Forbes Henderson and The Bach Chaconne -Part 1

As I am about to spend the next couple of months concentrating on the available works of J.S.BACH in arrangement or transcription for Guitar,I decided to work on the Bach Chaconne so hopped on to youtube to dig into the best interpretations of this masterwork and happily stumbled on to the arrangement by my English colleague FORBES HENDERSON and it opened up a vast field of possibilities for me. I have been on the scene here in New York since my 1st Guitar plucking days in 1957 and over the decades I have heard the finest instrumentalists play this deeply moving work and I must state that this version by Forbes Henderson digs new ground in the Chaconne's interpretation.I was floored by the depth of sensitivity given to the variations.I immediately submitted my comment on his performance online and was happy to have him almost immediately send me an e-mail thanking me for my comments. Not only was ideas in certain variations thought provoking his magnificent SIMON AMBRIDGE guitar was very,very impressive in character.I informed Forbes that I would be extending my reaction to his excellent performance in my blogg and here is the 1st part of it.As I am writing this post, I had his performance in the background and am now listening to Heifetz teach it in his masterclass. I have a book of essays on various artists explaining their approach to playing this deep piece. I am working also with the Abel Carlevarro Masterclass Book on the Chaconne. W H E W ! I know I may be too wildly getting into this but it has been a rush for me to use all of these various learning techniques. Anyway, I heartily pat my dear colleague FORBES HENDERSON on the back for opening my ears a little wider to the beauty in the music of the great one and for playing so beautifully on an outstanding instrument. When you check out Forbes' youtube performance,it will be in two installments.Also as a side note, there is a video on youtube of SIMON AMBRIDGE building one of his instruments which may interest you.I am always so darn happy to see names pop back into view that I have known from decades ago and Forbes Henderson was a young performing titan in the 70s/80s and I know in my record collection, there is a recording somewhere.I also believe you can check out a young Forbes Henderson in the series of masterclasses conducted by JULIAN BREAM in the 70/s. That time frame had quite a number of great young players on the English Guitar Scene and I will post that info as I verify my info so you too can mind the gold that is the You Tube Magic.There will be a part two of this post because I want to see if I can buy a copy of Forbes version. Again my deep thanks to Forbes for his kindness in letting me know his appreciation of my comments on his lovely performance!

CELIL REFIK KAYA _ YOUNG LEGEND

The young super virtuoso Classical Guitarist who just won 2nd place in the GFA Competition, CELIL REFIK KAYA, has got to be experienced by anyone who wants to be on the ground floor of witnessing a legend. A child prodigy in Turkey,he continues to astound everyone who hears and sees him! H E IS T O T A L L Y A W E S O M E !!!!!!!His interpretation and technical facility is absolutely mind boggling! At the recently concluded Mannes Guitar Seminar, he played the required set piece for the GFA competition early in the participants Sunday recital and then rushed off to get his plane for the GFA Competition! I dearly love this great young legend and if you jump on youtube, you will see that he has been a Guitar Monster since childhood appearing many times on Turkish Television. He has been a student of MICHAEL NEWMAN at The MANNES COLLEGE of MUSIC ( Where he just completed his undergraduate degree) and he will be going on to the MANHATTAN SCHOOL of MUSIC for his Doctorate. If you have a head on your shoulders remember this name! We are in the audience of one of the greatest musicians in Musical History. The fact that he plays our beloved instrument should make us all so very,very proud! I will be updating you on my dear fantastic friend asap.Let me give that name and website to you once more : CELIL REFIK KAYA I also must mention that he is a COMPETITION ANIMAL having competed in an astounding amount of competitions since childhood! I was surprised when I saw that he was only rewarded with 2nd place at the GFA! This young man is HERCULEAN in ARTISTRY and should receive 1ST place in anything he enters HE IS THAT GREAT!!!!! Congratulations my dear young MAESTRO!!! MAY you continue to grow!

