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November CLASSICAL GUITAR MAGAZINE

Just received my "PAGES OF GUITAR JOY" the November issue of Classical Guitar Magazine and you see the smiling face of SHARON ISBIN as the review of her new CD is covered by LAWRENCE DEL CASALE on pages 11 thru 16. Superb "LETTER FROM NEW YORK" Chronicler's JULIA CROWE, returns to the pages with her report on the MANNES GUITAR SEMINAR which I attended as a full participant this year and will be reporting my personal spin on here in this blog. Julias' report is on pages 52 to 54 and is her usual excellent coverage of this great festival.I think there is a very interesting writeup by THERESE WASSILY SABA on pages 22 thru 29 on WALTER AARON CLARKE, the Biographer of ALBENIZ and GRANADOS.Let me tell you that Classical Guitar Magazine does a great service to our instrument each and every month! There is a MASTERS DEGREE of information contained in these pages every month.I must also point to a most worthwhile series by Guitarist NEIL SMITH "PROGRESSIVE PROGRESSIONS" which is up to entry #13 this month of Novemeber 2011. It deals with the nuts and bolts of music construction and is in itself so powerfull a tool for grasping many aspects of music thery and function. I will be posting some thoughts on this excellent series by Neil hopefully in November because there is so much meat on these bones.I have to share it with you! THAT MAURICE SUMMERFIELD IS A GREAT ONE TO CONSISTENTLY PUBLISH THIS GREAT MAGAZINE!THANKS MAURICE.

GOHAR VARDANYAN IN CLASSICAL GUITAR MAGAZINE

As I mentioned in my October 18th post,GOHAR VARDANYAN deserves to be better known and my trip to the mailbox backs up my statements of that post. I just received my monthly joyful pages of CLASSICAL GUITAR MAGAZINE, and after seeing the smiling face of the QUEEN OF PUBLICITY-SHARON ISBIN, in the top left corner is the name of this great young artist. I sat down with a cup of coffee at the local McDonalds to check out installment 19 of the "Making a Living as a Classical Guitarist" series by LAWRENCE DEL CASALE on pages 32/33. He opens up that he was directed to one of her You Tube videos (of which there are several!). For me,there should have been more about this fabulous artist although the aims of this series is to keep it short and pointed. Anyway, I suggest you download all of her You Tube Videos and just enjoy one of the greats of our current or any crop of Classical Guitar Greats.man oh MAN YOU WILL BE ASTONISHED BY THIS ARTIST! I also direct you to check the MEL BAY GUITARSESSIONS for the many fine articles she has authored on vsarious aspects of Guitar Technique and Musicianship over the last few years. ENJOY the DONNIE TIP!

You Tube is A treasure trove!!!!

I just need to sing the praises of You Tube! There is so much there to feast on! Lessons and Master Classes Galore! There is a wonderful video of JULIAN BREAM and STEPHAN GRAPELLI Playing "NUAGES"! For those of you who don't know it, Bream cut his Guitar teeh on the music of Django Reinhart through his first lessons with his father and Breams favorite companion dog is named "DJANGO". I miss Julians' fantastic playing. On the guitar mailing list which I used to be a member of, I mentioned that Breams' great interpretations lent some to his expertise in Jazz Guitar Playing and someone responded that I was "Full of it". I then told that person to check out that great documentary on Breams life where Bream proudly states that he owes his ability to keep his interpretations fresh because of his Jazz Background! Well, as you know in the Internet world, anyone can spread lies about you and people will believe it. Well I did not mean to get off point. Just thought that I would mention the fact that You Tube has an endless amount of lessons for every type of Guitar you may want to study! I am 61 and still learning tons of stuff from all musical Genres! At this time I am devoting my studies to Chet Atkins,Jerry Reed,Buster B.Jones and Muriel Anderson with some Tommy Emmanuel thrown in! I have always told anyone who would listen that you can augment your Classical Playing by studying other guitar styles! I still believe in this and am proof of the pudding!So jump on You Tube and learn something new today!!!

