Tuesday, January 20, 2009

February Downbeat and 75 Guitarists!

Last night I picked up the February issue of DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE with Wes Montgomery on the cover as they have a listing of the 75 most influential Guitarists. Inside it also has a nice copy of Ken Hatfield explaining his 17th Etude taken from his recently published collection of 24 Etudes in all the Major and Minor Keys. He showed me the copy when I attended a private concert by Barbosa Lima and Berta Rojas last year.Ken Hatfield is an outstanding artist who plays every Thursday Night at a restaurant = "FETCH" in Manhattan.WWW.KENHATFIELD.COM is his website for more info! There was also a nice one page lesson by the great MARK ELF.Great thoughts to chew on!

Don

Sunday, January 18, 2009

The GREAT ROLAND DYENS DOES BRAZIL!!

Hello Don,

I'm Russ De Angelo, Roland Dyens' North American Manager. He has told me a little about you and I look forward to meeting you some day.

I'm also a classical guitarist but only and intermediate level. I attended classical guitar classes at USC in LA for two years before moving to the beautiful coast of Central California.

Since you know Roland's work so well, let me tell you about Roland's latest project:
About 6 months ago, he began transcribing the music of the Brazilian musician known as Pixinguinha (1898-1973.) He participated at a prestigious guitar festival in Brazil on October 3rd where he performed the World Premier of these 11 beautiful pieces.

A week later Roland went to San Francisco to record his latest CD. The CD will be released in the next 60 days on the Guitar Solo Publications Label. GSP is also publishing the music scores which will be available when the CD is released.
I am currently promoting this CD and music. Would you be able to help us in some way to get the word out?

Here is a "Concert Program" that I wrote and used for Roland's recent concerts (yes, he actually almost has a set program - of course he'll start with an improv and announce his program from the stage and play some of his "standards," too.)

(I'm attaching my latest Press Release, too. Let me know what you think about all this and if you can help us.)



A Tribute to Pixinguinha

(b. Alfredo da Rocha Vianna Jr. 1898 - d. 1973)

The Genius of Brazilian Popular Music





During Roland Dyens' 2009 concerts, he will perform selections of his arrangements of the music of the Brazilian musician known as Pixinguinha (pronounced, “Pish-En-GUI-Nia”)

Pixinguinha, which translates as “Good little boy,” was a flute virtuoso, pianist and saxophonist. He has been called “The Cole Porter of Brazil” and he is recognized as “The Father of the Chôro.” He is an icon of Brazilian music and his music is enthusiastically played by all musicians in South America.



Dyens performed the World Premier of these arrangements on October 4, 2008 at the Great Theatre of the Arts House in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. A week later, they were recorded in San Francisco (USA) on the Guitar Solo Publications Label. The music scores will also be published and available when the CD is released in Feb/Mar, 2009. (gspguitar.com)




CONCERT PROGRAM


Roland Dyens always starts his concerts with an improvisational piece. He will announce his program from the stage. In no particular order, the Pixinguinha pieces he may play are:


Atencioso - (attentive toward someone) - Choro
Carinhoso - (Sweetheart) - Choro Cancao

Desprezado - (a depreciated, undervalued person) - Choro Cancao

Gargalhada - (Hoot of Laughter) - Scottish

Ingênuo - (Naïve) - Choro Cancao

Lamentos - (Laments) - Choro

Naquele Tempo- (In those Times) - Choro Serenata

Oscarina - (slow waltz)

Proezas de Sólon - (Sólon’s Feat) - Choro

Rosa - (slow waltz)
Um a Zero - (One to zero) - This is said to be the final score of a historic soccer match many years ago in Rio de Janerio - Choro Vivo



Roland Dyens plays a Daryl Perry guitar and recommends Savarez strings







Russ De Angelo
North American Management for Roland Dyens: www.rolanddyens.com
PO Box 2308
Pismo Beach, CA 93448-2308
(rddeangelo@aol.com) 805-474-1777

