Avant-garde double-bassist extraordinaire, and Composer, Stefano Scodanibbio, passed from Lou Gehrig's Disease on January 8, 2012. He was best known for working with the Arditti Quartet, and is featured on their compilation 'From Italy'. Many of the Masters of High Modernism wrote for him, and his live improvisations were the stuff of legends. He joins the ranks of Fernando Grillo, the 'Buddha of the Double Bass', as one of the greatest modern bassists, and will surely be missed.
I also have a disc of Six Duos, with members of the Arditti, which is always getting some play around here. This music is as Modern as anything else out there, but here we do have a special attention to the string timbres. Anyone who has considered the disc will not be disappointed.
Whaaat? :o Haydn, Brian, and Bach had nothin' on this guy! :o
I hadn't spotted this thread before now. I met Scodanibbio several years ago when he came to perform here in Santa Cruz and to speak about his work. At the time, he was involved in a collaboration with Terry Riley that was of little interest to me personally. I was already aware of his formidable reputation as an avant-guard composer-performer, but I don't know his work very well, although I know that "From Italy" disc is sitting on a shelf here at home somewhere.
I heard about Scodanibbio's death from a colleague earlier today. As a few folks here at GMG already know, the disease that killed him — Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (http://www.alsa.org/about-als/) — is a condition I've lived with since late 2008. I'm lucky, relatively speaking, that my condition is progressing at a relatively slow pace. But I can imagine how devastating Scodanibbio's experience of the disease must have been, since his life revolved to such a great extent around playing his instrument. (Bass players seem to have been disproportionately affected by this terrible illness, which also brought Charles Mingus' life to an end.)
Quote from: PaulSC on January 18, 2012, 06:07:05 PM
I hadn't spotted this thread before now. I met Scodanibbio several years ago when he came to perform here in Santa Cruz and to speak about his work. At the time, he was involved in a collaboration with Terry Riley that was of little interest to me personally. I was already aware of his formidable reputation as an avant-guard composer-performer, but I don't know his work very well, although I know that "From Italy" disc is sitting on a shelf here at home somewhere.
I heard about Scodanibbio's death from a colleague earlier today. As a few folks here at GMG already know, the disease that killed him — Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (http://www.alsa.org/about-als/) — is a condition I've lived with since late 2008. I'm lucky, relatively speaking, that my condition is progressing at a relatively slow pace. But I can imagine how devastating Scodanibbio's experience of the disease must have been, since his life revolved to such a great extent around playing his instrument. (Bass players seem to have been disproportionately affected by this terrible illness, which also brought Charles Mingus' life to an end.)
I want to thank you for your poignant words. Thank you.