Check out the current issue of FRETBOARD JOURNAL! It has a great writeup of the fantastic JOHN PIZZARELLI, MURIEL ANDERSON and CHARLIE HUNTER! The overview of Johns' career is excellent! I grew up with Bucky Pizzarelli on the New York Guitar scene when he was in duo with the great GEORGE BARNES. There was the DAVID FROST Interview show that had the duo perform weekly and eventually Bucky had his soon JOHN join him around gigs and I caught them often. JOHN and I (with my dear friend GENE BERTONCINI) share the same birth date APRIL 6th!! Again I say go to YOU TUBE for some great lessons from John and watch his legendary father Bucky burn up the frets! Another fantastic Jazz Artist who lives here in New York is HOWARD ALDEN! Howard is a walking encyclopedia of the Great American Songbook and JAZZ STANDARDS! ON You Tube, he plays with several great artists and you can also get several tastes of his excellent teaching. You should also check out a few of my great teachers on YouTube for both performances and lessons: RICK STONE,JOE DIORIO,PAT MARTINO,RONI BEN HUR,JIM HALL,ROMERO LUBAMBO.I can go on and on about you tube and will in future posts as I am collecting a list of all the people I spend time checking out for hours.I will share names with you which I believe will make your playing hum with greatness. The only hold back will be your inability to spend the time needed to secure that playing prize! You have got to put the time in to achieve the goals you want! There is NO MAGIC PILL!!!!! Also, Don't cry that you don't have time! Concentrate on one topic for ten or so minutes! BUILD THOSE BLOCKS OF KNOWLEDGE! TAKE BITE SIZE CHUNKS AND SWALLOW SLOWLY!!! Have fun with our great instrument! Enjoy the Journey! Speak to you soon!

WOLFGANG LENDLE ON YOU TUBE

You must make it a point to check out the excellent You Tube Videos of the Fantastic German Virtuoso WOLFGANG LENDLE!!!!! I heard and saw him here in New York for a couple of concerts over 15 years ago and still remember how fantastic he playing was! At that time he was using a superb ROBERT RUCK Classical that was out of this world outragiously fine!! On the current You Tube Videos, I believe he his using a FLETA, which sounds exactly like his RUCK! He is one of our greatest players and it is a shame not enough people know of his greatness! His technique and Musicianship is lawless! Check out those YOU TUBE VIDEOS! Your heads will snap back and his fantastic note articulation and outstanding musicianship! GO WOLFGANG!!!!!!

stunning concert by Celil Rafik Kaya at Mannes - Part One

Last night, I committed myself to traveling with all my gear after performing at the Staten Island Ferry for 3 1/2 hours and it proved to be a most wise investment in time and attention because I attended a concert at Mannes College of Music by one of the finest young interpreters of music on the Classical Guitar in History - CELIL RAFIK KAYA! This stunning artist grabbed me from the first note! His instrument was magnificent and all evening it expressed exactly what he requested of it! A cedar topped wonder that had me in that front seat center swimming in such an array of magical sounds! This concert was my first step back into my usual concert hopping reporting and as usual, I came from a gig to catch magic on the concert floor! Below I have a transcript from a concert this young genius did In 2009 and as you see, this man doesn't fool around when he comes to play!

