back and forth gliding a bow over the strings. The bass, which stands almost 7 feet, rests in front of him and leans on his shoulder.
“One more time please,” says the conductor, motioning the orchestra members to stop. “We need a little diminuendo here.”
James leans over to talk with the other bass players, before resuming his position.
The orchestra starts up again and Silverstein nods his head as a sign of approval. He moves his arms and sways his body gracefully to the music, leading the orchestra with the intricate movement of a baton. Before the song is complete, Silverstein strolls off and orchestra members begin putting away their instruments. Rehearsal is over.
James lifts up his base and sets it in its tomb-like case, before meeting me in the Green Room of the NAC for our interview.
The small cafeteria is filled with many orchestra members, relaxing and chatting over lunch.
Before getting into line to buy his lunch, James passes me a black box full of large black and white photographs and tells me when he’s not practising his music, he is very committed to photography.
“I am very serious about photography. I am probably as serious about photography as I am about music, and that’s pretty serious,” he says with a laugh.
The photographs feature orchestra members doing things other than playing their instruments.
James returns to the table and tells me his photographs will be on exhibit at the NAC next year. In his running shoes, shirt and casual pants, he explains his reasons for his photo project — to challenge the conventional stereotypes attached to orchestra musicians.
“Just because we (orchestra members) wear a tuxedo, that’s not what we are all about. That’s not what music is all about. This is what I’m about,” he says grasping a piece of his shirt. “If it were up to me, I wouldn’t wear (a tuxedo) at all.”
NAC marketing officer Jane Morris says the NAC is looking forward to having James’ photos on display and likes that the audience can get more personal with the musicians.
“I think the exhibit will be very good for the patrons,” says Morris. “It shows another side to the musicians, a side that people don’t normally see.”
Morris also says the exhibit will be even more meaningful to people when they discover a musician took the photos. She says it shows people that musicians can be very well-rounded and aren’t strictly interested in music.
James places the box on a chair and turns toward me.
“Music,” he says, “shares many similarities with photography. I think that’s why so many great musicians are great photographers.”
“Musical scores are similar to negatives and sound waves have much in common with light waves. I know when I have taken a good picture because it sings to me, I can actually hear music.”
James says he began developing his ear for music long ago.
At 13-years-old, he says he started taking cello lessons at his school in Brooklyn, New York. His music class was short a bass player, so he decided to give it a try. He soon discovered it was his true passion.
Music camp, which James attended in the summertime, also had an impact on him.
“I was so impressed by how much people were willing to sacrifice to be musicians.”
James says music is a tough and competitive business, and it wasn’t the prospects of great financial rewards that attracted him to this line of work.
“You had to do it because you loved it,” he says. “There was no other way.”
After completing high school, James studied at the renowned Julliard School in New York for two years.
While he was a student, James attained his first job as a musician with the American Symphony Orchestra, under Leopold Stokowski.
James says he stayed with the orchestra for a year-and-a-half, before leaving New York to hitchhike through Canada with a friend.
“Hitchhiking was a lot safer in those days (the 1970s),” he says with a smile.
It was an opening for a bass player with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra that prompted James to move to Canada.
He says he had to return to his regimented practice schedule to prepare for the audition. The practice paid off and James earned his first full-time job as a bass player.
During his 13 years in Montreal, he dabbled in teaching at McGill University and playing jazz at various nightclubs.
“Jazz and classical music both involve a high level of musicianship,” says James. “It’s not just a three-minute pop tune. I wouldn’t say I like one better than the other, it depends upon the mood I am in. If I were a millionaire, I would spend each day playing whatever I felt like.”
To James, jazz and classical music are true art forms, just like a Picasso painting.
A Picasso, he explains, is not easy to perceive and becomes more beautiful when seen from a new angle or new distance.
By contrast, he says commercial music is like a jeans ad — what you see is what you get.
According to James, jazz and classical music are now only two per cent of record sales and lack media attention.
“The public has lost track of the history of music.”
After his time with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, James returned to New York, where he established a trio that played both jazz and classical music and toured local nightclubs.
He was again drawn from New York by a Canadian job prospect. This time it was as principal bass player with the NAC orchestra.
James explains that being principal bass player, leader of his section, comes with a number of responsibilities including making sure the music is prepared properly for his section, attending principal meetings and auditions and taking on solo parts.
It is a task he accomplishes with the admiration of his colleagues.
“James is an absolutely wonderful section leader,” says NAC Concertmaster Walter Prystawski. “He has a lot of experience and always has very insightful views.”
Although James has played with a number of well-known conductors, he says he is very happy working with NAC orchestra conductor Pinchas Zuckerman and intends on ending his career with the NAC.
“It’s so fulfilling going to work everyday and knowing that your section will always sound great. I know everyone always puts forth 150 per cent.”