Jon Hammond Journal For Day July 16, 2012 Report – First very sad news, Jon Lord the
great Hammond organist of Deep Purple fame has died
Folks, Very Sad Announcement: Jon Lord has died.
Jon Lord of Deep Purple Speaking about Hammond Sk1 and Sk2 with Jon Hammond in Frankfurt at Musikmesse
Rest In Peace Jon – Jon Hammond
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4AbLZZ0380
Jonathan Douglas Lord, rock and classical musician and composer, born 9 June 1941; died 16 July 2012
He is survived by his wife, Vicky, and their daughter, Amy; and a daughter, Sara, by his first wife, Judith, from whom he was divorced.
Jon’s Obit from The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/jul/16/jon-lord?newsfeed=true
Jon Lord
“Organist who infused Deep Purple with classical influences, helping make them one of the world’s biggest rock bands”
‘We’re as valid as anything by Beethoven,” declared Jon Lord of his band, Deep Purple, in an interview with the New Musical Express in 1973. Lord, who has died aged 71 after suffering from pancreatic cancer, was not merely adopting a rebellious stance. An accomplished classical composer as well as rock musician, he believed with some justification that his group’s music was as profound in structure and as significant in cultural impact as any work from the symphonic canon. At the time, Deep Purple were among the world’s biggest rock bands, having built an enormous fanbase on the strength of their classically influenced songs, which lent further weight to Lord’s statement.
Born in Leicester, Lord studied classical piano from the age of five. In his teens, the then-new rock’n’roll and R&B movements made a deep impression on him, in particular the music recorded by blues pianists and organists such as Jimmy McGriff and Jerry Lee Lewis. The contemporary combination of Hammond B3 and C3 organs with Leslie speakers appealed to him, and this became an instrumental setup that remained integral to Lord’s signature keyboard style for the rest of his career.
In 1959, he moved to London to pursue acting, which he studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He played the piano and Hammond organ in clubs to pay the bills, initially with a jazz band called the Bill Ashton Combo and then with Red Bludd’s Bluesicians, featuring the vocalist Art Wood. While recording occasional sessions (he contributed keyboards to the Kinks’ 1964 hit You Really Got Me), Lord pursued pop success in the Art Wood Combo, who later renamed themselves the Artwoods and appeared on TV. I Take What I Want was the group’s only charting single.
Lord discovered his trademark sound when he formed Santa Barbara Machine Head, which also featured Wood’s brother and future Rolling Stone, Ronnie Wood. The key to this group’s success was its powerful, organ- and guitar-driven formula, which pointed at the future musical recipe of Deep Purple, and also the meeting of Lord and the bassist Nick Simper. The duo were the backbone of Deep Purple, who formed when the businessman and manager Tony Edwards invested in the new group and auditioned the cream of London’s young talent – the guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, the singer Rod Evans and the drummer Ian Paice among them. This quintet formed Purple’s first lineup in 1968.
Deep Purple spent the following eight years on a path that took them around the world on several occasions (in later years, they had a private jet), playing the world’s largest stadiums and issuing a series of classic LPs – In Rock (1970), Fireball (1971), Machine Head (1972) and Burn (1974) among them. Personnel came and went, but Lord and Paice remained constant members until the group’s dissolution amid a haze of drug addiction and exhaustion in 1976.
Of the great British rock bands of the 70s, only Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and the Stones were able to operate on as grand a scale: unlike any of those groups, Deep Purple took regular time out to indulge in classical projects initiated and directed by Lord. The most notable of these was the live Concerto for Group and Orchestra, recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in 1969.
It was this equal passion for rock bombast and classical finesse that made Lord such an unusual musician. During Deep Purple’s glory days, he often infused the songs with classical influences, as in the song April from the group’s eponymous album in 1969. His organ playing, which often counterpointed Blackmore’s virtuoso lead guitar, was unique and often copied.
After the split, Lord formed a group with the rock singer Tony Ashton and Deep Purple’s ex-drummer Paice entitled Paice, Ashton & Lord. They released one album, Malice in Wonderland, in 1977. He then joined Whitesnake, the band formed by Deep Purple’s last lead singer, David Coverdale. This group, not to be confused with the 1980s reincarnation that played stadium rock and met with huge success, was an earthy, blues-rock band in which Lord’s organ playing was an essential element. His stint in Whitesnake ended when he rejoined a reformed lineup of Deep Purple in 1984 alongside Blackmore, Paice, the singer Ian Gillan and the bassist Roger Glover.
Many solo projects and collaborations came during and between Lord’s membership of these bands, including Before I Forget (1982), which featured classical piano music; a commission to compose the soundtrack of Central Television’s 1984 series The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady; and guest spots on albums by rock luminaries such as Lord’s Oxfordshire neighbour George Harrison and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour.
Eight more years of recording and tours followed before Lord felt he had had enough of life on the road. In a letter to his bandmates in 2002, he requested that Deep Purple take a year off. When this request was declined, he amicably left the group. Solo projects followed, including a collaboration in 2004 with sometime Abba singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and the formation of a blues band, Hoochie Coochie Men, three years later. In 2010, Lord was made an honorary fellow of Stevenson College, Edinburgh, and the following year he was awarded an honorary doctorate of music by the University of Leicester.
Report http://hammondcast.over-blog.com/article-report-jon-hammond-and-koei-tanaka-concert-for-president-manji-suzuki-and-company-hamamatsu-japan-77330862.html
Bicycles are In these days, but make sure to wear a helmut folks! Jon Hammond
2 friends of mine seriously injured recently, one with helmut (busted femur) and the other one, busted collar bone
New York NY — The Russians are back in town!
Welcome back to USA cats!! Jon Hammond
Welcome back to USA cats!! Jon Hammond — with Alexander Dovgopoly, Anton Baronin, Vitaly Solomonov, Pavel Ovchinnikov and Ed Zizak
Jon Hammond in Leo’s Pro Audio trying out Bag End speakers with 1965 Fender Band-Master head and XK-1 Hammond organ – this organ and flight case are available to the right person by the way – JH — at Leo’s PRO Audio
San Francisco CA Golden Gate Park Speedway Meadows — Wavy Gravy hangin’ backstage at 40th Anniversary of Woodstock free concert – Jon Hammond
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgEqSQtD7v4
with appearances by
Sandi Freddie Herrera, Zero Nylin, Narada Michael Walden, Annie Sampson, Dr. Eugene L. Schoenfeld special thanks Boots Hughston, Terence Hallinan – JH – Speedway Meadows Golden Gate Par…See More — with Wavy Gravy at Golden Gate Park, Speedway Meadows.
