OK, it's Monday, I'm just back from Django in June and trying to get my sleep cycle and blood alcohol level back to the "normal" range.
But during my long solo car ride back home, listening to some magnificent music by Fapy and Oscar Aleman, I got to thinking about the difference that just one person can make in making the world a better place... in this case a wiry, charming gentleman from Northampton MA.
During my teaching career, I was often struck by how much influence over the entire school our principal made... if that one person was a good leader, all sorts of wonderful things seemed to happen, apparently all by themselves! But if that one person was a not-so-good leader, all sorts of not-so-good things seemed to happen.
Andrew obviously has the kind of leadership that has led to the creation of something very special that has been appreciated by participants ranging on the scale from "North American total newbie" to "European virtuoso", and all the rest of us who fall somewhere between those extremes.
He has created a friendly supportive community of players/enthusiasts, an atmosphere I would call a "douce ambiance"... and having listened to his introduction of one of the evening concerts, I was struck to learn that this philosophy of "community of learners" is the exact concept he has always based his efforts on, both for his own "community guitar" day gig as well as "Django in June".
As the wonderful Dutch "old school" player Rino van something told me, "I knew I was going to have a good time here, I just didn't know HOW good!"
Andrew, this is a little embarrassing, but it's got to be said... "I LOVE YOU, MAN!"
Thank you, Andrew.
Paul Cezanne: "I could paint for a thousand years without stopping and I would still feel as though I knew nothing."
Edgar Degas: "Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.... To draw, you must close your eyes and sing."
Georges Braque: "In art there is only one thing that counts: the bit that can’t be explained."
Comments
May there be many more.....
M
HOORAY for Andrew!
Adrian
While we witnessed what could be considered the most brilliant display of stringed instrument GJ mastery assembled in North America to date, the aural memory I think will stay with me longest is the voice of Tcha Limberger! I can't imagine ever listening to "Confessin" again in the same way.
Anthony
http://www.youtube.com/thrip
Edgar Degas: "Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.... To draw, you must close your eyes and sing."
Georges Braque: "In art there is only one thing that counts: the bit that can’t be explained."
And Tcha...I was standing close to him for a couple of minutes after a show at the Academy.
Wanted to give a compliment but everything I was to say seemed so inappropriately small compared to how I felt about what I heard just earlier. So I ended up not saying anything, felt even more like a schmuck.
Never in my life have I seen someone who's entire being is so immersed in music like him.
He's like a Tesla of musicians, what science was to Tesla, music is to Tcha.