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In 1958, jazz great George Duvivier commissioned master bowmaker Samuel Kolstein to make a special French model bow for him. Just a few days after ordering that bow, George contacted Sam and asked him to make a sister bow, this one a German model design, that George would present to his best friend Milt Hinton as a gift. The bows that Sam Kolstein made for George and Milt became their primary bows for the rest of their legendary careers.
After the untimely death of George Duvivier in 1985 at age 65, Sam's son Barrie Kolstein purchased the French bow from George’s mother and kept it in his personal collection. When Milt Hinton's Kolstein bow was willed to Barrie upon Milt's death in 2000, the sister bows were reunited.
In 2021, Barrie generously endowed these two remarkable bows, along with Fred Zimmermann's H.R. Pfretzschner bow, to the International Society of Bassists.
Yesterday, August 17, 2024, would have been the 104th birthday of George Duvivier. It was also a very special day as the ISB asked the one and only Rufus Reid to become the caretaker of George Duvivier's French bow. Rufus's mission will be to amplify the legacy of George Duvivier and spread the news about the ISB and its educational outreach through his performances and other projects. (Pictured: Barrie Kolstein with Rufus Reid holding the George Duvivier Bow)
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