New York NY — 4 serious Jazzers – Billy Kaye, Rudy Sheriff Lawless (yes that’s his real name including middle name) Jackie Williams, Stepko Gut – Jon Hammond on 42nd Street — at Duane Reade Doctor on Premises – 42nd Street & 8th Avenue.
Sea Cliff San Francisco California — The Art Gates of Robin Williams’ house – Jon Hammond
Times Square — Hey, where’d everybody go ? !
Jon Hammond — at Times Square NYC.
Wishing a Big Happy Healthy Birthday to Main Man Glenn Derringer! Glenn is one of my All-Time Super Heroes!!
Have a fantastic one Glenn and many more!!!
Jon Hammond — with Glenn Derringer
New York NY Town Hall 43rd Street — Alex Foster and Stephen Ferrone at Memorial for Michael Brecker R.I.P. *note, Joe Berger is also there but for some reason the camera barely registers him, go figure! Jon Hammond — at The Town Hall.
Frankfurt am Main — Yes I wear white socks and my pants are too short today folks! – Jon Hammond on the strassenbahn gleis — at Platz-der-Republik.
Frankfurt am Main — Main Man Totó Giovanni Gulino drums hanging with Main Man Joe Lamond – President of NAMM on the break at my annual Musikmesse Frankfurt Warm Up Party – the Chocolate on Chocolate Cake was GOOD! – Jon Hammond
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hozrJpHvV-4
Chocolate on Chocolate Cake at Musikmesse Warm Up Party in Jazzkeller Frankfurt with Jon Hammond Band and special guest…See More — at Jazzkeller.
Frankfurt am Main — Happy 25 years Musikmesse Frankfurt to me! – here on the buhne / bandstand of the legendary Jazzkeller Frankfurt – *now 26 years my custom-made chocolate on chocolate cake to share with all my friends in the good old Jazzkeller Frankfurt – Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hozrJpHvV-4
Chocolate on Chocolate Cake at Musikmesse Warm Up Party in Jazzkeller Frankfurt with Jon Hammond Band and special guests for this special occasion celebrating 25 years in Musikmesse. Special acknowledgement of Wilhelm P. “Charly” Hosenseidl R.I.P. who was the Director of Musikmesse years 1989-2008 now Directed by Wolfgang Luecke, special thanks to Musikmesse Frankfurt Projekt and Presse Team!
Jon Hammond Band:
Joe Berger guitar
Tony Lakatos tenor saxophone
Giovanni Gulino drums
Jon Hammond – XB-2 Hammond Organ – special thanks Hiromitsu Ono Chief Engineer Suzuki Musical Instruments designed my instrument which took me all around the world many times
“Late Rent” Jon Hammond theme song for Jon Hammond Show MNNTV and HammondCast Show KYOU Radio San Francisco CBS Radio Network
Thanks Joe Lamond President CEO NAMM, TecAmp Jürgen Kunze and Thomas Eich – Puma Combo bass amp powering Jon Hammond’s organ
Dankeschoen to Yücel Atiker, Tino Pavlis, Poehl, Bernie Capicchiano, Michael Falkenstein Hammond Suzuki Deutschland, Peggy Behling, Christine Vogel Messe Frankfurt,
Saray Pastanesi Baeckerei & Konditorei for Chocolate on Chocolate
25 Years Musikmesse Celebration Cake — at Jazzkeller.
Frankfurt am Main — Happy 25 years Musikmesse Frankfurt to me! *now 26 my custom-made chocolate on chocolate cake to share with all my friends in the good old Jazzkeller Frankfurt – Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hozrJpHvV-4
Chocolate on Chocolate Cake at Musikmesse Warm Up Party in Jazzkeller Frankfurt with Jon Hammond Band and special guests for this special occasion celebrating 25 years in Musikmesse. Special acknowledgement of Wilhelm P. “Charly” Hosenseidl R.I.P. who was the Director of Musikmesse years 1989-2008 now Directed by Wolfgang Luecke, special thanks to Messe Frankfurt Projekt and Presse Team!
Jon Hammond Band:
Joe Berger guitar
Tony Lakatos tenor saxophone
Giovanni Gulino drums
Jon Hammond – XB-2 Hammond Organ – special thanks Hiromitsu Ono Chief Engineer Suzuki Musical Instruments designed my instrument which took me all around the world many times
“Late Rent” Jon Hammond theme song for Jon Hammond Show MNNTV and HammondCast Show KYOU Radio San Francisco CBS Radio Network
Thanks Joe Lamond President CEO NAMM, TecAmp Jürgen Kunze and Thomas Eich – Puma Combo bass amp powering Jon Hammond’s organ
Dankeschoen to Yücel Atiker, Tino Pavlis, Poehl, Bernie Capicchiano, Michael Falkenstein Hammond Suzuki Deutschland, Peggy Behling, Christine Vogel Messe Frankfurt,
Saray Pastanesi Baeckerei & Konditorei for Chocolate on Chocolate
25 Years Musikmesse Celebration Cake — at Jazzkeller.
Frankfurt am Main — Hallo Erna Klobučar !
Jon Hammond
Frankfurt am Main — This is where I stayed at my very first Musikmesse Frankfurt in 1987 – Hotel Prinz Otto – rub-a-dub-dub…3 men in a tub! The only 2 star hotel in Frankfurt, but it did the job – 3 of us in one little room, Joe Berger, Bruno Engl and myself Jon Hammond right by the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, and it had a little bar kneipe. Many a traveler has stayed there folks! – JH
http://www.tripadvisor.de/ShowUserReviews-g187337-d230354-r10041805-Hotel_Prinz_Otto-Frankfurt_Hesse.html
One happy camper “Die Zimmer waren schmutzig, die Handtücher und Bettwäsche war dünn und löchrig. Die Heizungskörper waren voller Staub und die Teppiche waren voller Flecken und fadendünn. In der Dusche lagen Haarbüschel und das Wasser war entweder heiß oder kalt, die Toilettenspülung hat nicht funktioniert, ebenso wenig der Fernseher und vom Frühstück konnte einem schlecht werden und so hat keiner von uns etwas gegessen. Die Fließen im Badezimmer waren voller Silikon-Abdichtungsmittel. Außerdem glaube ich nicht, dass es Feuerausgänge in den Zimmer gab. Unterster Standard. Ich wünschte mir nur, dass ich es mir vorher angesehen hätte.” — at Hotel Prinz Otto.
