
Jacques Barbe
Jacques
Barbe was a Mirecourt maker who became famous for his basses. Sadly I
doubt very much that Jacques had much to do with the making of this
particular instrument. Like many makers of this period his fame outsold
his own output of instruments, thus he brought in others makers to fill
those expanding orders. This bass I would suspect as being one of these,
made in the workshop of Barbe. This bass was made from very ordinary wood
and in what can be termed as a very hurried state. Still having said that
it works well as a good jazz bass. I never think of these sort of
instruments being good orchestral instruments because of that very typical
French nasal character. But what a huge fast big sound, fine for the jazz
musician who wants a quick responsive tone. As you can see from the
photograph, it is a flat backed viol shaped bass with a dark muddy
varnish. It would have been made in Mirecourt, France in c1880.
Gerald Newson
Gerald Newson was born in New Zealand in 1943. He came to
England to study the double bass with the eminent principal bassist of the
London Symphony Orchestra, Stuart Knussen. It was very soon after meeting
and studying with Stuart that Gerald was offered and accepted the number
four job in that very fine London Orchestra, were he still is. Gerald is
also a very fine dealer, owning the company "String
Enterprises". It was to this dealing end that Gerald bought this
double bass, and not, I hasten to add, to play in the London Symphony
Orchestra. "String Enterprises" is a very fine dealership that
specialises in all string instruments and can be contacted by telephoning
Mr. Gerald Newson on 00-44-(0)171-602-4778. I have known Gerald right back
from the time when he came to this Country and would recommend his
expertise to anybody looking for the really fine instrument.
|