Pat "THE KID" Martino at Birdland Saturday 1/17/09

My dear teacher and super Virtuoso Guitarist and Composer PAT MARTINO,spent several days at the best place in New York to have a nice meal and experience the best in Jazz - BIRDLAND. In my blog,I earlier reported on the interview The Jazz Museum in Harlem conducted on January 8th with Pat. I was fortunate to have studied with Pat in the 70's. I would travel right after work to his home and try to grapple with this
great instrument and Pat would hand write out my lessons which I still have.I decided to check out the 8:30 performance. I arrived at 7:30 in order to get a good seat at the bar and proceeded to have a wonderful meal with a couple of beers. I had along my copy of "Considering Genius"/ Writings on Jazz by the great Stanley Crouch to keep me company on my tran ride back and forth.Just as I sat down, I saw Pat in conversation at the end of the bar near the dressing room and swung by to say hello. As soon as he saw me he extended his hand and gave me a warm hug and kiss as I apologized to the couple he was in conversation with.My dear teacher is one of the most important people in my life and we have remained in contact over all these decades. Pat is such a warm and caring human being who always extends himself to the vast array of people who come by to check him out. After his conversation with the couple terminated, he was so kind to walk up to me and spend a few more moments with me. There is a great bond that the teacher/student experience cements even after so many years. I would try to make an attempt to attend as many of his performances finances would allow. Times are really tough now and I thought I may have to pass on this but my brilliant and lovely wife told me to get my butt down there and enjoy myself. I usually go for the best seat in he house do I can catch the master flyng around the fretboard at supersonic speeds but decided that I don't need to do that anymore. The last few days I have been viewing my videos of Pat performing and teaching.It was a great joy to be there last night because Pat came back to share with the audience his "ROOTS" with the Hammond B3 Organ Quartet. On the road playing his heart out since 15,we were transported back to the "CHITLLIN CIRCUIT" of the 60's 70's. We in the know knew that this slight human being had something special. I heavily suggest that you try to get a copy of the 2 Videos produced by PHIL FALLO " Open Road" and "Live at Ethels Place". Open road is the documentary on Pats hard and unique life and "Live at Ethels Place" is a live performance from 1987 which marked his return to the performance platform after brain surgery. That performance had him in totally blistering pace. He really "TORE IT UP"!!
His Birdland performance last night was a JEM!! The pace of the evening was varied and right on the money as he drew the most excited sets of applause I have heard in a long time.I was even tempted to stay for the last set of the week but have a 4 hour gig today and needed my rest. I would direct you to Pat's website as there are so many goodies for you to munch on! Just from that site, you can understand the layout of the Guitar and get your chops up to pretty darn good playing levels.
www.patmartino.com.

Friday, January 9, 2009

WHERE IS A VIDEO ABOUT TESTING GUITARS?

With all of the great videos on the market, I yet have to see on on testing out Classical Guitars!. I remember the totally non responsive quip I received from the great Cuban Virtuoso MANUEL BARRUECO when I asked him very simply, what he does to choose a concert worthy instrument! I asked him for details on what pieces he played and how he judged the responsiveness of the tested instrument and he refused to say anything about the process and said "NEXT QUESTION"!. I remembered how angry I was about that. Here I am a performing artist asking a very honest answer and getting such a snub! I have been waiting for an intelligent dvd or video to show up on the market on this topic but have seen N O N E ! What is it out there. There are some of you who have spent small fortunes to collect top line instruments and you tell me that you never recorded how your instruments react in playing mode?
Now that I have this blog to prick the thinking mind out there, I look forward to Raising your thoughts about this topic. Of couse there are so many building techniques on the market yielding so many types of Classical Guitar Characteristics. I know that a tremendous amount of research has been done in the area of Violin Acoustics testing but why not that of Classical Guitar Testing.I will have to pull out my papers on this which lay a little dusty on one of my shelves and see what I can come up with as a starting point.Just wanted to get the wheel rolling on this topic and hope that there is some intelligent response out there in cyberland.