Frankfurt am Main — They know me well in this Deutsche Bundespost by the Frankfurt Bahnhof! – Jon Hammond
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Bundespost
The Deutsche Bundespost (German federal post office) was created in 1947 as a successor to the Reichspost (German imperial post office). Between 1947 and 1950 the enterprise was called Deutsche Post (German post office). Until 1989 the Deutsche Bundespost was a state-owned company.
The Bundespost was developed according to a three-stage principle common in public administration in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). The upper stage consisted of the federal ministry for the post office and telecommunication system. The middle stage consisted of regional directorates and national post office management in West Berlin, with certain central bureaucracies (post office technical central office, telecommunication engineering central office, postal administration social office, and post offices) on an equal footing. Finally, the lower stage consisted of the actual post offices, postal giro (akin to a checking account)and savings bank offices, and telecommunication offices.
The legal basis for the administrative activity of the Bundespost was the postal administration law (Postverwaltungsgesetz, abbreviated PostVwG). A central goal of public administrative policy after 1924 was financial self-sufficiency. Political goals, however, often superseded this goal. According to the PostVwG, the federal postal system was to be administered “according to the principles of the policy of the FRG, in particular trade, economic, financial and social policies” and “the interests of the German national economy.”
The Deutsche Bundespost was the largest employer in the Federal Republic. In 1985 it employed 543,200 people.
In the first post office reform (July 1, 1989), the Bundespost was divided into three divisions (also called public enterprises):
Deutsche Bundespost Postdienst – postal service
Deutsche Bundespost Telekom – communications service
Deutsche Bundespost Postbank – postal bank
The central authorities remained as described above. The divisions were later privatized in the second post office reform (January 1, 1995), resulting in the creation of the following:
Deutsche Post AG from the postal service
Deutsche Telekom AG from the communications service
Deutsche Postbank AG from the postal bank
The federal ministry for post office and telecommunications (Bundesministerium für Post und Telekommunikation) retained oversight responsibility for postal services and telecommunications. After the dissolution of that ministry on 1 January 1998, those tasks were taken over by a new federal network regulatory agency (Bundesnetzagentur, formerly RegTP) under the federal ministry for economics and technology. Other functions (such as the issuance of postage stamps) were taken over by the federal ministry of finance. Some telecommunications functions (including BOS radio) were turned over to the federal ministry of the interior.
For certain official and legal purposes (including certain financial, medical and other services for former postal civil servants), a “federal institution for post and telecommunication” (Bundesanstalt für Post und Telekommunikation) was created. — at Deutsche Post FFM.
Hofheim am Taunus Germany — Congratulations 53 years Jazzkeller Hofheim and dankeschoen for putting me in the book on Page 68 – from show I did circa 1996 in Trio with Tony Lakatos tenor sax, Uwe Petersen on drums – myself at the XB-2 Hammond organ / bass – Jon Hammond http://www.jonhammondband.com/ — at Jazzkeller Hofheim.
Berkeley California — EastBay Jazz Workshop action, firing up at The Black Repertory Group Theater
http://www.blackrepertorygroup.com/ – Jon Hammond — at Black Repertory Group Inc.
Time to come back on solid land! Jon Hammond
Once in a Blue Moon folks! Jon Hammond
Berkeley California — Duo session piano / trumpet with my man Tom Carroll at EastBay Jazz Workshop private clubhouse – Jon Hammond
http://hammondcast.jimdo.com/
Emeryville California — Pixar Studios doesn’t mess around, right over my head with the Zeppelin UP ad, good idea Pixar’oids! Jon Hammond — at Pixar Inc.
Hollywood CA — Narada Michael Walden at the cans – ASCAP Expo – only drummer on the panel getting real funky. Next time keep that Ampeg amp warmed up and I’ll plug in my Hammond organ, play some organ drums serious fat-back funk grooves Narada! – Jon Hammond
Pocket Funk fat-back Bernard Purdie & David Fathead Newman R.I.P. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150421203462102 — at Grand Ballroom Renaissance Hollywood Hotel.
If the car had a slightly bigger trunk it would be good!
Jon Hammond — at Radisson blu Hamburg Dammtor.
Jon Hammond : “Open House, Beware of The Dog, No Loitering, No Trespassing, Reserved Parking, No Smoking, House for Sale, Danger, For Rent, No Parking, Employees Only, No Soliciting, Shoplifters Will Be Prosecuted! etc., etc.! – JH and No Dumping!
New York NY — Jazz heavyweight FRANK OWENS at the piano – singers showcase with Cobi Tanaka – Local 802 Musicians Union – Jon Hammond *interesting story about Frank, his name was originally Owen, but so many people called “Frank Owens” that he eventually just added the s.
For seven years, Frank Owens was music director for NBC TV’s Showtime at the Apollo. He was also host of Portrait of the Arts. Mr. Owens performed in the Hartford CT Theatreworks production of Paul Robeson, playing the part of Lawrence Brown. Recently he accompanied Hal David in his tribute at the Friars Club and Freda Payne at the High Mount Jazz Festival, and is co-author and arranger of Shades of Harlem.
Mr. Owens has played and conducted abroad, including the conducting A Fourth of July Celebration of American Jazz, Pop and Broadway in Moscow. Frank Owens was resident pianist at Mortimer’s for over six years, and appeared several times a year at the Hotel Carlyle’s Bemelman’s Bar. He appeared at the Blue Note with Ruth Brown of Broadway’s Black and Blue, having arranged and conducted her album, Fine and Mellow.
Frank Owens was musical director/conductor/pianist for many performers including Johnny Mathis, Chubby Checker, John Denver, Melba Moore, Aretha Franklin, Connie Francis, and Lena Horne.
Frank was musical director for the first David Letterman Show in 1980. Other TV credits include the Jack Paar Show, Geraldo Rivera’s Goodnight America, and Eubie Blake’s, A Century of Music. He did dance arrangements for the film the Wiz, contributed to many records and albums in the top ten, and won the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences sponsored MVP Award for Acoustic Piano for several years. — at Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802 AFM.
New York NY — Local 802 – 2 heavyweights in Jazz:
Cobi Narita of ‘Cobi’s Place’ and pianist Frank Owens conducting singers showcase in the Club Room of Local 802 Musicians Union Hall – Jon Hammond — at Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802 AFM.
Hofheim am Taunus Germany — Jon Hammond Band Youtube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/jonhammondband
17th consecutive year Jazzkeller-Hofheim Musikmesse-Session — at Jazzkeller Hofheim.
Long Beach CA — James Moody R.I.P. – Jon Hammond *I shot this photo Jan. 2005
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Moody_(saxophonist)
James Moody (March 26, 1925 – December 9, 2010) was an American jazz saxophone and flute player. He was best known for his hit “Moody’s Mood for Love,” an improvisation based on “I’m in the Mood for Love”; in performance, he often sang Eddie Jefferson’s vocalese lyr…See More — at Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center.
