On the evening of Saturday July 27th, I played the Claviola with my teacher William Schimmel on the accordion in concert at the 19th annual Master Class & Concert Series in Manhattan sponsored by the American Accordionists’ Association and curated by Dr. Schimmel. It is hard to believe that I have been on the program all 19 years. Saturday afternoon, I conducted a workshop about the Claviola and the melodica (along with Bill). Thanks to accordionist Mayumi Miyaoka for capturing the moment. It is a very humbling experience for me to be surrounded by so many incredibly talented musicians.
On April 11th, I marched with Local 802 American Federation of Musicians (I’m a member) and others, including folks from the Occupy Music Group, in support of the Justice for Jazz Artists campaign. I am not a jazz artist, but I did the best I could with my trusty melodica (pictured below) to keep up with some great players. We stopped first at a mansion on the Upper East Side owned by a member of the Bensusan family and later in the evening marched around in front of their renowned jazz club in The Village, the Blue Note. Photo by the Justice for Jazz Artists campaign.
On December 21, 2012, I was privileged to take part in the Make Music New York “Harmonaboard Parade”, a pick-up group of 25 jazz musicians led by renowned jazz pianist and melodica player Jonathan Batiste parading down Harlem’s 125th Street playing melodicas (also known as “harmonaboards”) and stopping in at neighborhood landmarks. I am at the far right of the photo, provided courtesy of Hohner Music.
