This video defies description. It is an hour long double bass performance/speech/dramatization featuring double bassist Dean Ferrell as Captain Tobias. This is a one person show of epic proportions–strange, compelling, and totally hilarious.
Dean Ferrell went to school at Juilliard with Greg Sarchet, studying with David Walter, and also working with Bert Turetzky. Ausberto Acavedo (who was at the last International Society of Bassists convention representing the podcast) recently saw him in concert–I hope that I get to check him out live sometime soon as well!
If you’d like to download a copy of this (and who wouldn’t?), just visit the Google Video page for Dean’s video.
Related Posts:
- Greg Sarchet on Contrabass Conversations
- Renaud Garcia-Fons bass video
- Bill Harrison – Rhythm Changes video
- Ray Brown Master Class video
- Stanley Clarke video
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Try looking up Captain Tobias Hume in Groves Dictionary of Music.
Here’s information on Tobias Hume from Wikipedia:
Tobias Hume (possibly 1569 – April 16, 1645) was an English composer, viol player and soldier.
Little is known of his life. Some have suggested that he was born in 1569 because he was admitted to the London Charterhouse in 1629, a pre-requisite to which was being at least 60 years old, though there is no certainty over this. He had made his living as a professional soldier, probably as a mercenary. He was an officer with the Swedish and Russian armies.
His published music includes pieces for viols (including many solo works for the lyra viol) and songs. They were gathered in two collections, The First Part of Ayres (or Musicall Humors, 1605) and Captain Humes Poeticall Musicke (1607). He was a particular champion of the viol over the then-dominant lute, something which caused John Dowland to publish a rebuttal of Hume’s ideas.
Hume was also known as a prankster, as some of his somewhat unusual compositions illustrate. His most notorious piece was “An Invention for Two to Play upone one Viole”. Two bows are required and the smaller of the two players is obliged to sit in the lap of the larger player. This work was notated in tablature and is indeed technically possible to play. His instructions to “drum this with the backe of your bow” in another piece, “Harke, harke,” constitute the earliest known use of col legno in Western music.
hi there.
do you have contact info for dean ferrell? i’m doing some research about the church bass and would be interested to chat with him.
thanks!
best,
Loren Ludwig
Yes! Finally someone writes about lute’s.