New York NY — I caught this stunning art installation today while passing by on the bus, flipping airplane (real!) at the entrance to Central Park at 58th & Fifth Avenue across from the big 24 hour Apple Store Fifth Avenue and the Plaza Hotel, nice! Jon Hammond
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaza_Hotel
The Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 20-story luxury hotel with a height of 250 ft (76 m) and length of 400 ft (120 m) that occupies the west side of Grand Army Plaza, from which it derives its name, and extends along Central Park South in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue extends along the east side of Grand Army Plaza. It is owned by El-Ad Properties and managed and operated by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. — at The Plaza Hotel.
New York NY — Guggenheim Museum on a nice summer day – Jon Hammond
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_R._Guggenheim_Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (often referred to as “The Guggenheim”) is a well-known art museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a renowned and continuously expanding collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions throughout the year. The museum was established by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1939 as the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, under the guidance of its first director, the artist Hilla von Rebay. It adopted its current name after the death of its founder, Solomon R. Guggenheim, in 1952.
Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the cylindrical museum building, wider at the top than the bottom, was conceived as a “temple of the spirit” and is one of the 20th century’s most important architectural landmarks. The building opened on October 21, 1959, replacing rented spaces used by the museum since its founding. Its unique ramp gallery extends from just under the skylight in the ceiling in a long, continuous spiral along the outer edges of the building until it reaches the ground level. The building underwent extensive expansion and renovations from 1992 to 1993 (when an adjoining tower was built) and from 2005 to 2008. The museum’s collection has grown organically, over eight decades, and is founded upon several important private collections, beginning with Solomon R. Guggenheim’s original collection. The collection is shared with the museum’s sister museums in Bilbao, Spain, and elsewhere.
Early years
Solomon Guggenheim, guided by his art adviser, German painter Hilla Rebay, began to collect works by nonobjective artists in 1929. Guggenheim first began to show his collection in his apartment, and as the collection grew, he established the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1937. The foundation’s goal was the “promotion and encouragement and education in art and the enlightenment of the public.” It was endowed to operate one or more museums; Solomon Guggenheim was elected its first President and Rebay its Director.
Museum under construction in photo taken on Nov. 12, 1957
In 1939, the Guggenheim Foundation’s first museum, “The Museum of Non-Objective Painting”, opened in rented quarters at 24 East 54th Street in New York City and showcased art by early modernists such as Rudolf Bauer, Rebay, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Piet Mondrian. During the life of Guggenheim’s first museum, Guggenheim continued to add to his collection, acquiring paintings by Marc Chagall, Robert Delaunay, Fernand Léger, Amedeo Modigliani and Pablo Picasso. The collection quickly outgrew its original space, and so in 1943, Rebay and Guggenheim wrote a letter to Frank Lloyd Wright asking him to design a permanent structure for the collection. It took Wright 15 years, 700 sketches, and six sets of working drawings to create the museum. From 1943 to early 1944, Wright produced four different sketches for the initial design. One of the plans (scheme C) was a hexagonal shape as opposed to the other three circular sketches. It was the only design of the four to have level floors for the galleries without the use of one ramp continuing around the building. At the same time, Rebay was searching for sites for the museum. She selected the museum’s site at the corner of 89th Street and Fifth Avenue, overlooking Central Park.
A 1966 U.S. postage stamp honoring Frank Lloyd Wright, with the Guggenheim visible in the background.
In 1953, the foundation’s collecting criteria expanded under its new director, James Johnson Sweeney. Sweeney rejected Rebay’s dismissal of “objective” painting and sculpture, and he soon acquired Constantin Brâncuşi’s Adam and Eve (1921), followed by works of other modernist sculptors, including Jean Arp, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti and David Smith.[2] Sweeney reached beyond the 20th century to acquire Paul Cézanne’s Man with Crossed Arms (c. 1899).[2] In that year, the foundation also received a gift of 28 important works from the Estate of Katherine S. Dreier, a founder of America’s first collection to be called a modern art museum, the Société Anonyme. Dreier had been a colleague of Rebay’s. The works included Little French Girl (1914–18) by Brâncuşi, an untitled still life (1916) by Juan Gris, a bronze sculpture (1919) by Alexander Archipenko and three collages (1919–21) by German Hanoverian Dadaist Schwitters. It also included works by Calder, Marcel Duchamp, El Lissitzky and Mondrian.[3] Among others, Sweeney also acquired the works of Alberto Giacometti, David Hayes, Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock.[4]
Sweeney oversaw the last half dozen years of the construction of the museum building, during which time he had an antagonistic relationship with Frank Lloyd Wright, especially regarding the building’s lighting issues.[5][6] The distinctive cylindrical building, turned out to be Wright’s last major work, as the architect died six months before its opening. From the street, the building looks like a white ribbon curled into a cylindrical stack, wider at the top than the bottom, displaying nearly all curved surfaces. Its appearance is in sharp contrast to the typically rectangular Manhattan buildings that surround it, a fact relished by Wright, who claimed that his museum would make the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art “look like a Protestant barn.” Internally, the viewing gallery forms a helical spiral ramp climbing gently from ground level to the skylight at the top.
On October 21, 1959, ten years after the death of Solomon Guggenheim and six months after the death of Frank Lloyd Wright, the Museum first opened its doors to large crowds. The building instantly polarized architecture critics, though today it is widely praised. Some of the criticism focused on the idea that the building overshadows the artworks displayed inside, and that it is difficult to properly hang paintings in the shallow, windowless, concave exhibition niches that surround the central spiral. Prior to its opening, twenty-one artists signed a letter protesting the display of their work in such a space.
Thomas M. Messer succeeded Sweeney as director of the museum (but not the foundation) in 1961 and stayed for 27 years, the longest tenure of any of the city’s major arts institutions’ directors. When Messer took over, the museum’s ability to present art at all was still in doubt due to the challenges presented by continuous spiral ramp gallery that is both tilted and has non-vertical curved walls. It is difficult to properly hang paintings in the shallow, windowless exhibition niches that surround the central spiral. Canvasses must be mounted raised from the wall’s surface. Paintings hung slanted back would appear “as on the artist’s easel”. There is limited space within the niches for sculpture.
