In the early chapters of “Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life” (1845), Melville’s protagonist describes life in a native village as idyllic compared to life in Europe and America because their pre-industrial culture makes no distinction between work and play. Like the “Noble Savages” of the Marquesas, top-flight musicians like Eliot Fisk and members of …
You toured in Italy in February. How was it playing with Bill Frisell? I loved playing with Bill. Actually we started in Houston playing for the wonderful da Camera Society at the end of January and then went overseas meeting up in Pescara, Italy, a few days later. We always put the programs together in …
Sometime in early 1978 I received a phone call in my fifth-floor-walk-up artist’s garret in New York City. The voice at the other end said, “Hello, this is Ruggiero Ricci.” I promptly replied, “Yeah, and I’m the Pope!” And then, certain that one of my friends was playing a practical joke on me, “Who is …
The following text by “bonzoboy” was posted a couple of days ago on the Gibson Forum website: A lot of people equate classical guitar and classical music in general as boring and snobbish and aimed at the rich ballet and opera loving crowd and figure that it would be too boring to play.That couldn’t be …
If you were to single out one particular recording that had the biggest impact on your work, which one would you choose? It would be unfair to single out one recording. I would prefer to single out a generation! The generation I would call “The Greatest Generation.” This generation starts with Rachmaninoff and ends with …
