Happy 2013 - This and That !

Happy 2013 folks! I needed a rest from posting because I am just trying to look to the future. I hug all of you who know me around the Classical/Jazz Guitar world and hope you are all doing well. I just sent an e-mail to the great young Guitarist GOHAR VARDANYAN after receiving an e-mail from her. As my 1st post for the new year other than this "HAPPY 2013", I will be reviewing the new CD of GOHAR VARDANYAN   "PAISAJES" for you. She passed through Penn Station here in New York during one of my Sunday Morning gigs soon after we met at ANA VIDOVICs Concert sponsored by the New York Classical Guitar Society. I have had quite a jammed packed life doing my thing! I was at the New York GFA Symposium and several other concerts. In fact as I write this post, I am gearing up for a Duo Guitar Concert by two excellent Colleagues ARYEH ELLER and MICHAEL CEDRIC SMITH. We have off an on drizzle but that won't stop the DONNIE GUITAR CRAZE from happening. As soon as I get back tonight, I will share my concert experience with you! They are both magnificent artists. The Concert will be at  St. Stephens of Hungary Church beginning at 7:30 .- 414 East 82nd Street (between 1st and York Avenue)
Admission is $15 and children are free! The just performed a couple of months ago at the New York City Guitar Society Meeting and were great! I missed the last society meeting where I scheduled to play with other members but had a paying gig for 3 hours just before the start of the meeting so I may missed them.

ANYWAY! ( My dear friend ROLAND DYENS GFA competition piece will be performed by Martha Masters in April at the International Guitar Series sponsored by the New York City Classical Guitar Society April 5th ) - I am hoping to get my blog act together this year. I can't be spending too much time online since I am gigging just about every day for several hours and I am preparing to attend the GFA this year and yet have to figure if I want to give it a try! My thoughts are to be the oldest winner of the competition by that may only be a "Mind Game" for me. I know of the competition piece but I will be there anyway to bow down to two of my favorite SUPERSTARS = Eliot Fisk  and that super guitar monster from ITALY = Aniello Desiderio!! You have got to check out Aniello s You Tube VIDEOS!!!! What and amazing Artist. Of course I have followed Eliot since 1975 at the Toronto International Competition! Eliot will slam you silly with his over the top impression of a :GUITAR VOLCANO! Eliot is one of a kind! If you want to scare yourself silly, just buy and listen to his performance of the Paganini  Caprices and turn up the volume!!! W H E W !!! T H A T IS A TRUE GUITAR MONSTER!@!!!@!

I will be turning 63 in April and still am crazy about the guitar! Since my QUADRUPLE  bypass operation a couple of years ago, I started performing only 2 months after surgery. This year marks my 17th year as a member of MUSIC UNDER NEW YORK, and am so proud of my longevity as I bring the Classical and Jazz Solo Guitar to every day people around New York. Sometimes I play two gigs a day with just a little rest in between.This year as I get ready for a GFA VISIT in July, I am stepping hard on the GAS peddle to cement my best playing. My playing continues to grow and I am still enjoying every little note and technique I learn. I look at the Guitar as a "LAP PIANO" and play it as such!

Well I have gotta get my concert ears ready. I feels so good to get my butt in gear with this post. I am devoting a huge portion of my posts this year to all the great young artists out there who need to be recognized - especially the woman! Speak to you all tonight after the concert!! Hope I didn't make too many grammatical errors as my mind is racing like crazy with great enthusiasm!

Hurricane Sandy and Me

It is Monday and we are opening our arms to hurricane SANDY at this time of 6:46pm. I mean,with my dear wife being pounded on the TV with weather updates, I decided that I would try to catch up on my ton of posts while we still have electricity here. I am supposed to perform a special Halloween performance concert in two days but that looks like that may not happen thanks to this gift of mother nature. Just think of those situations in which you have concerts scheduled after meticulously planning months in advance and then the last draw is forced on you by something out of your control! Such is life! As I sit here next to the window listening to the whirlwind blowing, it is a little scary but it will happen no matter what so the question is what to do to calm me down so here I am.

My young charge CELIL just competed in the CONCERT ARTISTS COMPETITION a week ago but unfortunately did not make the cut in spite of his superlative performance. There was a kid that gave an incredible performance of theme and variations by LISZT that just KILLED US !!!! It was as though LISZT himself cam down and performed for us!! More on that when I write the report but since it was opened to the public I was there bright and ready at 8:45 am. CELIL would perform around noon.I had to see what he was up against and it was a day of so many excellent performances.