The skylight in the center of the museum
Almost immediately, in 1962, Messer took a risk putting on a large exhibition that combined the Guggenheim’s paintings with sculptures on loan from the Hirshhorn Museum.Three dimensional sculpture, in particular, raised “the problem of installing such a show in a museum bearing so close a resemblance to the circular geography of hell”, where any vertical object appears tilted in a “drunken lurch” because the slope of the floor and the curvature of the walls could combine to produce vexing optical illusions. It turned out that the combination could work well in the Guggenheim’s space, but, Messer recalled that at the time, “I was scared. I half felt that this would be my last exhibition.” Messer had the foresight to prepare by staging a smaller sculpture exhibition the previous year, in which he discovered how to compensate for the space’s weird geometry by constructing special plinths at a particular angle, so the pieces were not at a true vertical yet appeared to be so. In the earlier sculpture show, this trick proved impossible for one piece, an Alexander Calder mobile whose wire inevitably hung at a true plumb vertical, “suggesting hallucination” in the disorienting context of the tilted floor.
The next year, Messer acquired a private collection from art dealer Justin K. Thannhauser for the museum’s permanent collection. These 73 works include Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and French modern masterpieces, including important works by Paul Gauguin, Edouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, Vincent van Gogh and 32 works by Pablo Picasso.
In 1992, the building was supplemented by an adjoining rectangular tower, taller than the original spiral, designed by the architectural firm of Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects.[18] By that point, the building had become iconic enough that this augmentation of Wright’s original design was itself controversial.
In October 2005, Lisa Dennison, a longtime Guggenheim curator, was appointed director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Dennison resigned in July 2007 to work at the auction house Sotheby’s.
From October 2005 to February 2008, Thomas Krens remained director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, having won a decisive victory over billionaire philanthropist and board member Peter Lewis. A significant contributor to the Guggenheim Foundation, Lewis resigned in 2005 in a dispute with the board over the direction and leadership of the Foundation. Despite this, Krens and Lewis nevertheless continue to agree in describing the building itself as “the most important piece of art in the collection.”
In February 2008, Krens stepped down as the Director of the Guggenheim Foundation, but remains an advisor to the Guggenheim’s international expansion projects. The search for a new Director, who will head both the New York museum and the Foundation was recently completed with the Board’s appointment of Richard Armstrong—formerly director of Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Art—as its fifth director.
Exterior restoration
Guggenheim Museum exterior after the 3-year renovation
Between September 2005 and July 2008, the Guggenheim Museum underwent a significant exterior restoration.
In the first phase of this project, a team of restoration architects, structural engineers, and architectural conservators worked together to create a comprehensive assessment of the building’s current condition that determined the structure to be fundamentally sound. This initial condition assessment included:
the removal of 11 coats of paint from the original surface, revealing hundreds of cracks caused over the years, primarily from seasonal temperature fluctuations
detailed monitoring of the movement of selected cracks over 17 months
impact-echo technology, in which sound waves are sent into the concrete and the rebound is measured in order to locate voids within the walls
extensive laser surveys of the exterior and interior surfaces, believed to be the largest laser model ever compiled
core drilling to gather samples of the original concrete and other construction materials
testing of potential repair materials.
Much of the interior of the building was restored during the 1992 renovation and addition by Gwathmey Siegel and Associates Architects. The 2005–2008 restoration primarily addresses the exterior of the original building and the infrastructure. This includes the skylights, windows, doors, concrete and gunite facades and exterior sidewalk, as well as the climate-control. The goal will be to preserve as much significant historical fabric of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum as possible, while accomplishing necessary repairs and attaining a suitable environment for the building’s continuing use as a museum.[24]On September 22, 2008, friends and supporters of the Guggenheim gathered in New York to mark the completion of the 3-year renovation of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Museum. New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg officiated at the celebration that culminated, just after sunset, with the premiere of artist Jenny Holzer’s tribute For the Guggenheim, a work commissioned in honor of Peter B. Lewis, who was a major benefactor in the Museum restoration project. Other supporters of the $29 million dollar restoration included the Board of Trustees of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and the Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of New York. Additional support was provided by the State of New York and MAPEI Corporation.The museum was registered as a National Historic Landmark on October 6, 2008.
Significance in popular culture
The Guggenheim interior
The building has become a cultural icon and can be seen widely throughout popular culture. It is featured in Matthew Barney’s The Cremaster Cycle, Bye Bye Birdie, Men in Black, When in Rome, Downtown 81, Ugly Betty and prominently in The International, where a major shootout occurs in the museum. (In fact, a life-size replica of the museum was built for this scene.. The film, Mr. Popper’s Penguins has a sequence where the penguins cause a disturbance entering the museum, wander to the top of the gallery structure and slide down the entire spiral structure to the ground floor. The New Yorker has included the museum multiple times on its cover and cartoons.
The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City (2007) by Peter Sanderson points out that the Guggenheim museum played a part in Daredevil (Marvel Comics), vol. 1, #61 (1970), What If (comics) (featuring Conan the Barbarian), vol. 1, #13 (1979), and Thor (Marvel Comics) #447-48 (1992).
[edit]Works and Process
Works and Process is a series of performances at the Guggenheim begun in 1984 The first season consisted of Philip Glass with Christopher Keene on Akhnaten and Steve Reich and Michael Tilson Thomas on The Desert Music. — at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
Hofheim am Taunus Germany — Jon Hammond 17th consecutive year Musikmesse-Session Jazzkeller Hofheim
http://jazzkeller-hofheim.de/e107_plugins/sgallery/gallery.php?view.109.1.1
Jon Hammond Band Youtube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/jonhammondband — at Jazzkeller Hofheim.
Hofheim am Taunus — Totó Giovanni Gulino drums on Jon Hammond Band in Jazzkeller-Hofheim
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JtoWjSFow0
Jon Hammond’s annual Musikmesse-Session in Jazzkeller Hofheim, here featuring funky Giovanni Gulino breaking it down on Jon Hammond original funk composition “Head Phone” – Jon Hammond Band – Peter Klohmann tenor sax,
Giovanni Gulino drums, Joe Berger guitar, Jon Hammond Sk1 Hammond organ
*Note: Congratulations to Jazzkeller Hofheim 53 plus years of history, check out the book, I am honored to be on page 68. Keep the tradition going in Hofheim am Taunus, dankeschoen Jazzkeller Hofheim Team! sincerely, Jon Hammond
Tilden Park Berkeley California — Happy 60th Anniversary to my friends at Redwood Valley Railway! (Real Steam Trains!) – A 5 inch scale, 15 inch gauge steam railway based on narrow gauge railroads of the late 1800s located in Berkeley, California. – Jon Hammond
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwood_Valley_Railway
The Redwood Valley Railway is a ridable miniature railroad in Tilden Regional Park near Berkeley, California. It was established in 1952 by Erich Thomsen, and has expanded to 1.25 miles of track and over 160,000 passengers a year.
