I’m sure when Katarina got over to where I was, she realized that I was just a fan and not someone she knew, but she was as warm and friendly as could be. I’ve always found the best in their fields were gracious and caring; at least that has been my experience so far.

Katarina was visiting CBS, because she had a special planned to air that week and she was promoting the show. She was so excited talking about her TV Special and I have always made a point of telling people that complain about stars not wanting to talk, that it is simply that so-called fans don’t show any respect and allow the celebrity to be gracious. Tons of people shove pieces of paper in front of a star and feel that it is their obligation to sign their name. I didn’t do that and because of just showing appreciation for someone that I admired, I had a chance to meet a really special person and I just wanted to say thank you, many years later!

While the band needs a while to recuperate, the girls begin to learn the instruments to fill in for the Band, but of course no one learns how to play within a week or two. However, these girls have talent and within a relatively short time, they get good enough to enter a contest against other school bands. It’s a fun movie with some really quirky and amusing parts. If you want to see “Swing Girls”, it is in 11 parts on youTube – The first episode can be found here

The other link someone sent me was also a pleasant surprise – There are 8 Japanese girls that have put together a Jazz/Pop/Hip Hop Band and it is very cool. They are known as Pistol Valve. Their Website is the following:

What I like with Pistol Valve is that it’s not the same old thing I would be hearing on any radio station. Here is one of their cool songs.

I’ve called Scott Samuels the “Joe Pass of Pop” and “The King of Pop”. It’s not because he plays solo jazz guitar all day like Joe Pass or dances like Michael Jackson. What Scott Samuels does do though, is play each song like a one man band, as well as sing along with his guitar. Scott doesn’t play one style of music and this is why there have been many nights where 100 to 200 people have parked themselves all around him and watched as Scott and his regular fans joined in singing the choruses to all different styles. It’s not unusual to hear songs from Elton John, Billy Joel, Van Halen, Prince, Hall and Oates, Al Green, Bob Marley, The Beatles, Syreeta, Celine Dion, Jimi Hendrix, Tony Bennett, Al Jolson and the list goes on to roughly 2,000 songs. It just depends on the audience.

Scott has a decent voice, but what’s more he draws some excellent singers, that he gladly turns over the lead vocals to when he enjoys their style. William Galison and Madleine Peyroux have joined Scott on occasion. I was a regular in the Park in 2002 – 2004 and would find myself planted there listening and singing along for up to 10 hours — Scott actually played that many hours!  Sometimes Scott just didn’t take breaks, he’d be just sipping on a few Snapple Juices and back to playing. Scott was like the Energizer Bunny.

There was an early evening in 2003 that a few of us had been sitting listening to Scott for 3 or 4 hours; this was a day that Greenwich Village was filled with protesters opposing the beginning of the Iraq War. After the protest march had ended, many of those protesters decided to head into Washington Square and within about an hour the Park was packed with people that had added to our small group of listeners. Scott chose to play the song “Imagine” by John Lennon and strangely enough so many people had tiny candles that they passed around and this is a sight that should have been captured on the news, but roughly 1,000 people were all singing “Imagine,” waving candles and accompanying a single guitar.

Scott Samuels is a self-taught guitarist, that you’ll often see using piano voicings for his guitar, because he was heavily influenced by many composers that played piano. On the other hand Scott plays fast solos when he is joined by other players and he’s been seen by many of us not only playing Eddie Van Halen, or Jimi Hendrix solos, but even playing the music of Alan Holdsworth and all of this is being played on an acoustic guitar.

A funny tidbit about Scott is that his father is a song writer that wrote some funny tunes; one of his songs is “I Owe A Lot To Iowa Pot” and a song that was banned and became quite famous entitled “They’re Coming To Take Me Away.”

Being a regular to the Park Jam, is the one thing that I miss about New York, now that I live in Oregon. But, whenever I hear that someone is going to New York City in the summer, I tell them that if it is a warm summer day, they should  make their way down to Washington Square Park and look for Scott Samuels. I know I will!

Learn About Jazz

One day when I was driving the guys from uptown to the Blue Note in NYC, I asked what major difference was there between Ron Carter and Ray Brown; the guys laughed at my ignorance and gave me their views. From what I got out of that was that Ron Carter added color to a song, but Ray Brown was such a power house that when he played, Marching bands formed and never missed a step. Niels said “Ray Brown is so precise, you could set your watch by him” and then in stereo they all said at once “And we often do!”

