Thank you so so much, Avi and Sarah for hosting this fantastic event!
I really enjoyed meeting everyone. It was a real treat to be able to check
out so many beautiful instruments. I hope we can all get together next year!
Thank you so so much, Avi and Sarah for hosting this fantastic event!
I really enjoyed meeting everyone. It was a real treat to be able to check
out so many beautiful instruments. I hope we can all get together next year!
"With all those curves, there have to be strings attached."
™ - Cool Mandolin Company
http://www.coolmandolin.com
http://myspace.com/coolmandolin
Great pics, and it looks like it was a lot of fun. (Sorta gives me a case CBOM-envy. )
"The problem with quotes on the internet, is everybody has one, and most of them are wrong."
~ Mark Twain
Mandolin shirts, hats, case stickers, & more at my Zazzle storefront
What a cool and wonderful gathering! Looks like you folks enjoyed a splendid time of it. Thanks for sharing the pics and sounds with those of us who wanted to but couldn't be there.
MK
"Those who live with the instruments are sometimes too close to notice it or as much."
This may be true, Avi... since the changes are often subtle and gradual.
I also think that over time, I have identified more and more with the voice of the instrument I play most often (the Dean), and probably adapted my playing style subtlely so as to bring out the sounds I want. So it's hard to know how to attribute the change in sound... likely a synthesis of all of the above.
This is why it's so cool to get feedback from an external observer comparing the instrument when very new and a few years into its playing life. All I can say is I'm still loving it.
KE
Karen Escovitz
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Otter OM #1
Brian Dean OM #32
Old Wave Mandola #372
Phoenix Neoclassical #256
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you're gonna walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!
Yes, thank you Avi for the idea and the implementation. I wish that I had been able to stay for the session and the food. I was happy to have met so many nice 'cafe folks, but the highlight for me was hearing about Laura's Cool Mandolin project. Now there's an idea!
Thanks, btw, Mr.Kane for stirring up 'dola-AS.
that Old Wave mandola was one of my favorite instruments at the gathering... and I don't have a 'dola.... I liked the Old Wave OM too... and they were a beautiful pair, but the 'dola really grabbed my ears.
That and Jamie's Spira mando (and remember at the last CBOM-o-rama how the Spiras were my faves).
ruh roh!
slippery slope ahead...
Karen Escovitz
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Otter OM #1
Brian Dean OM #32
Old Wave Mandola #372
Phoenix Neoclassical #256
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you're gonna walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!
That Old Wave mandola was spectacular!!
Avi
I am so bummed that I missed it... Procrastination is the thief of cheap non-stop airfares....
It's too bad but there will be others in the future. It gives you time to buy something really custom and wild and blow our minds next time
Avi
For all those who heard Angel demonstrate the Quatro in the gathering and (like me) wanted to hear more....
Out of control Quatro and percussion
Maybe Angel can tell us something about this and where does it sit in the spectrum of music from Puerto Rico - I know nothing of the Puerto Rican quatro tradition but I love this.
And notice this too is a ....lefty! What are the odds?!
Avi
It would be even more impressive if we found out that he was right handed <s>
Big Muddy M-0W, AlanZ/DonK built Octave #1, Ovation MCS148, Martin Backpacker
I am really sorry I missed it. It looked like a really fun time.
I don't have a lot of control over when work comes it, and when it does I have to jump on it, but I look forward to trying make it to the next one.
Aw right you guys!? just because i am new to the cuatro (mandolin) and personally like to play slowly.
Cristian Nieves is one of the young guns in the world of Puertorican cuatro. he is one of the fastest players out there. he comes from a musical family. his father, Modesto Nieves (yet another lefty), is one among a few others who was very instrumental in keeping the Puertorican cuatro from fading into the past.
the Puertorican cuatro is the national instrument of Puerto Rico (PR). Just like there is now a revival of the mandolin orchestra, the same could be said of the cuatro. there are many cuatro orchestras in PR. like the mandolin, there are various sizes in the cuatro. Many folks have banded together to make the cuatro a symbol of our great musical heritage. Many types of music not just Rock'n'Roll caused a decline in the play of traditional country PR music. In the 60's and 70's, this music almost totally disappeared...
i am a good example. i was a "rockero" - rock'n'roll lover. my father was a jibaro (i freely think of this as a PR hillbilly) trouvadour as well as guitar player and cuatro player. i hated his music and he hated mine. as you know, 'what goes round, comes round'. when my father died, my mom said that his guitar and cuatro were to go to me, respecting my father's wishes. i had the cuatro restored and changed to a lefty. (As an aside, Paul Anderson (at the NJ CBOM-O-RAMA) had a similar story but on the Irish traditional music side.)
