NEWS - CYBER NOTES - NEW RELEASES - EVENTS - IN MEMORY - MEET A.G.
A guitar, lute, and vihuela department has been added to the Arts Academy of Rome. In addition to regular course instruction, which began in academic year 1997-98, the department is conducting a series of master classes featuring David Tanenbaum, David Russell, Albert Ponce, Carlos Bonell, and Oscar Ghiglia. For information, contact Accademia Internazionale Musicale in Roma, Via G.A. Guattani, 17-00161, Roma, Italia; fax 06-44265224.
On November 25, the Conan O'Brien Show presented a rare New Grass Revival reunion. The mighty quartet of Sam Bush, John Cowan, Béla Fleck, and Pat Flynn backed up Garth Brooks in a performance of Flynn's song "Do What You Gotta Do."
The first issue of Bluegrass Europe magazine will hit the stands on March 1. Contact Paolo Dettwiler at Oberfeldstrasse 3A, CH-4133 Pratteln, Switzerland, for information.
An extensive Web site of guitar lessons useful to beginners and veterans alike can be found at www.dreamscape.com/esmith/dansm/.
Looking for the lyrics to that great song you heard at your local bluegrass jam session? The site at www.nsknet.or.jp/ ~motoya/index.html has lyrics to just about any bluegrass song you can think of.
Hawaiian Music Island (www. mele.com) is an online mail order source for Hawaiian CDs, videos, and books, including the hard-to-find Slack-Key Secrets of Ray Kane, (see Reviews, September '97).
Sedentary guitarists may want to investigate Ashley Hutchings' Folk Aerobics CD (HTD, 36 the High Street, Crayford, Kent DA1 4HG, England; skymarshall.com/ htd/index.html). The CD consists of 30 minutes of music with aerobic instruction, followed by the same musical program with no instruction.
Joni Mitchell, The Complete Poems and Lyrics, has been published by Crown.
A few of the new releases from the never-idle Mel Bay Publications include Flatpicking Masters: 11 Legendary Flatpicking Solos (by Joe Maphis, Marty Stuart, and Arthur Smith) and transcription books for flatpicking star David Grier's Lone Soldier CD, fingerstyle wizard Martin Simpson's Smoke and Mirrors CD, and Celtic multi-instrumentalist Robin Bullock's Midnight Howl CD.
Elektra will release a CD of unrecorded Woody Guthrie songs this year. Performers on the disc include Corey Harris (see "Living Blues," February), Billy Bragg, and Wilco.
Hannibal Records is reissuing Richard Thompson's live solo album Small Town Romance, which has been out of print since 1990. The CD, long a favorite with Thompson-heads, combines performances from two 1982 club shows in New York City and will include new photographs from the sessions.
Ashgate Publishing has two new books of interest to guitarists: Julian Bream: The Foundations of a Musical Career, by Stuart W. Button, and A History of the Portuguese Fado, by Paul Vernon. Ashgate can be reached at (800) 535-9544; www.ashgate.com.
The biography of Antonio de Torres by José L. Romanillos, first published in 1987, is back in print and available from the Bold Strummer, (800) 375-3786.
The Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest, which has been graced by artists such as Jackson Browne, David Lindley, Taj Mahal, John Hartford, and Dan Crary since its inception in 1961, will be held on May 17 on the set used for the TV show Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman in Agoura, California. For details, call (213) 228-7558.
The blue guitars exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., showcases the work of some of the best archtop makers in the world. The guitars are on loan from the Scott Chinery collection and will be on display at the Museum of American History through October 1.
An extensive Web site of guitar lessons useful to beginners and veterans alike can be found at www.dreamscape.com/esmith/dansm/.
Looking for the lyrics to that great song you heard at your local bluegrass jam session? The site at www.nsknet.or.jp/ ~motoya/index.html has lyrics to just about any bluegrass song you can think of.
Hawaiian Music Island (www. mele.com) is an online mail order source for Hawaiian CDs, videos, and books, including the hard-to-find Slack-Key Secrets of Ray Kane, (see Reviews, September '97).
Stéphane Grappelli passed away on December 1, 1997, in Paris at the age of 89. Best known for his role as foil to Django Reinhardt in the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, which had its debut in 1933, Grappelli was one of jazz' most elegant and tireless ambassadors. His sweet and seamless melodic improvisations influenced half a century's worth of swing, jazz, and bluegrass violinists.
On March 14-17, Acoustic Guitar heads a short way down the road to San Francisco for the National Association of Recording Merchandisers convention at the Moscone Center. This will be the 40th anniversary meeting of NARM, where 1,200 retailers, wholesaler/distributors, and suppliers of recorded entertainment products come together with music industry manufacturers and other industry professionals. For more information, visit www.narm.com, phone (609) 596-2221, fax (609) 596-3268, or write to NARM, 9 Eves Dr. #120, Marlton, NJ 08053.
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