EMMANUEL LABOR DVD

I recently posted comments on the Great Austrailian Guitarist TOMMY EMMANUEL and yesterday picked up a DVD "EMMANUEL LABOR" on which he teaches you pieces from his three major CDS!This great artist is so enthusiastic about playing and sharing his techniques! This Mel Bay Video is a "MUST HAVE" if you want to build super chops. I rushed home,put the video in with guitar in hand and began the 1st few lessons. W H E W . W H A T A R U S H !!!! Tommy stresses that you have got to work hard to play well and I am so happy that he consistently tells you this throughout the lessons. This one on one with this great virtuoso is precious! There is no pdf files to mess around with. It is as thought you were in his house directly taking lessons with him in a very casual manner. I love this video and if you want to hone some serious Guitar chops, this is your video. I also would direct you to YOUTUBE to find a TON of his videos. His Beatles Medley and Chet Atkins Medley are mind blowing examples of his great craft. What I particularly enjoy about him is his constant joy of performing! He has a lot of fun and transmits that joy with every note he plays! Jump on the knowledge band wagon and learn from perhaps the greatest all around guitarist of our time : TOMMY EMMANUEL .

Rupert Boyd in Concert

One of my favorite young Guitar Virtuosos will be performing tonight at the Greenwich House School of Music at 46 Barrow street in Greenwich Village at 7pm. His name is RUPERT BOYD and he is G R E A T !!! For $15 Dollars/ $10 for Students/Seniors, he will floor you with his incredible Musicality and Mastery. I have followed him for several years and he is just top notch. He is Australian living here in New York and I would advise you to check out both YOUTUBE and his Website,rupertboyd.com to bone up on this great talent. I will be coming straight from a gig myself at the Staten Island Ferry so will have my rig with me but I can't miss a chance to experience this young pro do his thing! Hope you will join me as the ticket price includes WINE and CHEESE! W O W ! What a bargain. Be there or be square! See you later and I will be reviewing this super kid display all his guitar charm!

Jason Vieaux at The Mannes Guitar Seminar part # 11

One of our finest talents in the World of the Classical Guitar is JASON VIEAUX and I just came back from another brilliant performance from this totally Fantastic musician at The Mannes 12th Guitar Seminar!! Jason has technique to burn and a particularly deep well of musicianship which keeps him at the top of our field. Tonights' concert was ,from end to end a magnificent display of the highest caliber of musicianship.With an outstanding instrument to ply his trade, Jason showed us what supreme music making was all about.Opening the program with the Grand Overture by Italian composer Mauro Giuliani,we were immediately struck by the flawless phrasing and supreme attention to musical detail.The wonderful changes in tone color and the perfect tempo chosen puts us into the finest seat of music appreciation one could inhabit.Jasons' interpretational skill was always at the perfect service of the music.After a heavenly performance of the Guiliani,we were given a rare treat to hear the music of the greatest composer in history-J.S.Bach in a lute Suite that must have had Bach smiling in his grave because each minute detail of the music was deliciously brought to life by this interpretational genius! I was totally amazed by the manner in which Jason crafted each and every movement.If you go to you tube and check out the "BEHIND THE SCENES" 3 part video,you catch a glimpse at his thought process when he prepared his Bach Recording. His use of tone color and volume brought each and every dance movement to such clear realization. This young genius can do no wrong in my book and I have been around the block a few times and know the best of the best and I would shout to the highest heavens for those of you who get to see his name anywhere in the concert venues in your neck of the woods, JUMP AND CATCH this fantastic artist in concert.This post is just a teaser on Jasons' great concert and mystical powers because he deserves a book load of meaty praise. I must also take time to mention that his first Guitar teacher was on hand to hug his great student- JOEL PERRY.Joel had the pleasure of teaching the 8 year young future great for a year and it has been a shame that he has not been credited with that fact and I am here to correct that. Joel is a great artist in his own right and perhaps some of the Classical pundits try to ignore this fact because JOEL PERRY is known as a Jazz Guitarist.That is a crying shame.Even Bream received the seeds of his great interpretations through the world of Jazz and states that in the documentary on his life.It is so important for a child to have solid beginnings on which to base a successful future in whatever he/she wants to succeed in and JOEL PERRY gave Jason that solid base. I have more details about tonight's performance to enlighten you about in my next installment regarding Jason but will have to hold off and get some sleep as I am attending the Mannes Guitar Seminar and will be reporting on the weeks' Guitar fun. I have to leave the apartment early in order to play at an "open stage", so I had better get my 62 year young/old body into bed. Unlike my usual pad and pen in concert mode tonight, I just enjoyed the great pleasure of having the wonderful JASON VIEAUX show me what great musicianship is all about! H O O R A Y J A S O N!!!