I attended the Upstate New York Classical Guitar Society Fall Festival in Oneonta, New York at the State University and what a treat to have my dear colleague and masterful musician DAVID STAROBIN headline the Festival! What a treat and I had a ball performing in the Members Concert Saturday.I was smart enough to get lodging on campus and must state that my accommodations were top notch and the kids were so gracious in anything I needed! THANK YOU SUNY!!!  More in my report.

My dear buddy and Master quadruple talent ( Virtuoso Guitarist, Composer, Teacher, superb human being ) DAVID LEISNER opened the International Guitar Series sponsored by the New York Classical Guitar Society and gave us his usual  superlative performance and patted our Society President on the back from the stage for bringing the Classical Guitar Society to new Heights over his tenure! I second the motion! JOHN OLSEN has worked hard to gain further respect for our great Instrument here in the BIG APPLE in spite of this economy! I go way back with DAVID LEISNER and will detail that in my review of his great concert.

This past Saturday, I had a chance to attend a gig by one of my great teachers - RICK STONE - Virtuoso Jazz Guitarist in a great small venue in Greenwich Village and will report on that great gig! Check out Rick on  You Tube and you will taste one of the great unsung masters of the Jazz Guitar. You can also check out his website that has a treasure trove of lessons and info on the Great Vibrant New York Jazz Guitar scene!

It is 7:18 and that wind is picking up steam but I will try to get more little tidbits in! My wife just rang the dinner bell so I will get back to ya after dinner!

Donnie Guitar

CELIL RAFIK KAYA - front and center at Merkin Hall

I must shout to the highest the appearance of that young Turkish Virtuoso Guitarist CELIL RAFIK KAYA this Wednesday at Merkin Concert  Hall ( 129 West 67th street ). He will be competing at the CONCERT ARTIST GUILD COMPETITION and is scheduled to play a 20 minute set at noon! The admission for this is F R E E !!!! The competition is from 9 am  to 5 pm and involves all types of instrumentalist, so if you love music, come by and witness one of the great young Classical Guitar stars of our era! I have spoken about CELIL many times because he is so great for such a young artist. He is a child prodigy who has continually matured into a really great artist and he is a C O M P E T I T I O N  ANIMAL!!!!! He loves to compete and win but he deserves to win because he has it all together!!! You know, the level of the kids performing today is really "OUT OF THIS WORLD FANTASTIC". I am so proud of these young men and woman who make our instrument smile! In my opinion, we are living in GUITAR HEAVEN. I just came back from a weekend in ONEONTA, New York for the annual FALL GUITAR FESTIVAL sponsored by the Classical Guitar Society of Upstate New York and what a treasure trove of great performances and interesting compositions. It is worth the 5 hour bus ride once a year. Look for my report on this great event! I am sure that around the world there are pockets of deep love for our great instrument and in the Upstate New York area, so many nice and loving people have continually worked tirelessly  to promote our great instrument and I must and will reserve a separate post for them this week! I am still beaming from this weekend guitar party.

Getting back to the main focus of this blog, YOU MUST SEE AND HEAR CELIL RAFIK KAYA!!!! The kids today are at the highest level of Guitar mastery in history and there are so many of them. Every time you turn around, you find another whiz kid kicking serious guitar butt!!! I am so happy to be able to shout out on this blog about so many people you should know about in the Guitar world. In particular I hope to be a valid sounding post for all these great young masters as I bump into them  so please get to Merkin Hall this Wednesday October 17 to witness Classical Guitar greatness in our mist! CELIL RAFIK-KAYA MUST NOT BE MISSED.I do surely hope that CELIL wins because I get tired and pissed at all of the other instrumentalists who try to look down their noses on our great instrument. It is just plain ignorance out there so we continually have to cope with that fact and SHOW THEM THEY ARE WRONG!!!

Look for my coverage of the Upstate New York Fall Guitar Festival bit by bit.I can't promise you that I can get a blog up every day, but I will try because on the way back, I listed 12 topics this weekend yielded and really want to pass them along to you who love the Guitar and its' many jewels! Hope this post makes sense as I am still a little sleepy from the weekend of pure Guitar Joy!