The railroad uses 5″ scale model live steam locomotives on a 15 in (381 mm) narrow gauge track.
Locomotives
The Number 2- An 0-4-0 Gasoline-Hydraulic locomotive “Juniper”
The Number 4- A 2-4-2 Columbia “Laurel”
The Number 5- A 4-4-0 American “Fern”
The Number 7- A 2-6-2 Prairie “Oak”
The Number 11- A 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler “Sequoia”
Rolling stock
The Redwood Valley Railway maintains a dozen or so wooden gondolas, built similar to those found on 36″ narrow-gauge lines in the American West. The gondolas, equipped with seating for up to eight adults, are the mainstay passenger rolling stock for this operation. The RVRY also owns three stock cars which have been specifically built to carry passengers as well. These are often favorites with small children, although a full-sized adult can comfortably fit inside.
Other equipment includes a boxcar, extra convertible gondolas, which can either haul passengers or satisfy M.O.W. needs.
The RVRy. owns numerous four-wheel maintenance-of-way cars known as “jimmies”, which have specialized uses such as welding, tie replacement, or carrying ballast.
The RVRy. also rosters a single flatcar, built as a high school shop project by one of the crew in the 1970s. This rugged flatcar has seen thousands of uses, and is one of the most versatile cars on the railroad.
Unique among the roster of cars is a coal gondola, once used to carry extra coal for the #4. Coal was used up until the mid-1970s when the #4 was converted to fuel oil. The coal gondola, with its higher sides, is infrequently used. It currently carries a few dozen metal folding chairs for the annual meet.
A favorite with both young and old is the caboose. Based on a D&RGW 36″ gauge prototype, this “short” center cupola caboose has graced the end of most revenue trains for over 30 years.
[edit]Future Projects
Parts for a 2-4-4 Forney and a 2-6-0 exist, but currently remain unassembled. Plans for a second caboose and a lavish, scale (down to the furniture, wallpaper, and bar with tiny glasses) business car are in the works.
As of mid-2010 the boiler for the #13, the aforementioned 2-6-0 has been manufactured. Not to be confused with a visiting GSP&P #13 from the Glenwood Southpark and Pacific.
The #9, a brand-new diesel-hydraulic switching locomotive is in the planning and development stages and should look somewhat similar to the temperamental but faithful #2. The #9 will have a diesel engine instead of a gasoline engine, and will be built as a heavier and more powerful two-axle diesel locomotive, similar to <25ton American industrial locomotives like those found on narrow gauge operations around the country.
Former Locomotives and Rolling Stock
The Number 1 "Cricket" a 12" gauge steam locomotive along with a few 12" gauge cars were sold to the Folsom Valley Ry. in Folsom Ca. — at Redwood Valley Railroad Steam Trains In Tilden Park.
Hollywood California — Jon Hammond and Tommy Denander at ASCAP Expo – http://www.livinginhd.com/hammondcast/blog/2012/04/22/2012_ascap_expo_highlights_hamburg_to_hollywood_via_frankfurt_by_jon_hammond — at Ascap “I Create Music” EXPO.
It’s going on 8.38 in the morning Wolfman Jack! – Jon Hammond — at California Historical Radio Society.
Sea Cliff San Francisco — Nice view from this house! – Jon Hammond — at Sea Cliff San Francisco.
New York NY — Sam Ash Music Store W.48th Street window,
there’s my Hammond XK-3 Organ on display with factory heavy-duty flight case, for a good deal go see John in the Keyboards Dept. – Jon Hammond *same organ on my album NDR SESSIONS Projekt – Behind The Beat Story:
Jon Hammond: The NDR Sessions Projekt
Jon Hammond’s “The NDR Sessions Projekt” brings the soulful…See More — at Sam Ash Music Store.
New York NY — The Harlem Blues & Jazz Band playing at special evening Local 802 Musicians Union Birthday Party for Reynold “Zeke” Mullins – with Zeke Mullins piano, Joey Morant trumpet / Karate Expert Instructor, Fred Staton living legend tenor saxophonist, Art Baron trombone, Jackie Williams drums, Michael Max Fleming bass – Special Thanks Dr. Albert Vollmer and Gina Reder – Jon Hammond — at Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802 AFM.
New York NY — Local 802 Musicians Union Birthday Party for Reynold “Zeke” Mullins great jazz pianist – here on Left is Zeke with drummer Buddy Henry on Right, also Buddy’s birthday either on same or one day different – cake lighting happy birthday! – Jon Hammond — at Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802 AFM.
New York NY — Local 802 Musicians Union Birthday Party for Reynold “Zeke” Mullins – Jon Hammond’s organ on the bandstand just finished playing – Greg Bandy drums / MC for this special evening here at the cans – JH — at Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802 AFM.
New York NY — Local 802 Musicians Union Birthday Party for Reynold “Zeke” Mullins – 2 of my all-time favorite musicians / people – jazz pianist extraordinaire Roy Meriwether with main man Bernard Purdie aka Pretty Purdie also-aka The Hit Maker – Jon Hammond — with Bernard Purdie and Bernard Purdie at Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802 AFM.
New York NY — Local 802 Musicians Union Birthday Party for Reynold “Zeke” Mullins – here we have the great tenor saxophonist Fred Staton and trombonist Art Baron looking on from The Harlem Blues & Jazz Band – spcl. thanks Dr. Al Vollmer & Gina Reder – Jon Hammond — with Art Baron at Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802 AFM.
Hamamatsu Japan — Suzuki Hall in Suzuki World Headquarters and Factory – Tanaka Koei the great harmonica player and inspirational Suzuki Santa, incredible guy folks! Here with Jon Hammond at the B3mk2 – Mercy Mercy Mercy!
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0f_cH1U5jc
Mercy Mercy played by Suzuki Artists Koei Tanaka and Jon Hammond for President Founder Manji Suzuki and Company in Suzuki Hall at Suzuki World Headquarters in Hamamatsu Japan. 2 camera shoot by S. Ohtaka and Jennifer
Master of Ceremonies Waichiro ‘Tachi’ Tachikawa, Jon Hammond at the new B3mk2 organ and wooden model 3300 high power Leslie Speaker, Koei Tanaka Suzuki harmonica Part 3 of 3 Parts “Mercy Mercy” Funky Blues Style, dynamic duo performance. Special Thanks Mr. H. Ono, Mr. M. Terada, Mr. S. Ohtaka, Mr. Yu Beniya, Tachi Waichiro Tachikawa President M. Suzuki and entire Suzuki Musical Instruments Team, © JH INTL
http://www.HammondCast.com/ — in Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka.
