Bass Players Gallery
whilst visiting The Contrabass Shoppe.
Click
on any of the photographs for a large view, or click on the
link in the text below each photograph to read more about
the bass being played
"Domenico" is
a name that every bass player in the world has heard of.
Pictured on the left and following in the footsteps of the
legendary 19th century double bass virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti
(1763 - 1846) is Domenico Botelho from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
On the right he is pictured with two very special people
- his mum and dad. The trio made the long haul flight in
June 2011 especially to visit The Contrabass Shoppe. What
an impressive commitment to make! Our James
William Briggs bass - now called "Mr Briggs" - was the instrument
that ticked all the right boxes. Is it possible that when
Charles & Monica Botelho chose the name "Domenico" for
their son - they had a premonition that he would grow up
to be a great bass player and have a great
bass to play on?
Korean born jazz star Youn Chul Kim currently living in
the USA fell in love with our French bass
circa 1910 att to Léon Mortin - purely on the pictures.
On first playing (March 2011) he needed no more convincing
that it was the bass for him. Mr Kim wrote "I gotta
say that everything you did for me in London, dropping off
to the airport and solving the problem of shipping the bass,
I am greatly appreciated about that".
After arriving safely home (Oct 2010) Orquestra Sinfônica
Brazileira members Andre Geiger and Rodrigo Favaro wrote
"Everything is perfect".
5-stringers were on their
shopping list and our exceptional sounding Joseph
Hill and
Johann Klier basses were duly bagged!
Feb 10 - Bass enthusiast Chris Makin needed an insurance
valuation on his splendid James William Briggs bass labelled
and dated 1887 "No2". Next to it is our Briggs
bass "No4" from the very next year. How fabulous
to compare the two. Apart from the colour of the varnish
- just like two peas in a pod!
Leon Bosch (with one of our Italian basses)
- and Shoppe director Tony Houska.
Thanks to bass virtuoso Leon Bosh for his interest in The
Shoppe. Leon was thoroughly decent and delighted us by playing
extracts from his new CD - "The Russian Double Bass".
Cordiali
saluti. Gaetano Siragusa - a member of Milan's Filarmonica
Della Scala was on a search for a top quality bow when he
visited in June 09.
Pictured here with an English bass by Walker and an exquisite
bow by André Richaume - he seemed well impressed.
Hey
- that's a guitar not a bass! Yes, that's right - Sean Rooney
- a music-techno student at Kingston University couldn't
resist putting the Schertler
Unico Amp, Bass & Side combination through its paces
(Aug 09).
Sean's Irish-flavoured music - very acoustic, rhythmic, earthy
and oft-percussive - really blew us away. Nice one Sean. Nice
one Schertler.
LA
song writer and bass legend - Roberto Vally - produced a
mega sound on our Hawkes Panormo when he visited during Dec
09.
Roberto really has performed, recorded and toured with
just about all the greats including Bobby Caldwell, Randy
Crawford, George Benson, Bob James and Christopher Cross
to name but a few.
Next time he's promised us a video clip!
The
exploits of Norwegian superstar Knut Sundquist were being
filmed for a TV documentary when he visited The Shoppe in
June 2009. Knut did express strong desires for our bass by
Alfred Nilsson Brock (pictured). The camera man is Nils Mehren
from NRK Troms og Finnmark.
Malmo
Symfoniorkester principle and co-principle Krysztof Panus
(left) and Lukas Jamer. Two players with an absolutely huge
sound, a good appetite and an appreciation for objects of
fine quality. Bass: William Calow circa
1870
Dutch
bass enthusiast Ynze Klop and his delightful daughter Caroline.
Ynze treated himself to our George Corsby
bass.
The pair took an overnight ferry from Hook of Holland, were
at the Shoppe before 9AM and returned home - with bass - the
same evening. We were impressed!
Tony
Houska congratulates Marcin Maciejewski on purchasing a J.
Haide L'Ancienne bass. Marcin plays with the 'Polska
Orkiestra Sinfonia Iuventus', in Poland.