The 8th Upstate Classical Guitar Society Fall Festival 2008

The 8th Upstate New York Guitar Society Fall Festival
Don Witter,Jr.

I must apologize for the extremely late arrival of this report to the newsletter which has caused the printing to be delayed but for me it was most special event as it was my 7th Festival and my dear friend and extraordinary musician Antonio Carlos-Barbosa Lima was our guest artist. In the afternoon we also had a special one hour concert by one of the finest exponents of our craft, the Virtuoso Artist Lily Afshar who took us on a great trip musically and aurally with her incredible playing. The Festival had a couple of excellent changes to the event this year which were moments of great genius I thought!

To start our festival, Society president Dennis Turecheck gave an information packed Lecture/Demo on Playing Jazz on the Classical Guitar. There were 8 piles of papers at the edge of the stage. One pile of the Bossa Nova hit "The Gentle Rain" by Luiz Bonfa and the other 7 piles devoted to guitar layouts of various ways of looking at the guitar in Jazz Context. Essentially the information on these sheets is all "Meat and potatoes"! No sugar pills here kiddies! The following list is the blow by blow of the info contained on these heavy layouts: 1) Major Diatonic Modes ( 3 notes per string) root position , 2) 2,5,1 Progressions in Root Position , 3) 2,5,1 Progressions in minor 4) Drop 2 Chord Voicings C6 or A minor 7th 5) 2,5,1 Progressions ( 5 substitutions ),
6) 2,5,1 Progressions ( in minor w /5 substitutions ), 7) 2,5,1 Progressions ( Quick Resolutions).

Dennis Turecheck was my 1st Guitar Teacher and what an incredibly awesome start I had in training under him.He guided me in so many ways as he harnessed all my talent in such a thoughtful and caring way. I would have to say that at my age (58) I continue to feast off of the great direction Dennis first instilled in me and after his lecture would have loved to have spent the rest of the day going over the rest of the material with him. Not one word was wasted in his lecture. To have such an enormous amount of information dispensed at such an early hour left our eyes and minds dragging on the floor but my bloodless cassette recorder came to the rescue as I spaced out like a deer in the front of headlights! Since that lecture I have reviewed the covered material several times to cement the information.

Like last year, our 1st member performing was BOB DONAHOE who performed works by Garoto, Reis and Villa-lobos stating that the common thread uniting these three pieces was that they were solos published by Brazilian Composers in the 1950s. Bob has true feeling for the Brazilian Guitar repertoire as last year in start off position, he delivered a series of arrangements by one of my former teachers and influences Laurindo Almeida. As he rose to leave the stage he uttered " I must be your typical Classical Guitarist because everything Dennis said ( in the preceding lecture on Jazz on the Classical Guitar) was over my head! This comment was a affirmation on the difference between a Jazz Guitar Player who must know everything about Theory and Harmony to function as a Jazz Guitarist who "composes on the spot" as opposed to the Classical Guitarist who just plays the most polished performance of the notes on a page of music. What pure intent Bob continues to bring to the performance stage! RICHARD OSBORNE took us further into the world of Brazilian guitar as he beautifully introduced us to etudes by Ulisses Rocha, a Milonga by Jorge Cardoso, and prelude by Alfonso Montes. He informed us that he studied the Etudes with Rocha and for me that was evident in his lovely interpretations. If I remember correctly, Richard won the silent auction of these Rocha works last year. I put in a couple of bids myself because I saw how interesting they were. His grouping was beautifully executed and very enjoyable.

