Definitely, Not The Same Old Thing! Sometimes, you get a surprising musical boost from a direction that you would never expect to. That’s what I got a week ago and in both its cuteness and innocence, it puts a real smile on my face. ...
Scott Samuels - The King of Pop! In the summer of 2002, I was walking in Washington Square and I stopped and turned because I heard someone playing the guitar unlike anyone else I'd ever heard in the Park. I sat down for what I expected...
The Musician's Musician I've mentioned in several of my postings that I drove Joe Pass around quite a bit when he was visiting the New York area or wanted to go some place near New York. Well, he was part of Oscar Peterson's...
Joe Pass Brought The Bagels I was fortunate enough to hang out with Joe Pass for close to a dozen years. When he was in New York, I was one of a few people that Joe would meet up with, have lunch with, and would look to get a ride...
GET TO KNOW JACK! - JACK WILKINS THAT IS Jack Wilkins is well known as a consummate guitarist, simply because he can play with anyone! And Jack has certainly challenged himself by working with many of the finest talents in the jazz world.
When...
Over the years, I’ve been privileged to have either seen or met many celebrities. I was always happy to meet a celebrity, it never made me feel uncomfortable or at a loss for words; never that is until I saw the one man that had been “The Voice of Reason”, considered for a long time as “The Most Trusted Man in America.” Here he was standing right in front of my workplace. I walked right up and said are you…and then it hit, I had a brain freeze, but this bigger than life man, in his booming voice said “Yes, I am.” It was Walter Cronkite.
Yes, here was the man that made the news come to life, yet had to bear the burden of John Kennedy’s death to a nation; this was the man who shared his joy with this country when it came to the landing on the moon. It was funny to me that I should see him standing in front of my workplace on 52nd street, because I had been a courier for my uncle, often delivering to CBS 60 Minutes. ‘60 Minutes’ was my uncle’s biggest client and I always kept my eyes open for Walter at his own office building, but of course I never saw him there.
My uncle produced a map that was used by all three major TV stations. This map was put to use when Astronaut Alan Shepard made his flight around the earth. Mr. Cronkite was in Florida in 1961 for the launch of Alan Shepard and since my uncle was working with the reporters and hanging around for several months while that flight was delayed several times. My Uncle Ed got to spend some time with Mr. Cronkite, so I took the occasion to remind him of that time.
Our meeting was short, but a memorable one and I can still hear him say “Yes, I am.”
The reason for early jazz bands using banjos and never guitars was simply because guitars were not loud enough. But by utilizing brand new recording and amplification techniques, Eddie Lang played his guitar in the movie “The Big Broadcast of 1932” and banjo players immediately recognized that guitarists would soon be filling their chairs on the bandstand. Pawn shops soon filled up with banjos, and guitar craftsmanship produced lush sounding quality instruments that were in enormous demand.
The American Guitar Museum located in New Hyde Park, Long Island exhibits the finest work of craftsmen that poured their skill and love into this wonderful instrument. The museum puts us in touch with both the guitar’s history and its future.
It’s only fitting that the person responsible for establishing this museum would not only be a guitar player and collector, but as he is affectionately called the “Guitar Doctor” Chris X. Ambadjes is one of the finest luthiers in the business having conceived a guitar museum about 33 years ago, Chris was able to bring his dream to fruition about 16 years ago. Fortunately Chris’ friends, Demo Manolis, the late great Wayne L. Wright and a few others were willing to make this museum a reality. The friends pooled their resources and they formed a board of directors there. Continue Reading
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Over the years, I’ve been privileged to have either seen or met many celebrities. I was always happy to meet a celebrity, it never made me feel uncomfortable or at a loss for words; never that is until I saw the one man that had been “The Voice of Reason”, considered for a long time as “The Most Trusted Man in America.” Here he was standing right in front of my workplace. I walked right up and said are you…and then it hit, I had a brain freeze, but this bigger than life man, in his booming voice said “Yes, I am.” It was Walter Cronkite.