Frederick Charlton
Since the release of his CD Bach on Fire in 2004, Mr. Charlton has received acclaim from the four-corners of the planet. With this fact, one thing that has been asked by many people with the release of the CD at the age of 49, who is this guy, where did he come from, and why didn’t he release his CD earlier in his career. There is an answer. In his early 20’s he was well on his way to a successful career as a double bass soloist. He was principal of Debut Symphony, a young person’s offshoot to the Philarmonic, was soloing in various venues throughout California, and while preparing for an audition as assistant principal of the LA Philarmonic, he quite suddenly got a severe case of tendonitis of the left arm. One day, he was working on the Paganini “Perpetual Motion,” and the next day he couldn’t even play one measure of it.
After doing everything that the American Medical Association had to offer for his condition, to no avail, Frederick simply settled into a career as a successful gigging bassist, and even more successful composer. His doctor suggested surgery, with the downside that he may lose all ability to play. Other bass players suggested chiropractic to acupuncture, which Mr. Charlton was very leery of. It wasn’t until a few years later at his wife’s suggestion, that he finally tried acupuncture. Four sessions and several months later, he began practicing the bass one day and kept practicing and practicing and was stunned by his endurance and lack of pain. Quite suddenly he felt like he had the stamina that he had 25 years prior. That was 4 years ago. Now, much to his excitement and the world listeners, Frederick is achieving his life’s dream, able to conquer the techniques and invent new techniques to push him into the forefront of bass playing around the world. The success of his first CD has encouraged him to once again pursue a career as a soloist. His composing career has also moved forward and he is continuing with that as well, now having composed for Carlos R. Nakai, James Pellerite, R’eut Ben Zen, the Amadeus Trio, Saadoun Al’Bayati, and as composer-in residence for the Hutchin’s Consort.