“The double bass is one of the few remaining instruments that have never produced a bankable star in classical music. There has been no Itzhak Perlman, no Yo-Yo Ma, no James Galway of the double bass,” largely because the damn things are so wildly awkward and difficult to play. “Playing a simple melody may demand that a player negotiate leaps of two or three feet, from over the head to down near the belly and back again. Moreover, even under the best of circumstances, it is hard to make the unadorned tone of the instrument sound anything but gray and burly.” Enter DaXun Zhang, winner of competitions previously untouched by bass players, and possessor of a tone so beautiful and varied that the listener might forget what instrument is being played.