New for this year was a stroke of genius in that the remaining morning schedule through to lunch break was an INFORMAL ENSEMBLE in which groups joined to read through some music. This was great fun for me and others who joined us onstage for some simple yet pleasing arrangements of folk,Christmas, and Fernando Sor Trios. Since several of us in this group improvised, we took a couple of Jazz Standards and took turns going around the circle for a great exclamation point on this joyful gathering of musical spirits. I do hope this remains a part of the festival because we all enjoyed it so much.So many of us never venture outside of that SOLO CLASSICAL GUITAR WORLD! After all there is no "Orchestra " for Guitarists. Making music with others is a most important part of training the total musician because it teaches us so much about playing together in time and aspects about phrasing. I really had a great time in the group and look forward to repeating this experience next year. In case you want to dabble in the treat, check out the following site for source material ( Thanks to the wonderful SAL SALVAGGIO for e-mailing us the site info before hand!) www.eythhorsson.com
Our post lunch series of performances continued with DAVE RICHMAN'S delivery of a lovely set of pieces by Mudarra and Villa-Lobos omitting the Handel and Bach originally listed on the program. I would imagine that he decided to nod to music from our guest's artist homeland of Brazil in playing the Choro/Valsa from the 5 Movement Popular Brazilian Suite of Villa-Lobos. I particularly enjoyed his interpretation of the Prelude # 1 in which he made some nice use of rubato that made me look at this often played piece in another light. It was a little slower than usual which aided in his particularly insightful explorations.
SPIRAL TANGO is the name of an exceptional Flute and Guitar Duo of ELIZABETH WILLIAMS and my dear buddy WILLIAM SIMCOE. I always look forward to anything WILLIAM SIMCOE does as he is one of the real treasures in this neck of the woods! He is the total artist who just glows music. He has a wonderful energy and easiness that allows him to be the perfect vessel for any music he plays. He only works with the best in the area and on this occasion his duo partner ELIZABETH WILLIAMS just fitted the duo with a gorgeous Flute tone and winning musicality. Their opening piece by Marcos Vinicius, was their 1st performance of that composition ( we were informed after their easy and successful completion) and it was as though they were playing that lovely intro forever. Bill then gifted us with a couple of delicious solos - another piece by Marcos Vinicius entitled SERRADO which was followed by his arrangement of OBLIVION by Tango Master Astor Piazzolla. Ending their stay on stage was an arrangement for duo of Piazzolla's VERANO PORTENO. As I have stated in my previous reports, WILLIAM SIMCOE is a treasure trove of musicianship. His very sensitive playing brings you into the heart of whatever music he is playing. Always performing with beautiful tone and an easy virtuosity, you can just lay back and enjoy. When put in the seat as an accompanist , you are rest assured that he gives just the perfect volume and tone to the instrument he is in duo with. Sensitive with each note, when I review this musician, I would hope that those of you in this area would run to any of his concerts because he is such an excellent musician and deserves wider recognition. Thanks again BILL for another great stay on stage!!!
GIANCARLO SIDOLI is a student of my dear teacher DENNIS TURCHECK and he is on the road to becoming a great talent to watch. Last year was my 1st exposure to him and he is secure and solid in his performances and always gives a little background of the compositions for the audience. He started off with a lithe Sonata by Domenico Scarlatti -K.377 . I have never heard this one but it was basically two lines. Giancarlo gave a nice straight forward propulsion to the music. He originally listed on the program that next up would be 3 Waltzes in duo with Janet Sutta , but that was deleted. He completed his portion of the festivities by playing two movements from the CAVATINA SUITE by Polish Composer ALEXANDRE TANSMAN who composed this suite for Segovia. GIANCARLO played the opening Prelude and the Barcarole. I also studied this Suite with Dennis when I was his student several decades ago and it remains as strong and vibrant now as it was then and still so neglected by my colleagues. I heard during the day that congratulations are in order as GIANCARLO was a newly selected board member!! The Barcarole was just a bit on the slow side but he continues to mark himself as an artist to look forward to. He has been as student of Dennis for the last 3 years and I feel our kinship and wish him only the best in all he continues to tackle because he has all if the right stuff! NICE JOB GIANCARLO!. At one point during the day he approached me in an effort to find out what I thought of his performance which underscores how totally he is dedicated to the craft! I loved it! YOU GO GIANCARLO!!!!
The "PUFF AND PLUCK CONSORT" treated us to a concert of Music from the Renaissance. Composed of
SAL SALVAGGIO on Lute and Baroque Lute, MARILYN ROPER and RENE PRINS on winds and PAULA SCHAEFFER on Viola da Gamba, we had a glorious and joyful romp through compositions by Henry the VIII, Anthony Holborne,Michael Praetorious, ANON ( a most popular composer from this period ) and Andrea Falconieri! The festivities started with RENE PRINS walking down the aisle playing the period bagpipe which made the audience immediately perk up with delight as we were guided back to this earlier period with joy .There is so much fun in this sort of group where they just give us such a great taste of the period aided by their period clothes! SAL SALVAGGIO must be hugged with love for bringing us the joy of this early period music each year in different combinations. Again this man is one of the great artists in this neck of the woods who should have a great following for his incredibly gifted musicianship! Later on in the afternoon, the Town of Oneonta was celebrating it's Birth and I saw one of the Consort members playing on one of the floats!! It was either MARILYN or PAULA! WAY TO GO!