Crazy Guitar Donnie

SO MUCH TO REPORT- SO LITTLE TIME

I am swamped with so much going on in the great New York City. I have fingers all over the musical pies. I expect to be in Oneonta Upstate New York this weekend for a Guitar Festival and in a couple of weeks, Woodstock has a two day Luthier Festival I hope to attend and just recently I attend and played at a Brazilian Guitar Workshop which I want to report on. As a member of the New York City Classical Guitar Society , We had a chance to experience the Genius of Luthier GARRETT LEE give a totally lucid demonstration on how the Guitar Works. I had to pass up performances by some of my teachers: PAT MARTINO at the IRIDIUM, RONI BEN HUR CD release, BUCKY PIZZARELLI  and HOWARD ALDEN! Just too much happening !! Of course I am terrible in keeping the blood flowing in this blog. At the recent Guitar Society meeting ( every 1st Thursday of the Month) I met an excellent Guitarist who years ago I promised to write up a review of his CD and somehow I didn't. This was something typical because a day or two before the meeting, I as looking at some of my Cd's and looked directly at his in one stack and I mentioned to him that I wondered how he was and lo and behold there he shows up at the meeting! I can only say to those of you I owe, I am still trying to deliver on my promises! I wish I could be more than one person because I have so much to offer before I leave this world of ours. In between trying to report on our great instrument, I am continually honing my guitar technique and styles. I am trying to make a study of the BACH Chacconne , learn Jazz Standards and Techniques, work on some Latin American Composers and so many other things besides playing in public at least 5 days a week in the MUSIC UNDER NEW YORK program of the New York City Transit Authority. I owe my dear Brazilian Brother MARIO DA SILVA pictures I took of Him during the MANNES GUITAR SEMINAR this past Summer, I owe the brilliant German Virtuoso PIA GAZAREK-OFFERMANN more promo online. CONNIE SHEU and RUPERT BOYD are also on my " TO DO " list. I owe my dear ENGLISH Brother MAURICE SUMMERFIELD ( Classical Guitar Magazine) a write up on the great Brazilian Virtuoso and colleague ROMERO LUBAMBO ( way,way overdue ). The list is daunting to say the least! I have started compiling a list next to this computer and will try my best to get it scratched off. I want to end this post by publicly thanking my dear sweet wife for saving my life over a year ago when I had my quadruple bypass operation ( MARCH 22nd 2011 ). Her dedication to my recovery was awe inspiring .She did not let me give up especially during the most severe bouts of depression. Here I was a super energetic and bold person being stripped of my bold self. Learning to walk just down a flight of stairs or around the block was so humbling and embarrassing. I have been so fortunate to have married such a special person who continues to do great things for me. I continue to tell her I don't deserve her. THANK YOU HONEY!!!  May you all be so lucky to have such a special person to share your life! Hope to post some more today and this week. Gotta get that early morning workout in !

Celil Refik - Kaya At Mannes College Tonight

It is 3:40 am  Tuesday Morning and I am watching that super Funny Stand up comedian Lisa Lampanelli spew her funny digs at the audience and something said to check my messages so I got out my IPhone and lo and behold, I get an e-mail from the great Guitar Duo Michael Newman and Laura Oltman posted at 1:35 am that tonight at THE  MANNES COLLEGE OF MUSIC ( 150 West 85th Street ), the great young phenomenally gifted CELIL REFIK-KAYA will be giving his Master of Music Graduation Recital at 8pm. It is now 5:25 am and I had to jump on this blog and shout to the highest level that you MUST ATTEND GREATNESS!!!!! The concert is free and you will get a chance to witness one of the finest Musicians of our time!!! He is a child prodigy who has grown up to dazzle and amaze all who are smart enough to attend his performances. He has it all - Musicianship,Technique, easy platform manner and sweet disposition! This kid is truly an outstanding young artist who kicks serious Guitar BUTT!!! There are several You Tube videos available so you can see that I know my guitar gems and I love this kid dearly. He has made Michael Newman, his main teacher at Mannes so, so proud! I am super happy to be associated with this great young man as he continues to compete in the Major Classical Guitar Competitions around the world and wins just about every single one he competes in. He is also an excellent example of putting in the necessary work to achieve your objectives! Any one of you who think he is an overnight sensation is dead wrong. This great young man has busted his ass from early childhood. I get really pissed at those young kids who think it is so easy to achieve. There are no magic pills in life! You have to pay the price of  W O R K  to get to the mountain top! Whatever you want to achieve, you have to put the time in. Too many kids look for short cuts and magic potions. They don't want to work.Anyway that is enough from me on that. I am just so tickled to be able to post this shout out to my young and dear friend. Everywhere he goes, he continues to cement the word "GREATNESS" to his name. His interpretations, in particular are an admirable achievement in themselves. It is so nice to not have to contend with yet another "FINGER WIZ MACHINE" who knows nothing about making music sing and touch the soul. CELIL will make you love the majesty of the Classical Guitar as he will envelop you in a world of beautifully defined sounds that only our great instrument can pronounce. We are so lucky to have this young master represent our instrument. I will be coming from a three hour gig right before showing up for this delicious treat and he will show me why I play this instrument.
I hope to see a  good crowd there tonight. Hope you can attend folks because he is really someone out of the ordinary! SEE YA ~!!!