TOMMY EMMANUEL - GOOD FOR YOU

I would implore anyone who loves great guitar masters to check out the Great Australian Virtuoso TOMMY EMMANUEL! Totally out of this world! He has so much torrid electricity and joy in his playing! He just drips with creativity! Jump on to YOUTUBE N O W! There are a ton of videos of his. What a clean and magnificent Artist! Hope I get a chance to see him in the New York area some time soon.

We need more FEMALE GUITAR COVERAGE and other tidbits!

I am one Male who believes that we need more coverage of the great Female Guitarists on the scene - especially those in the Classical Guitar world! I hope to fill some of this void in the coming years.After my quadruple bypass surgery last March 22nd,during recovery I thought about so many things including when I returned to decent health, what I want to spend the rest of my life doing and that coverage of the female Classical Guitarists was one. I want to shout out a few names - and this is not an all inclusive list - as a matter of fact ,I will hold off and get the list ready for you. i would feel terrible if I missed someone so check back with me. I find it a joy to be able to check up on the "YOUNG GUNS" of the Classical Guitar by attending performances at the Major Music Schools and Conservatories here in New York: The Mannes College of Music-The Manhattan School of Music and Julliard. I used to be in every crack and crevice of the Concert scene but now have to slow down just a bit but I suggest that you folks follow my lead by checking with the New York City Classical Guitar Society website and THE CLASSICAL GUITAR BLOG and others. I will round up a group of informational sites for you in a future post. I am not one to be a slave to this blog ( as you can tell) but know I will be a bit more jumping on as I am feeling better these days. I also must hug and thank SUE WALL and Classical/Flamenco Guitar Virtuoso DENNIS KOSTER for checking on me and my progress as I recovered last year from the open heart surgery! My dear colleague and long time buddy Virtuoso Scholar,Guitarist and Teacher JERRY WILLARD - who had a similar health problem in the past must also be HUGGED in public for checking in with me. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! WORDS CAN'T DO JUSTICE TO YOUR GREAT SUPPORT! In a separate state of grace I must thank my dear wife for saving my life by making sure that I never gave up during recovery! She made fabulous meals and made sure I took my Meds and did my walking.I have been so fortunate to have this great woman in my life and I continue to love her dearly. We have been together for almost 27 years and this year we will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary!!! W O W !!!!!!!!!. She doesn't like me to single her out but I must because she loved me enough to see that each and every day was the most positive it could be and she is always looking out for me even when I don't want her to. H E I D Y W I T T E R I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! THANK YOU FOR BEING IN MY LIFE!!!!! I must also thank MAURICE SUMMERFIELD for his great magazine CLASSICAL GUITAR.CLASSICAL GUITAR MAGAZINE published in England is the finest up to date magazine on the Classical Guitar in Publication and I have no idea how Maurice and his staff does it! When I get my monthly "Classical Guitar FIX", I lick the pages and always find something new to learn about our fantastic instrument and so I owe dear MAURICE an "Over the Pond" Hug - DEEP HUG for respecting and covering out great and noble instrument. I also hope to be alerting you to the great articles in this fabulous magazine starting with the June issue soon to come my way. Coming up in a couple of weeks will be the MANNES GUITAR SEMINAR and I will be there as a full student and look for my "TEASER" treatment this week by covering one of the past Seminars I attended at Mannes when I was a Full Participant. Hopefully the above entries make sense because I was up all night watching a couple of musicals with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers and taking in the first of 6 lectures - BERNSTEIN AT HARVARD-THE NORTON LECTURES plus checking out some advanced Classical Guitar lessons on youtube then jumping on to my blog!! WHEW. I made a fast check on the above and believe that I made decent sense! My wife just came in to give me a good morning Kiss - YUMMIE!!!!!