THE FABULOUS TOM RASELY was our master of ceremonies for the day and as usual, gave us his completely magical variety of virtuosic renderings on the guitar during his set in which he performed a couple of his own works,and pieces by Hans Leo Hassler,W.A. Mozart and Gustav Holst. All delivered with the usual fun loving wit of this born performer! If you get a chance , be on the lookout for anything he writes about in the guitar magazines. His ability to relay thoughts clearly and crisply is a joy to behold. I've read several of his excellent articles in ACOUSTIC GUITAR MAGAZINE over the years and must pat him on the back for the excellent job he always does! He is another one whom I look forward to experiencing because he is such and exceptional artist and thoughtful human being. He is a board member who is always thinking of the best for the society and took the time out to acknowledge the woman who is a SUPER DYNAMO- GAIL HAMILTON. Gail is the person who started the Guitar Society of Upstate New York 8 years ago and she continues to tackle the world with an enthusiasm that leaves all in the dust. She also has the patience of a saint this year as several deadlines have passed for this report and I appreciate her not sending the "FESTIVAL REPORT POLICE after me!
DON WITTER,JR. - ME decided to continue the Brazilian Guitar with the 3 super virtuoso's of Brazilian Guitar History - LUIZ BONFA, BADEN POWELL and LAURINDO ALMEIDA. I decided to be super relaxed and devoted my Bonfa set to DENNIS TURECHECK's lovely wife Christina and described to the audience how I was there when they 1st met at the Music School at which I was his student and Christina was teaching piano. I also let the audience know how special this festival is in my life. I have been here 7 out of the 8 years it has existed missing only the 2001 festival due to my forgetting about it and booking concerts that weekend. I am still hoping to have a special report printed in the Mel Bay Sessions on my 7 years of the Festival. I dedicated my Laurindo Almeida set to the man who began our day of concerts the last two years - BOB DONAHOE because he loves the works of my great teacher LAURINDO ALMEIDA and did a lovely collection last year of arrangements by Laurindo!! I also mentioned to the audience that in another hour they will be exposed to one of the great artists on our guitar scene - LILY AFSHAR, the great Persian virtuoso!! I then alerted them to our main Artist the legendary ANTONIO CARLOS BARBOSA LIMA who I have known since 1967 when he gave his 1st New York concert! I told people to go out into the streets and grab people to come in and experience both LILY and CARLOS!!!
FRED HELLWITZ gave a series of "to be announced " and armed with a wonderful Rameriz Guitar and custom made stool , proceeded to give a most solid and beautiful performance of BACH and BARRIOS. His BACH was wonderfully conceived and executed. Surely this was one of the really special outings of the day. Fred is a Doctor and you could tell that by the care he devoted to preparation of the pieces. He also took time to thank the main people in the society for allowing him to play. He mentioned that he doesn't play as much as he would like to but what an excellent artist he is!. As I said earlier, his Bach was really top notch and his Barrios was played (3rd movement from The Cathedral ) with verve and great bite!
LILY AFSHAR is one of our great virtuosos and we were lucky to get her for our festival. She choose world music repertoire from her cds and what a treat to visit several cultures with such and absolute virtuoso. She began with a TURKISH piece - KARA TOPRAK (Black Earth) by Asik Veysel - has to do with loving the earth of your country.She went on to talk about her use of quarter tones in this piece ( there are two special frets on her Thomas Humphrey Millenium Guitar that allows her to play these quarter tones).Her 2nd piece was taken from the Caprichos de Goya by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. She gave her dissertation on the Caprichos de Goya and about a decade ago I was at a concert at Rose Augustine's Town House in which she played the Caprichos ( 24 ) aided by the Photographs on which the pieces were based. This Capricho performed today, was about a woman to be executed. It is in the form of a theme and 7 variations. Next on her program were two Persian Ballads she arranged for Guitar which does not use quarter tones as in traditional Persian Music as these are two love songs. They are published in a collection of 5 Ballads by MEL BAY. In fact if you look at the Mel Bay Web Magazine www.guitarsessions.com for the month of November, you will find a write up on the Ballads and also a clip from her performance DVD.The Invocation and Dance by Rodrigo was us next and Lily just gave us a stunning version of this magical piece in the Guitar Repertoire.The piece was used as a mandatory competition piece in the late 60's and early seventies at the Major competitions around the world. Another flawless interpretation from her hands. To finish her brilliant hour performance was the great KOYUNBABA SUITE by Italian Composer/Virtuoso Guitarist Carlo Domeniconi. I was fortunate to be in Germany in the early 90's when Carlo performed and taught at the FRECHEN INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL run by my brother virtuoso HUBERT KAPPELL. This piece was a required competition piece so I got a chance to hear a ton of performances of the work. I also in 1987 picked up an LP in Germany of Carlo playing the Suite.The Suite is composed of 4 movements and is a joy to play. I quickly learned 2 out of the 4 movements but yet have to complete the other two. The tuning is a special one C sharp minor. The last movement is the most hair raising as it interprets a rain storm. The thematic material is based on Turkish Music as Carlo has spent most of his life living in TURKEY.Lily gave us a very sensitive and moving performance of this work especially the flamboyant final movement which can have you jumping up and down the fretboard like a headless chicken. I liked what Lily did in that she did not attack the last movement in the up and down manner that it is usually performed. She chose to finger this explosive movement across the fretboard in position which I thought was a great idea and very efficient.For me it was the finest performance outside of Carlo of this lovely work.WHEW~!!! THAT LILY CAN PLAY A MEAN GUITAR!!!! If you ever see her name you must run to her performance to taste an exceptional artist! DON'T MISS HER!!!
https://umdrive.memphis.edu/lafshar/www

