small world
It's amazing how you keep bumping into the same people over and over again, and the internet makes it all the more crowded with 'em. Let me show you what I mean: before the gig at St. Charles East, I asked the other guys at work if they'd heard of this other guest artist, Mark Maegdlin. Sure enough -- my buddy Steve Zoloto does a wicked double-take and says:
"Mark Maegdlin?!? I haven't seen that guy since high school!"
Then after the concert at St. Charles East, a guy came up to me and offered his card. His name is Dan Butler, and he owns a company called CHICAGO BLUES BOX -- they make custom guitar amps that, judging from the info on the website, must sound absolutely AMAZING. And I've got this buddy named Vince Pontarelli -- monstrous guitarist and composer who works for Midway Games. He's done music for video games like Mortal Kombat, Cruisin' USA, Psi-Ops, Ballers... the list goes on and on. He's also a total guitar gearhead, and I thought he might be interested in these amps. So I mention this guy Dan Butler to him --
"Dan Butler? DAN BUTLER!?! I KNOW Dan Butler!!!"
Turns out they went to high school together. Like I said, small world.
Or how about this -- let's start with the fact that I'm reading John Mackey's blog (which, by the way, is always a good read), who I'd known in undergrad but have gotten back in touch with through Newman, who met Mackey at Juilliard. Anyway, I'm reading John's blog, and he mentions an old friend named Pete Cressy. Now John and I graduated from CIM at the same time, but Pete was only there for a year or two -- didn't even know John and Pete were friends! Now a little back-story: Pete Cressy was this uber-talented, way-out cat who wrote the COOLEST music, who got me into King Crimson and hooked me on these Tea Tree Australian Chewing Sticks that I'm still constantly chewing on to this day (I'm chewing one now!). I'd seen Pete about 8 years ago in New York City, but I thought Pete had once again dropped off the face of the Earth. Now here he pops up again, and he's playing in an ensemble called SLOW SIX. I go to their website, and I recognize THREE MORE MEMBERS of the group. This is freaking me out. There's Maxim Moston -- another super-talented violinist from C.I.M., and his wife Leanne Darling was also an oboist in Cleveland too. And then there's Marlan Berry, a 'cellist and recording engineer that was a very good friend in undergrad as well as when I was living in New York City. I had NO IDEA where they were or what they were doing!
SMALL WORLD.
"Mark Maegdlin?!? I haven't seen that guy since high school!"
Then after the concert at St. Charles East, a guy came up to me and offered his card. His name is Dan Butler, and he owns a company called CHICAGO BLUES BOX -- they make custom guitar amps that, judging from the info on the website, must sound absolutely AMAZING. And I've got this buddy named Vince Pontarelli -- monstrous guitarist and composer who works for Midway Games. He's done music for video games like Mortal Kombat, Cruisin' USA, Psi-Ops, Ballers... the list goes on and on. He's also a total guitar gearhead, and I thought he might be interested in these amps. So I mention this guy Dan Butler to him --
"Dan Butler? DAN BUTLER!?! I KNOW Dan Butler!!!"
Turns out they went to high school together. Like I said, small world.
Or how about this -- let's start with the fact that I'm reading John Mackey's blog (which, by the way, is always a good read), who I'd known in undergrad but have gotten back in touch with through Newman, who met Mackey at Juilliard. Anyway, I'm reading John's blog, and he mentions an old friend named Pete Cressy. Now John and I graduated from CIM at the same time, but Pete was only there for a year or two -- didn't even know John and Pete were friends! Now a little back-story: Pete Cressy was this uber-talented, way-out cat who wrote the COOLEST music, who got me into King Crimson and hooked me on these Tea Tree Australian Chewing Sticks that I'm still constantly chewing on to this day (I'm chewing one now!). I'd seen Pete about 8 years ago in New York City, but I thought Pete had once again dropped off the face of the Earth. Now here he pops up again, and he's playing in an ensemble called SLOW SIX. I go to their website, and I recognize THREE MORE MEMBERS of the group. This is freaking me out. There's Maxim Moston -- another super-talented violinist from C.I.M., and his wife Leanne Darling was also an oboist in Cleveland too. And then there's Marlan Berry, a 'cellist and recording engineer that was a very good friend in undergrad as well as when I was living in New York City. I had NO IDEA where they were or what they were doing!
SMALL WORLD.
2 Comments:
Another degree of non-separation to Pete Cressy: I knew him through my old day-job at Boosey, where he was THE only "autographer"* in town. Only later after meeting him did I figure out his connection with Mackey. We had some conversations about copying gigs after that, but I haven't seen or heard of him in years.
*Autographer: a hand copyist, specializing in graphic notation and pen/ink work. I witnessed Pete perform the most amazing transformation on a Del Tredici piece (I think it was, maybe "Vintage Alice"?) -- where the original engraving plates from the 70's had been lost, and all that remained of the publication was the final proofs (enormous, 14x20 sheets, covered in red correction marks). Pete, using tools and pens I wouldn't even know where to begin to find, and patience I can only assume comes from Jehovah, made a new master, by cutting and pasting, removing the red marks, and re-inking in the corrections. When he finished, it looked like the engraved plates, only correct. Amazing stuff. Last of a dying breed...
No WAY! I linked to that Slow Six site, but I only clicked Pete's name. I totally didn't notice that Marlan and Maxim were part of the group, too. And I have to say, I used to have a crush on Leanne.
I haven't been in touch with Pete for ages, either, and was surprised to find him in that group -- thanks to Google.
But indeed -- small world.
(And thanks for the shout-out in your blog.)
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