The mournful and soul-penetrating rhythms of the organ filled the high-ceilinged room, piercing the air, commanding the attention of every person, every piece of furniture and every artifact. The young man sitting in front of…
Tag: Music
I thought you’d like those, the auction staffer said, a big smile on his face. He was feeling this mother lode of age-stained songbooks that lay on the table in front of me. I had…
Skip Pitts and his magic guitar
Posted in Music
The auction house was holding what it called its first Quality Sale of items expected to bring bigger prices. I browsed the tables looking for something of quality that would grab me but very little did.…
I’d had the program for months, so long that I didn’t even remember when I had bought it at auction. It was likely among some documents in a box lot and, upon finding it once I…
The musical legacy of Paulie Teardrop
Posted in Music, and Performers
This was the spot of a man who loved music. I could tell by the spectacular display of guitars sprawled on a table out front on the lawn, the two banjos, the antique Edison phonographs,…
It could be musical, but it looks medieval
Posted in Music, and Mystery Finds
“What do you think this is?” I asked, interrupting the two men chatting across from where I stood looking dumbfounded at an item on the floor at the auction house. They stopped their conversation, and one…
“Fellas, everybody having a good time,” Fred Wesley called out. Yeah, the crowd cheered at the top of their voices. “Are you having a real good time,” he shouted through the cheers. “Ladies and gentlemen,…
The organ sat there against a wall in the auction house like a grand dame – big, bulky with a little dust caked on the keys. It drew the attention of many of us as…
I hadn’t listened to much of the jazz stylings of the legendary pianist Hank Jones before he died Sunday at age 91. But since then, I’ve devoured his music because after the saxophone, the piano is my…