These guys always showed appreciation for other players that earned that respect. One day when the guys were playing the Blue Note, just before going on, someone was close to the window and noticed Toots Thielemans down the street and they jumped from their seats to welcome him. They greeted Toots and walked him inside. You could tell the mutual admiration these guys had for Toots and for each other.

Joe Pass, Martin Drew and Niels Henning-Orsted Pedersen were all class acts and each could be called a musician’s musician.

You can learn more about jazz, see pictures or take quizzes at Jazzipedia. The jazz site that’s growing!

One night when Joe was playing a solo gig, my former guitar teacher, Leni Stern came to hear Joe. Leni has been called “Little Pat Metheny”, because of her tone as well as her picking style. Leni stayed till the end of the second show and till Joe was packing up his guitar. I was giving Joe his ride uptown that night and so I asked Leni , since she was on the way, if she wanted a ride as well.

Leni Stern was not only an excellent guitarist and writer, but she was also married to the gifted, silky smooth and blindingly speedy jazz guitarist, Mike Stern. As we drove uptown, Leni said to Joe that he should come over for breakfast the next morning and then have some fun playing with her husband, Mike. Leni felt that she convinced Joe and said, “see you tomorrow” as she got out of the car.

As I started to drive off, Joe looked at me and said, “You know I’m not going tomorrow, don’t you?” Actually, I didn’t know that at all; I asked him why he didn’t want to go. Joe had gotten so used to hot shot players wanting to jam with him and for the most part, he didn’t have fun at all. Fortunately, I knew Mike just enough to have heard him play a number of times at the 55 Bar in Greenwich Village, I had seen Mike when he was a member of Miles Davis’ band and also, I had been told by Leni, that Mike had transcribed many of Joe’s solo’s by hand and learned how to play them. So, Mike not only had his own style, but he was totally familiar with Joe’s and I told Joe what I had known and that he should go, because in my opinion, he was going to have a great time.

The next night I heard that Joe indeed had gone to visit the Sterns and brought the Bagels and Cream Cheese and played for quite a while with Mike. He told me that he had a great time!

It is disappointing that I wasn’t there to hear Joe and Mike that day, but it was satisfying to know that I said something that made for a memorable musical time to two people that I admired. I did help another excellent guitarist, Emily Remler get to the Blue Note one day and jam with Joe, but that of course is another story.

To get familiar with both of their styles, here are links to each of them:

Joe Pass

Joe Pass Plays "Satin Doll" Solo

Mike Stern

Mike Stern Band Live in Paris

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 52^nd 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.”

Listen to Allan’s Playing on “Looking Glass”

When you look at Jack Wilkins’ portfolio, not only can you appreciate the talent that sought him out, but also the diversity of his collaborations. These gifted musicians include tenor saxophone player Stanley Turrentine, who played jazz as well as R&B. There was Jimmy Heath, often called “Little Bird”, because he was strongly influenced by Charlie Parker. A player that shared the stage with Mr. Wilkins is Eddie Gomez, who played with Dizzy Gillespie and had a mutual Latin influence. If that’s not enough to impress you, then let’s note his collaborations with Chet Baker and Buddy Rich.

Jack Wilkins has also been appreciated for his ability to compliment the vocal styles of Morgana King, Sarah Vaughn, Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett, Manhattan Transfer, Cassandra Wilson, Chris Conner and the list goes on.

Jack Wilkins does not have to be satisfied with just having backed other artists, because he had the ears of guitar lovers everywhere standing straight up when he released his album “Windows” in 1973. He’s been praised in Guitar Player, Just Jazz Guitar and Downbeat magazines, as well as being a highlight of a number of J.V.C. festival  tributes.

Brooklyn born Jack Wilkins came from a home that appreciated music, where his mother sang and played the piano and his step-father played both sax and trumpet.

Jack recently discovered that his real father, Jack Rivers Lewis was a really successful West Coast guitar player and singer. Jack Rivers Lewis was well known in the Tacoma and Seattle areas as a Western Swing player that also shared a jazz feel and was influenced by jazz guitarists Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian and his favorite George Barnes.