Antonio Carlos Barbosa Lima in Concert

When I heard that the Society somehow got Carlos Barbosa Lima to be the headline, I had to be there!!! I have been a rabid fan of Carlos since 1967 when I first heard him in his debut New York Concert under the auspices of the Brazilian Embassy! A child prodigy has grown into a legendary artist.His performance at the festival was loaded with magic and mesmerizing moments of great music making.He opened his program by playing the prelude from a Suite in Ancient Style by GUIDO SANTORSOLA ( Uruguay ). This prelude is just the right piece to open with as it flows so beautifully in an extended series of arpeggios. This was followed by two pieces by Ernesto Nazareth - Carioca and Odeon both arranged by Carlos as most of the evening displayed the magical and intricate arrangement style of the Guitar Magician. Playing on a 2002 Richard Prenkert Cedar Guitar, we sat and marveled at this man of "A thousand Fingers". Such an incredibly clean and precise technique coupled with the highest musicianship gave those in attendance a special gift they will never forget. The 1st half had works of Villa-Lobos,Ernesto Cordero,Augustin Barrios and Gershwin. All winning performances. The pace of each piece was so perfectly conceived and executed.No matter how many lines were in motion at any time, justice was apply given to whatever was the predominant thematic material and the tone was also perfect.In the second half of the great concert we were given more delicious soul pleasing works by : Madriguera,Yasui, Lecuona,Montana, Pixinguinha, Barroso , Lauro and Jobim! The only encore performed was a delicious arrangement of the famous TICO-TICO which ended an exceptional concert enjoyed and treasure by all in attendance!