Monday Night Local 802 Jazz Session pics from Jon Hammond 07/16
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150966873892102.400995.558692101
New York NY — Local 802 Monday Night Jazz Session
Serious Jazz’ers seen here either before or after playing with Jon Hammond’s organ in foreground (already played) – 07/16/2012
*seated far end in chair – Buddy Henry (drums), standing white pants – Gabriel Romance (vocals & flute)
standing in yellow shirt – Rudy Sheriff Lawless (drums) *one of my trusted spiritual gudes – JH
Bill (drums)
…See More — with Joe Cangelosi Sr. and Arlington Houston at Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802 AFM.
Summer Concert Jazzkeller Frankfurt Soon I Will Be Free Jon Hammond Band
*WATCH THE VIDEO HERE: Jon Hammond Band Summer Concert Jazzkeller Frankfurt SOON I WILL BE FREE
http://ia700408.us.archive.org/21/items/JonHammondJonHammondBandSummerConcertJazzkellerFrankfurtSOONIWILLBEFREE/JonHammondBandSummerConcertJazzkellerFrankfurt.m4v
http://www.archive.org/details/JonHammondJonHammondBandSummerConcertJazzkellerFrankfurtSOONIWILLBEFREE/
Frankfurt Germany — Jon Hammond getting picked up for the gig – Blip TV http://blip.tv/jon-hammond/jon-hammond-s-59th-birthday-party-musikmesse-warm-up-finale-song-6182466 — at Victoria Hotel Frankfurt
Ulrich Vormehr
Yashko Golembiovsky
Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles (ACA)
Marco Wriedt
Paul Rachman
Director/Producer at Film DIrector – AMERICAN HARDCORE
Harry Petersen
U. of Colorado
Hamburg Germany — Head Phone
Jon Hammond Band Blip TV
http://blip.tv/jon-hammond/head-phone-newessbar-hamburg-jon-hammond-band-6068555
Jon Hammond Band in concert in Newessbar Hamischa – L to R: Lutz Buechner tenor sax, Joe Berger guitar, Heinz Lichius drums, Jon Hammond at Sk1 Hammond organ
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150609337502102&set=a.10150603399857102.376340.558692101 Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b13jUY8WR_A
Newessbar Hamischa Hamburg Get Back In The Groove Tribute to 9/11 Jon Hammond Band
Lutz Buechner tenor sax
Heinz Lichius drums
Joe Berger guitar
Jon Hammond Sk1 Hammond organ
Original composition by Jon Hammond International ASCAP
Thanks Olaf and Roman Kumutat
It’s almost time for the 4 Amigos World Guitar Show again folks, this time in San Mateo CA July 14-15 in the San Mateo County Event Center – photo Marc Baum at last year’s show – Jon Hammond
http://jonhammondband.blogspot.com/2012/01/jam-session-day-1-california-world.html
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150908519762102&set=at.61160682101.82732.558692101
San Francisco CA — Newly renovated famous Golden Gate Park Windmills – Jon Hammond
http://www.golden-gate-park.com/windmills.html
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110913/WIRE/110919869
San Francisco windmill restoration marks milestone
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO — Crews restoring the Murphy Windmill in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park are celebrating a milestone.
Crowds watch as workers place a 64-ton dome on the historic landmark Murphy windmill during its repair in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Monday, Sept. 12, 2011. The windmill was constructed in 1905 and is one of the largest windmills in the world. It originally served to irrigate the park. The dome was repaired in Holland. The flags below the American and San Francisco flags are the Dutch and Irish flags.
The windmill’s 68-ton copper dome was placed back on top of the structure on Monday after undergoing nearly a decade of restoration.
The work is part of a multi-million dollar project to bring the six-story windmill, which once pumped water to the rest of the park, back online. Built in 1905, the windmill languished for decades until the restoration work began in 2002.
The project is expected to be completed by the middle of 2012, when the windmill’s sails and gears should be back on and the area around it landscaped.
The project is being funded by public and private money. — at Dutch Windmill
San Francisco CA — The entrance to Baker Beach – Jon Hammond
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_Beach
Baker Beach is a public beach on the peninsula of San Francisco, California, U.S.. The beach lies on the shore of the Pacific Ocean to the northwest of the city. It is roughly a half mile (800 m) long, beginning just south of Golden Gate Point (where the Golden Gate Bridge connects with the peninsula), extending southward toward the Seacliff peninsula, the Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Sutro Baths. The northern section of Baker Beach is “frequented by clothing-optional sunbathers”. As such it is considered a nude beach.History
Baker Beach is part of the Presidio, which was a military base from the founding of San Francisco by the Spanish in 1812 until 1997. In 1904, it was fortified with disappearing gun installations known as Battery Chamberlin, which can still be viewed today. When the Presidio was decommissioned as a U.S. Army base, it became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is administered by the National Park Service.
From 1986 to 1990, the north end of Baker Beach was the original site of the Burning Man art festival. In 1990, park police allowed participants to raise the traditional large statue but not to set it on fire, since the beach enforces a limit on the size of any campfires. Subsequent Burning Man events have taken place in Black Rock Desert, Nevada.
A fatal shark attack occurred on Baker Beach on May 7, 1959[5] when 18-year old Albert Kogler Jr. was attacked by a great white shark while he was 15 feet deep in water. This was the only shark attack recorded on Baker Beach.
Large outcrops of serpentine cliffs occur along the Pacific coast near Baker Beach. When rising from the land surface, serpentine produces a low-calcium, high-magnesium soil that can allow for rare species of plants to develop in the vicinity. This may explain the presence of Hesperolinon congestum (the Marin Dwarf Flax, a threatened plant) in surrounding areas — at Baker Beach.