The young Jack Wilkins started out playing the Rock and Roll of the day, such as Dwayne Eddy and Chuck Berry. The one guitarist that really caught Jack’s ear and helped mold his chordal style, was Johnny Smith.

A local teacher named Joe Monte helped Jack, as did Artie Shaw’s guitarist Sid Margolis. Feeling the need to grow as a musician, Jack spent time with John Mehegan, who was well respected as a jazz pianist and lecturer that was the head of the New York Metropolitan Music School and later held posts in both Julliard and Yale.

Some of Jack’s rhythmic development can be attributed to the fact that he spent several years apart from his guitar and being drawn to piano, vibes and percussion.

I asked Jack, who his favorite guitarists were and after Johnny Smith, he said that the list would have to include Barney Kessel, Django Reinhardt, Julian Bream, Raphael Rabello, Luiz Bonfa, Baden Powell, and Tal Farlow. But, there would be room on his list for more.

Jazz has been a big part of Jack’s life, but he also has a love for Classical and Brazilian.

No doubt, every musician has some musicians that they wish they could have performed with and Jack said that the first two that came to mind would be Oscar Peterson and Freddie Hubbard.

There are many advanced students that attend The New School, The Manhattan School of Music, NYU and LIU, where Wilkins conducts seminars. Never having a pat way of teaching, Jack listens and helps his students work on whatever will bring them to the next level of professionalism.

The advice Jack Wilkins gives to all is threefold. Find a good teacher, learn to read music and listen, listen, listen.

Maybe now you can say you know Jack!

Have a listen to Here’s That Rainy Day.

By 1982 I’d been playing my Gibson guitar for over 20 years. I love this guitar! I know her and she knows me. It’s a relationship based on trust, understanding, and time. Don’t tell her this, but she was not my first or even second love.

Imagine this scenario: Eighteen years old, just out of high school, and trying to decide what to do with my life. I knew I wanted to play guitar but should I go to college and get a degree “to have something to fall back on” as my parents used to say- kind of a built-in failure mechanism if you think about it- or should I begin getting experience playing?

Colleges in those days (1962) didn’t offer degrees in jazz guitar. I couldn’t see spending four years at a college where jazz wasn’t accepted and you had to study classical guitar to get a degree. It wasn’t for me. I decided to learn by playing local jobs, practicing and asking questions, which I still do today. To supplement my income, I took a job at a local music store where I gave lessons. Not bad for the time, about $8 an hour, and 15 or 16 hours a week.

Something was wrong though. I was improving my technique by leaps and bounds. Practicing 5 hours a day can do that. The guitar I had at the time was not up to my level of play, however. I think it was an old Kay guitar. It was all right before, but I was now ready for a great instrument. Mind you, I was still too young to realize I needed a better instrument. Things I practiced, however, would not come off quite the way I heard them in my head, and I felt as if I were coming to a dead end. The answers were never far away though.

One day, as I came into the music store to teach, I saw a guitar that spoke to me – a beautiful blond pre-war, non-cutaway Gibson L-5. Rare and exceptional! Where did it come from? Was it for sale? Could I borrow it for the rest of my life? When I picked it up to play it, I couldn’t believe it! The things I practiced that couldn’t quite come off before were now perfect! I had to have it.

I asked the owner of the store, “What’s the deal here?”
He said, “If you like it so much, why not buy it?”
“How much?” I said
“Fifty dollars.”
“Fifty dollars?” I said, “Oh ok, I guess that’s fine.”

Okay? It was worth $500 dollars. I bought it and took it home and played and played and played. It was amazing. It wasn’t just great, it was divine. It was really mine and like a part of me that was just beginning to be discovered. Still, how could it only be worth $50 dollars? I took it to my repairman, guitar builder and inventor friend Ray Mattey. (Ralph Matteo was his real name). He was kind of a mentor to me and I liked him very much. He was always encouraging and helpful, you might say from the “Old School”. I love people like that. A little like Fezziwig in Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol”. He discovered a serious crack in the joining of the neck and body and told me it had to be fixed or it would fall apart some day. I trusted his judgement and said, “Okay Ray, see what magic you can perform.”