The Carlos Barbosa Lima Masterclass

Before I get to the wealth of information shared with us by this great artist, I must say that I was disappointed at how few people showed up to take advantage of this exceptional artist and his wealth of great knowledge! Only a hand full of people took part in this Sunday morning Master class but what can you do! The main point stressed in the masterclass was keeping an unbroken phrasing by adjusting the fingering to make the phrasing flow. He spoke about tone color being used to make any repeat of phrasing more interesting on the repeats and to end the masterclass with the last excellent student, he gave us a tutorial in the history of CHOROS by playing through the history of this very important dance form from Brazil! What an incredible treat this was!! I will submit a separate piece on the details of the masterclass for you as I believe there were so many great points covered that I want to make sure I didn't miss any and it would be great for you to be able to chew on some great ways to improve your playing!
Till next year, get ready for this fabulous festival and again, please forgive me for delaying this report. There is so much I want to pass on to you about this festival and will in following reports!

- Don Witter,Jr.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Two Genius in one week at Jazz Museum in Harlem

I have had two inspirational days this week at the Jazz Museum in Harlem. On Monday, one of the great minds of our times,STANLEY CROUCH gave a talk about the special Talent of DUKE ELLINGTON ( part of the series "JAZZ FOR CURIOUS READERS") that became a springboard into a wide ranging discussion of the state of Jazz and how the Duke was the right person at the right time who caught the eye of IRVING MILLS who knew in Duke, he had an extremely marketable talent and proceeded to make DUKE the great phenom he turned out to be!.I so admire this great man of letters and have read several of his books which expose a man of true genius and unflintching dedication to the art of telling the truth, which of course, rattles the cage often in this lying world of ours. I also count him as one of my heros because he has a way with the English Language that keeps me begging for more every time I read anything from him or catch him on discussion shows like Charlie Rose. This man is totally Brilliant and I sat with a smile in my heart all evening accross from him just swimming in the aura of his genius. Watching him relay and share his experiences was something special for me in that I could experience how his human gestures and thought process filtered into the air. I always wondered how some great minds actually convey their thoughts in the spirit of the "Live" moment as opposed to crafting their sentences carefully at the paper level and I can say that Stanley is as precise in live discussion as he is on the crafted printed page. At times rolling his closed eyes in thought to make sure that his thoughts had just the right amount of pop and articulate swing. He tended to remind me of the last time I saw the great NORMAN MAILER in a broadcast with CHARLIE ROSE at the "Y". I was bowled over by the precison with which Norman Mailer spoke that evening. Charlie Rose had a special broadcast of that evening as a tribute to the just passed Mailer and there was not one wasted word uttered by Mr. Mailer. I used to walk and talk with Norman Mailer in my neighborhood over the decades as he walked to the grocery store. I would ask him about his current project and he would give me a bit of his thoughts on how it was going. In fact as I got more interested in the art of putting clear thoughts on paper myself, I picked up a copy of the book Mr.Mailer wrote on writing! One of my desires is to take the time to go through that whole book myself this month to improve my own skills since it looks like I will have some bed time to eat up during my hospital stay. Anyway, that Mailer annecdote was meant to illustrate my admiration of how STANLEY CROUCH also commands the English language to supreme articulation and surgeon like thought clarity akin to Norman Mailer and how much I admire such Genius.I was so proud to have picked my butt up to go to Stanley's talk Monday night.I was a little late arriving at the tail end of his reading of the essay he wrote on Duke Ellington, but I was there for the main meat of the evening and that was absolutely brilliant in every way!!! Thank you STANLEY!!!!

