Simón García: Bad Brothers for double bass quartet

About the Composition

'Bad Brothers' is a funk and fun work for the bass quartet where, for the first time, the composer included space for an open improvisation.

Simón García writes: "I wrote this piece in October 2007 for my friend Damian Arenas and his bass quartet 'Cuarteto de Contrabajos de Madrid.' They were looking for new 'spicy' repertoire and were playing with an electric bass guitar of a known brand that was their sponsor, so I wrote a piece where this instrument had a prominent role. I wrote a funk piece with a section where the electric bass guitar could improvise on a structure, like a usual jazz piece with 32 bars and AABA form and easy harmony, so it could be played by experienced musicians and those not so experienced in improvisation."

Bad Brothers was premiered in Santiago de Compostela (Spain) by 'Gravissimo' double bass quartet (Marta García, Alfonso Morán, Saúl Puga, and the composer) at the 'Via Stellae' Festival in July 2008.

In 2009, The Bass Gang included it in its repertoire, and since then, it has been played in many countries, including Spain, México, Japan, Austria, Italy, Uruguay and Switzerland, among others.

About the Composer

Bassist and composer Simón García was born in Mugardos (Spain) in 1977 and graduated in double bass from the Conservatorio Superior of Salamanca. He has worked as a double bassist in the Royal Orchestra of Galicia, having also performed in many orchestras throughout Spain, and is the bassist in the Symphony Wind Orchestra of A Coruña.

Simón García has composed more than sixty works for double bass, ranging from one to twelve players, alongside transcriptions of these pieces for various chamber ensembles. His music has been performed in Mexico, Venezuela, Uruguay, Denmark, Spain, Japan, Italy, Austria, Germany, Canada, USA, and UK by The Bass Gang, Bass Instinct, and Il Quint-etto amongst others.