Magic is the only word for people like Ray. I didn’t care how much it would cost and Ray would always be very reasonable with me anyway. I remember that it cost $200, but it was worth every penny to have my guitar in good shape. It would be a massive repair job, however. The problem was that I wouldn’t get my guitar back for about two months. That hurt!

At about the same time in my life, I took occasional lessons from another wonderful person named Sid Margolis. Between Sid and Ray, I had two of the finest mentors a young man could have. Sid taught me many valuable techniques and shared a certain awareness that only a seasoned professional can give. Sid hadn’t heard about my new guitar so I was very anxious to tell him about it. As usual with Sid, he was very kind and listened with care and interest. As soon as I started to describe the guitar, his face went ashen. As gently as he could, he said. “Jack, that sounds like the guitar that was stolen from me some time ago.”

Now it was my turn to be ashen. I kind of panicked. If it were Sid’s guitar, I’d have to give it back to him. But what if it wasn’t? The only way to find out was to bring it to him. There was no serial number on the guitar to prove anything but Sid would know. Co-incidentally, Ray completed the repair on the guitar that day. I left Sid’s not thinking about the lesson and raced to Ray’s shop. The guitar was ready and it was beautiful! It seemed to glisten and almost seemed alive. (Wood is alive) I told Ray what a masterful job he did and explained about Sid. Ray said, “Oh no, it can’t be true. This is your guitar.”

When I arrived back to Sid’s with the guitar, my heart was beating so fast I thought I’d pass out. When I opened the case, I focused on Sid’s face to see his reaction. It was joyful. Then it was sad. I knew he felt badly about me. I realized I must give up my guitar. I suppose some people might say, “Well, you bought it fair and square and there was no proof of ownership” and so forth, but the truth was, it was his and he was my friend. The details about the man who owned the music store aren’t really important. Suffice to say the shop owner had purchased the guitar in an unsavory fashion. That’s why it was only $50.

Sid settled with Ray. Poor Ray! He had put his heart and soul into fixing the instrument for me, not that he wouldn’t have done an excellent job anyway, but somehow when you do things for someone who’s especially close, it seems to have more meaning. I felt sort of lost after that. I couldn’t go back to the music store, and I couldn’t go back to playing my old guitar.

Sid called me a few days later with a solution to everything. “Teach for me,” he said. I wasn’t sure he really needed me but I readily accepted. He would give me invaluable guidance and I would make some money. Sid had another idea. Why don’t I buy this other Gibson L-5 that he bought to replace the stolen one. It was a sunburst 1961 cutaway with a floating DeArmond pick up. Nice guitar! Very nice! “Okay,” I said, and he sold it to me for $250, the amount I would have spent on Sid’s stolen guitar anyway. Everything worked out perfectly. I taught at Sid’s and learned a great deal. I played my new 1961 Gibson and learned to love it as much as my first love. This 1961 Gibson would qualify as my second true love.

Sometime after that, a good friend named Burt Linden gave me an old Gibson L-7. It needed repair and as usual, Ray Mattey did his magic. I hardly played the L-7 because of my second love, the 1961 L-5. I kept the L-7 as a spare guitar. Of course, this L-7 is now my third and true love. What happened to my second love, the once new L-5 that Sid Margolis had sold me? Six years after I purchased it, it was stolen. I’d like to think that someday someone will give it back to me the way I returned Sid’s guitar to him. “What goes around, comes around”- right? I’m waiting.

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.

The American Guitar museum possesses an authentic charm. Its home is a restored three-story colonial building that is one of the original farmhouses in the area. Stepping through the outer gates (which by the way are made in the shape of guitars) and entering the main door, you can’t help being caught up in the pictures that seem to be everywhere. These are pictures of the great players of both today and yester-year.

Moving on to the main room right in front at eye level stands one gorgeous oval-holed D’Aquisto New Yorker on loan from the talented player, Joe Carbone. Before his untimely death, luthier Jimmy D’Aquisto was considered the greatest guitar builder alive. For this beautiful sun-burst instrument he would charge about $50,000 with a three year wait.