Last night,I was honored to have attended the "HARLEM SPEAKS" series enjoying an interview with one of my main teachers, the totally awesome Jazz Legend- PAT MARTINO. I traveled to Pat's home for lessons in the 70's and even had dinner with he and his wife after lessons. It was a time of reaching for the sky for me as I could leave work at 3:30 for a 4:10 train to arrive at my 5:10 or so lesson and I remember how clear things would be to me at the lesson but on the way back on the train, I would review the material and just get lost trying to recover what I had just learned! I still have my hand written lessons for that period. Over the decades, we have remained in contact with each other and I bought just about every bit of teaching material Pat has produced in book form and Video.A couple of years ago, The Guitar Center on 14th street in Manhatten,sponsored a PAT MARTINO workshop that was a "KILLER"! I was stunned in that he had a gig at BRIDLAND that same night yet he had the desire to share his great knowledge with us. At that time I was taking a semester of Jazz Guitar Impovisation with the great Ron Ben-Hur at the Lucy Moses School and bumped into a classmate at the workshop! Over the decades, when Pat was in town for a gig, I would usually be there to hang and talk with him.He has always been so kind and gentle with me and I will always keep this great love and affection I have for him in my heart.

As usual,last night I was seated front row right accross from him and our hearts once again met in our strong love for each other. Pat is a very important person in my life not only as a student/teacher relationship but as two affectionate human beings. He pulled me through a difficult period in 2000/2001 when I was in the hospital due to diabetic complications. His "7 Sketches" cd took me out of a great depression as the doctors could not find the source of my illness no matter how many tests they did. This cd was also a source of healing for him as he recovered from brain surgery and memory loss by composing these sketches on computer.I remember how deeply the music went into my soul as I lay in that hospital bed in the deepest bowels of depression and how he and my dear sweet wife helped me climb out of that terribly nasty hole of woe! I remember how stunned I was at how his compositions nutured me and took that "I don't want to live" feeling away from me because I was there saying to myself - "PAT YOU KNOW! YOU KNOW!".One outstanding ability Pat Martino has is to cleary see how the whole human experience is connected and how we must learn to live in the moment and be able to control only what we can and don't waste time worrying about that which is out of our hands. This 2 hour interview was so deep and moving for me because I again must travel to a hospital, this time to be sliced and diced and I don't look forward to it. Coupled with last night's interview of PATRICK SWAYZE by Barbara Walters, my mental state is on the mend as I type this blog at 1:48 in the morning. I would suggest you check out Pat's fantastic website for Guitar meat to chew on! It is FANTASTIC! www.patmartino.com. Pat will be in town next week for a few days ( Jan 14th - 17th ) at BIRDLAND and I suggest you break your necks to get there one of the evenings as this is a man who continues to shine both as an incredible GENIUS of the GUITAR and warm and sensitive human being. Anyone who has met Pat Loves him! Look how much he gives on his website! I am so fortunate to have such a special human being and supremely creative artist as a friend of mine.It is an honor to know you my dear and worthwhile friend! Thank you PAT!!!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Welcome to 2009

Hope that this year is a positive one and hope I get my act together. I can't believe that 2009 is here so soon and in a few months will be celebrating my 59th birthday!I'm looking forward to another great year with my delicious guitar in my lap as I continue to earn my living playing this great instrument. I will be spilling my guts about this and that hoping to make learning this great instrument a joy and ease for you by seeing things through the various lessons I take and books I read. It is all connected.

Anyway hope you all get something positive from my blog. I will try to post at least one blog a day. Let us see how far I can go and hope that those of you who know me will drop by and tell your friends about me.

Don Witter,Jr.
www.donsguitarsite.com