thankfully there has been a revival in our older music. there is a group of folks who founded The Cuatro Project. their goal is "was established to find that lost history and to discover the special relationship that evolved between Puerto Ricans and these delicately-fashioned bits of wire, wood and glue that we call the Puerto Rican Cuatro." One of my greatest thrills was to find my father mentioned among the trouvadours in their website.(also other relatives were mentioned.) they can be found at http://www.cuatro-pr.org/.
the PR cuatro is central to our traditional music (jibaro music). typically, you would see it along w/ the guitar and the guiro (scratch gourd). however, again like the mandolin, the cuatro is versatile enough to be used all kinds of music. as a matter of fact, the cuatro was showcased in a classical concert playing Paganini! PR cuatro music includes waltzes and polkas. you can find it used in salsa, blues and jazz.
BTW, according to one cuatro luthier, when he starts a batch of cuatro's, he earmarks 3 out 10 as lefties.
for my part, i now listen to a lot of PR jibaro music and learn to play the cuatro.
that is my story and i am sticking to it!? (thx, Alan & Avi for asking about it)
PS the mandolin is not unknown in PR and its similarity to the cuatro is why i have decided to add it to my repertoire.
PPS i am a confirmed lefty, much to the dismay of my father...
Angel Cruz
__________________
Russ Morin Resonator Ukulele, Coqui Cuatro, RiveraIntruments Cuatro, Manuel Morgado Cuatro, '09 Gypsy Octave Mandolin #110909047, '09 Redline Traveler #36, '82 Flatiron 1N #82081665, Morgan Monroe MMR-2
Angel Cruz
__________________
Russ Morin Resonator Ukulele, Coqui Cuatro, RiveraIntruments Cuatro, Manuel Morgado Cuatro, '09 Gypsy Octave Mandolin #110909047, '09 Redline Traveler #36, '82 Flatiron 1N #82081665, Morgan Monroe MMR-2
for good examples go to http://www.youtube.com/user/CuatroZone. this channel belongs to my cuatro instructor, Charlie Rodriguez.
he is another of the young guns in the PR cuatro world and i am fortunate to have him as an instructor. he is a real good instructor and very patient; he knows the fingerboard real well and has a great ear.
he picked up Take Five in seconds; i was amazed watching him when i took him to George Benson playing it on youtube and then watch him figure the song out quickly.(he had never heard Take five before)
i had told him that i would like to learn Take Five when he felt i was ready.
Angel Cruz
__________________
Russ Morin Resonator Ukulele, Coqui Cuatro, RiveraIntruments Cuatro, Manuel Morgado Cuatro, '09 Gypsy Octave Mandolin #110909047, '09 Redline Traveler #36, '82 Flatiron 1N #82081665, Morgan Monroe MMR-2
Great cuatro stuff!!! Thanks, all!!
(Slow is just _fine_.)
stv
steve V. johnson
Culchies
http://cdbaby.com/Culchies
The Lopers
Ghosts Like Me
http://cdbaby.com/Lopers1
There Was A Time
http://cdbaby.com/Lopers2
Oops. Looks like I've been spelling it wrong. Cuatro not Quatro.
Sorry
Avi
he has given me direction and inspiration to do more, for sure.
no, he has not taken up the zouk yet; however, i am having a Gypsy OM being made for me.(there! i let the cat out of the bag... i was going to wait until it was in my hands before announcing it) Charlie can do 'Jimi Hendrix' playing on my mandos. he really likes my Traveler mando.
anyhew, i am sure he will grab the OM to check it out rather than just listen to me play it. he is amazing to watch.
Angel Cruz
__________________
Russ Morin Resonator Ukulele, Coqui Cuatro, RiveraIntruments Cuatro, Manuel Morgado Cuatro, '09 Gypsy Octave Mandolin #110909047, '09 Redline Traveler #36, '82 Flatiron 1N #82081665, Morgan Monroe MMR-2
Angel Cruz
__________________
Russ Morin Resonator Ukulele, Coqui Cuatro, RiveraIntruments Cuatro, Manuel Morgado Cuatro, '09 Gypsy Octave Mandolin #110909047, '09 Redline Traveler #36, '82 Flatiron 1N #82081665, Morgan Monroe MMR-2
Avi,
"You mean like the sword fight in The Princess Bride?"
I knew you'd get the reference <s>
Big Muddy M-0W, AlanZ/DonK built Octave #1, Ovation MCS148, Martin Backpacker
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