Program:
J.S. Bach Prelude, Fugue, Allegro
F. Sor Grand Solo
A. B. Mangore La Catedral (lento,andante religioso,allegro)
Aire de Zamba (from süite andina)
El Ultimo Tremolo (Una Limosnita por Amor de Dios)

Ara

D. Aguado Rondo
M.C. Tedesco Tarantella
Sonate Hommage a Boccherini
(vivo ed energico)
J. Morel Danza Brasilera
A. Lauro Angostura
El Marabino
Seis Por Derecho
M. Theodorakis Epitafios 3 (one day in May)
Epitafios 4 (you have set, my star)
Epitafios 5 (you were standing in front of the window)

Last night's concert was a kind of "Cd Release Party" because it was a duplicate of his recent CD release and it was stunning from beginning to end.What also made this concert so close to my heart was I have worked on all of these pieces a few decades ago and knew all but one waltz by Delirmando Reis (I have the music).I am foaming at the mouth as I relive the great moments of last night's festivities in my mind. This post is just a teaser for you because this great young artist deserves my best foot forward as I try to fully convey just how important the arrival of this young master is for our cherished instrument. The cream of the young Classical Guitarists from Mannes was in attendance to support their colleague in spite of a day and evening full of rain.When I realized that this young kid was playing after my money making gig and knowing how people tend to miss great moments like this because of weather conditions, I decided that I needed to support this kid and follow up my support with the DONNIE SUPPORT SYSTEM=my thoughts as a player and artist myself so here is part one of a two part tribute to a magnificent young artist!

And so I beg forgiveness!

Life is having a field day with my spirit as I try to get back to some normal frame of living. I have been giving concerts in the Library System here in New York and doing my daily gigs around the City as part of Music Under New York but I have not been attending any concerts nor writing any reviews. Two woefully neglected interviews/reviews is of Pia Gazarek Offermann and Romero Lubambo.I just wanted those of you who check my blog to keep these great artists in front of your minds as they are top notch greats of our instrument and you should rush to catch their performances. So far Pia is not on youtube but I hope that will be rectified soon. Romero has several posts on youtube so you can jump on the site and swim in his great artistry.Put a search in to find out about Pia Gazarek-Offermann as you will find only positive statements about this great artist. Her visit to us here in New York in April was a total triumph as far as snapping heads back and grabbing positive attention for her poetic artistry.I yet have to give her the backing that she deserves and to her dismay,I have been "missing in action". Here I am up at 5:40 and spilling my guts out to you and I have a 4 hour gig in a couple of hours!I'm trying to climb out of a terrible rut and get back to reporting about the Guitar scene here and there and I hope my friends and colleagues can send some positive thoughts my way.I used to be the most optimistic person around but life has been kicking my butt good over the last couple of years and I must say that the thing that keeps me going is the great love my wife gives me and my love of playing this instrument.

Fantastic GOHAR VARDANYAN on YOUTUBE

Have another great young mind blowing artist to rave about! I met GOHAR VARDANYAN several years ago at LUTHIER MUSIC CORP ( 341 West 44th Street ) when she stopped by the store with her father in order to select a concert guitar. I was checking out the music and from the first notes I hear her play, I loved her Strong round tone and complete mastery of the music and fingerboard W O W !!!!! She played several pieces all with extreme musicality and technical ease! I finally took the time to introduce myself to her and her father and complemented her on her great artistry. I took her name down in one of my pads and vowed to myself to keep an eye out for her. Over the last few years, I saw that great name on some excellent articles detailing several aspects of Classical Guitar technique on the monthly MEL BAY SESSIONS! Got her email and heavily complemented her on her great articles and asked her if she remembered me from the Luthier Music meeting and she did! The last couple of days had me checking out YOUTUBE and her great and A W E S O M E videos! This Woman is even more incredible as the years have honed an already great artist into the S C A R Y category! Her beautiful tone and superlative execution is a great joy to behold and she must be experienced by all who love our great instrument. Please do yourself a great favor and go to YOUTUBE and experience what a supreme virtuoso Artist is! As always, I only hook you up to the best of the best. Sorry I've been out of sight due to heavy work being done on our apartment ( which is still in progress ), but I am so happy that there is such a wealth of great artistry on youtube. It is the new age of self promotion and I will be uploading some of my own playing this winter and hope you will enjoy it. But make sure you check out GOHAR VARDANYAN!!!!!