JULIA CROWE and MY FIRST GUITAR

Yesterday, I was out looking for a specific Jazz Standards paperback Book at Barnes and Noble and saw a book right up my alley by a colleague and friend JULIA CROWE!!! The book is "MY FIRST GUITAR" and it is another great job by this special Guitarist/Author. You have seen the name of JULIA CROWE in many Guitar Magazines as she is one of the finest writers in the Guitar Reporting field. She writes an excellent monthly column in the English Publication "CLASSICAL GUITAR MAGAZINE" entitled "LETTER FROM NEW YORK". I don't know how she finds the time for all her duties but she surely does an excellent job no matter what she is involved in. This is just a "Get your attention" post as I am trying to deliver all the posts I had promised in my past posts. Just heard from my young virtuoso RUPERT BOYD who is back from an outrageous tour and looking for my promised review of his brilliant concert here in New York a couple of months ago.I just am swamped with a ton of stuff to pass on to you and just popping that extra vitamin "C" and "E" to get my 62 year young body in Posting Mode. Just wanted to pop this out to you all as I pull in my reins to share some great moments. This weekend, I will be taking a Brazilian Guitar Workshop with New York Guitarist Billy Newman and Brazilian Guitarist ROGERIO SOUZA.Hope to be blogging that sometime Sunday or Monday ( my usual gig day off ). A Donnie Shout out goes to my dear colleague "across the pond" FORBES HENDERSON. He and I have hooked up in my quest to seriously consider the greatness of the Bach Chacconne! I would hope to add to the literature on the various concepts of this thoroughly deep work. After checking out the wonderful interpretive ideas shared by Forbes in his transcription posted on you tube,MAN OH MAN! I was blown away by how deep FORBES went into the soul of BACH with his transcription so here I am trying to catch some time to move forward with this project. I also am getting a new 6 movement Suite under my belt that must be ready by the beginning of next month, so I have to eat my WHEATIES!! Forbes was also kind enough to give me some hints about other sources of ideas that propelled him in his transcription so I have to check them out. I also borrowed a book years ago completely discussing various interpretations of famous Violinists on the Chacconne and the treasure trove of info on the web will bury my butt if I let it!! Gotta stay focused like a laser! Well again I am up past my bedtime as I have been checking the web for info about my teacher on Saturday and looking at pertinent videos having to do with our master class topics. I am dead tired but must push on and get this completed. See you at next post.

CONNIE SHEU - WHAT A GREAT TALENT!

I have known the great artist CONNIE SHEU for at least a decade and she has never failed to perform at the highest level of artistry over that time.Tonight will be her second appearance this week in New York as she will give a lecture on the Life and Work of Female Guitarist and composer Emilia Guiliani ( The daughter of Mauro Guiliani ).After I attend tonight's lecture, I will review her concert given two days ago to open the new "SALON CONCERT SERIES" by the New York City Classical Guitar Society in a wonderful Guitar Friendly Concert hall. Let me just say that anyone in the New York City Concert area should check with the New York Classical Guitar Society this year because there are some great young kids out there that will make you love the guitar even more and I will do my best to cover all I can. For now I'm just going to taste Connies' You Tube Videos to re visit this awesome artist and let me say that she is also a sweet and gorgeous woman whose Concert Platform presence is full of elegance and she plays so effortlessly with absolutely beautiful tone and jumps around the fingerboard like a Olympic Gold Medalist! Mark my words! If you see her name in your area, jump and attend a slice of gourmet musical treats. Connie has it all together!!!