The main room’s ceiling is certainly worth a look. It’s designed like the inside of an archtop guitar with f-holes, cross-bracing and wood grain all painted into the ceiling. A Showcase at the front of the room holds some of the original punches used to manufacture picks around 1910. These punches were contributed by the D’Andrea Company of Long Island, which is still in business today. If you have a pick in your pocket, there’s a 90% chance that the D’Andrea Company made it. The picks were originally made by punching out little tortoise shell plates in different shapes.

The Guitar Museum is just chock full of luthier tools, various tailpieces, books, blueprints, biographies of various players and histories of some of the guitars gracing its walls. One piece impossible to miss sits on the right side of the room. This is a 400 lb. press from the Strad-o-Lin Company that was used to bend the sides and tops of guitars and mandolins. It dates back to the 1890’s.

One of the oldest guitars in the museum was built in 1861. Chris Ambadjes says, “We like to tell the kids that come for a tour that this guitar is from Abraham Lincoln’s time and they get a kick out of that.” It’s exhibited in its original hard shelled case.

Two guitars that always get a lot of attention are the 1965 Olympic White Strat that belonged to a friend of Jimi Hendrix which Jimi played on occasion; and the other eye-catcher is a mint condition dark wood-grained Les Paul which Les himself contributed to the museum containing the inscription “To Chris, from Les ‘Keep On Pickin’.”

In addition to Les Paul’s signature model, there are a number of cherished Gibsons on display. A few of the most valuable Gibsons belonged to one of New York City’s finest musicians, Jack Hotop. Jack played in the opening of such Broadway hits as “Oklahoma” and “Annie.” He fell in love with the sound of the first 1957 ES-175 with a PAF pickup (better known as the humbucking pickup). This guitar was used as a demonstrator model by Gibson and Jack begged Gibson for that particular instrument. He was forced to wait until it was shown around the country before Gibson would let him have it. Jack later used this ES-175 when he played for the opening of “West Side Story.”

Two of the newest items in The American Guitar Museum are a pickup winding machine that jazz innovator Attila Zoller made and the mixing board that was used in Woody Allen’s classic movie “Radio Days”.

What this museum boasts of is its wonderful collection of both rare and beautiful instruments – What Chris calls “the cream of the cream.” Ambadjes has a particular love for the D’Angelico archtop guitar and who can blame him. John D’Angelico is considered by many to have been the “Stradivari of guitars.” Appraisals place these guitars between $25,000 – $75,000 on the average, with some being even higher. Quite an investment when you consider their original price tag of about $695.00!

How fitting, that D’Angelico started making his custom guitars the same year as “The Big Broadcast of 1932.” 1,164 beautiful custom guitars and mandolins were built bearing his name by the time of his death in 1964.

At the museum there are roughly 10 D’Angelicos on display, two of which are “one of a kind.” Though it’s accurate to say all D’Angelicos are unique, they all are either guitars or mandolins; all that is, except for these two. Sitting appropriately in a baby’s cradle is the first of these unique acquisitions. It is an 18” tall baby jazz uke. Benny Mortell pleaded with John D’ Angelico to build this to use as a wedding proposal to his wife. The finger board contains the inscription “To My Dearest Rose From Ben.” The newest addition to the museum is called a Cellar (pronounced ché lâr). This is John D’s largest masterwork and it is the only other instrument that does not fall into the category of either guitar or mandolin. Alongside these two priceless pieces you’ll find the 1942 Excel, which was played by its owner Benny Mortell, in the film “The Godfather” in both the wedding scene and on the soundtrack. Next to this is a 1946 New Yorker. There is a left-handed D’Angelico that has been used by Wayne Wright (rhythm guitarist for Les Paul, George Barnes, Judy Garland, Tony Bennett and Peggy Lee).

“Nothing in this life is free” — not true anymore, because a tour of the American Guitar Museum is just that FREE! Guitar aficionados, class tours and families alike have had mini-lessons on guitar building, how guitar pickups work, how fretboard in-lays are inserted and an overall history of America’s most popular instrument. Note too that Chris Ambadjes repairs fretted instruments of all kinds right on the premises and there are a number of excellent music teachers present also.

So pay a visit to this little treasure where the love of its owners is evident throughout. This is really a present to the world.

The American Guitar Museum
180 New Hyde Park Road
New Hyde Park, NY 11040
516-488-5000