Baker Beach – Jon Hammond
Musikmesse Frankfurt — Barrie Freeman of Hammond Suzuki UK & Jon Hammond – I’ve been to 26 Musikmesse’s (consecutively) but Barrie’s got me beat! – JH
http://www.hammondorgan.co.uk/ Hammond Organ UK FaceBook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hammond-Organ-UK/284971118200473
*Michael Michael Falkenstein takin’ care of biz by the organ http://hammond.de/ Germany
http://www.HammondCast.com/ — with Michael Falkenstein and Barrie Freeman at Musikmesse Frankfurt
Moscow Russia — Ed Zizak taking a killer solo on my Theme Song “Late Rent”
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOMLzIdc82g
Jon Hammond Trio in Moscow Russia with Igor Butman tenor sax Eduard Zizak drums Jon Hammond organ, full power Late Rent break song with
amazing psychedelic solo from Eduard on James and Wess Blues dedicated to organist Jimmy Smith. Special thanks Faina Cobham, Hammond Suzuki, Camera: Jennifer http://www.jonhammondband.com/ — with Ed Zizak at Verkhnjaja Radishchevskaya St. 21 Moscow Russia
Vadim Eilenkrig
Moscow, Russia
Севастьянов Дмитрий
Moscow, Russia
Алексей Беккер
Гнес
1976 Honda Civic CVCC my very first brand-new car – Jon Hammond *wearing one of my custom Panama Hats from Arthur at Hand The Hatter of Boston Combat Zone
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150944323417102&set=a.61160682101.82732.558692101
Combat Zone Boston MA — Hand The Hatter, Arthur was one of the greatest hatters of all times. I had all my hats custom made by him when I was playing Hammond organ 7 nights a week in the Zone – at World Famous 2 O’Clock Club, Picadilly, Mouse Trap and some of the other ‘continuous adult entertainment’ clubs back in the 70’s – Jon Hammond
http://www.csmonitor.com/1988/1011/rhat.html
By David Holmstrom, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor / October 11, 1988
Boston
IT’S a hot day on LaGrange Street. Across from the gaudy Club New Orleans, on the shady side of this street in Boston’s notorious “combat zone,” Arthur Stephens takes a small paring knife out of his pocket. He carefully cuts through the black threads of time. “Six and seven-eighths,” he says quietly. In his hand is a beige man’s hat. No measuring, no guessing the size. He knows hats, this hat, any hat. The knife cuts the threads holding the old, black hatband. It falls to the floor.
“This is a good beaver hat,” says Mr. Stephens, twirling it over the knuckles of one hand. He will spend the next hour or so in loving restoration of another man’s favorite hat.
For 54 years, inside a narrow LaGrange Street shop darkened by time and steam, and filled with the rakishness of hats on pegs everywhere, Stephens has plied the almost forgotten art of a hatter. Like a poet polishing verbs, Stephens makes, restores, and repairs fine hats. During the half-century he has been motivated by the axiom “A man doesn’t looked dressed unless he wears a hat.”
“My sisters were hat trimmers,” he says proudly, ready to nurture just about any stained, drooping hat into new sheen and bearing. “My father was a hatter, and my brothers were hatters, too. See, I like what I’m doing. You gotta like what you’re doing. I’m 80 going on 81.
Arthur Stephens is the only bona fide, art-for-the-sake-of-art hatter left in Boston. Once there were dozens. Ernesto Marrone has been a customer for 10 years. “You can’t get this kind of service anywhere else,” he says, “not even in New York. I wear hats because I grew up in an old Italian neighborhood where hats were customary.”
Long before Stephens bought the shop on LaGrange, a man named Hand first opened it on a downtown Boston street. The year was 1860, the year Abraham Lincoln was elected President, and Mr. Hand proclaimed his shop “Hand the Hatter.”
The shop thrived down one century to another, satisfying Bostonian gentlemen who wore homburgs, panamas, top hats, trilbies, derbys, westerns, fedoras, and even boaters. And when the young and ambitious Stephens bought the shop in 1934, he kept the name.
Today, above the door, slightly weathered and melancholy, a black-and-white sign still says, “Hand the Hatter.”
The small shop window – protected by a steel grate – is so dusty and gray there is no seeing through it. One step up and through the open door and into the musty shop, and you have entered a time warp sliced from a faded calendar, circa 1930, with hats, hats, and more hats.
“You walk in here and say, `How come all this junk is here?”’ says Stephens, a small man with rounded shoulders and a gruff, sentimental voice. “But everything is ready for any kind of hat. You never know when you’re going to use this stuff.”
“This stuff” lying about is a Noah’s ark of the hatter’s craft. Shelves and tables full of wooden hat blocks, shelves full of wooden flanges to shape brims, a 40-year-old hissing copper boiler (steam for steaming the hats), ancient cans of “luring” grease (to bring out the sheen of hats), an old “ironing” machine that heats and shapes the crown of hat while it spins slowly on a block, and off in one corner a bulbous, heated “sand” machine (a flannel bag filled with heated beach sand) to lower over a hat on a flange to shape or reshape the brim.
“I used to work until 2 in the morning,” says Stephens, recalling the heady, quicker pace of the 1930s. “Saturdays, Sundays. I’d go out to eat, take a shower at a hotel, come back here, and go to work again. I could knock off maybe 40 to 50 hats a day. Today if I do eight or 10 I’m doing a big day’s work.”
Stephens acknowledges that it was probably a hatless President named John Kennedy who helped take the steam out of the men’s hat business. That and all the vets returning from World War II as men who refused to wear hats anymore. Add the long hair of men in the 1960s, and hats had a dim future.
“Kennedy didn’t wear a hat,” says Stephens, “and everybody stopped wearing them. Men are wearing all different kinds of hats now, but still not like they used to. Do I wear hats? Sure. I keep a couple in my car.”
He pauses by the ironing machine, watching the blocked brown hat turning as the hot “iron” moves automatically and slowly around it, squeaking all the way. On a shelf a fan pushes the hot air around.
His voice lowers. “Way back I made hats for Jimmy Durante,” he says. “His valet used to come here and get them. He’d say, `Jimmy needs a couple of hats,’ and I’d know just what he wanted. Basil Rathbone used to buy hats from me, too.”
A new hat from Stephens will cost from $125 to $150. A restoration begins about $20 and often ends there, no matter how long it takes. “I never really check the time, to tell you the truth,” he says. “I like the work, and when it’s done, it’s done.”
In the late afternoon a customer of 35 years comes in: a stocky, older man named Mitch with a straw hat needing the brim smoothed and stiffened. Stephens repairs the hat in minutes, using the sand machine and some deftly applied glue.
“I bought my first custom-made hat here in 1950,” says Mitch, standing at the small counter near an enormous old cash register with a hand crank. “I got one he made me a few years ago, and a couple of others,” says Mitch. He says he would like another, a light gray this time.
He and Stephens strike an accord. A price of $85, with $40 down. Stephens fills out an order. Mitch peels off two $20 bills on the counter. “I don’t want you pushing yourself,” he says to Stephens. They both laugh and agree that three weeks should be long enough to fashion the hat. They shake hands. Mitch says warmly, “I need you. Don’t push yourself on this.”
Minutes later, a young man in a leather vest and tie enters and picks up a custom-made hat, a tan, narrow-brimmed trilby. Stephens packs the hat in a new Stetson hat box and tosses in a cluster of small red and yellow feathers for the hatband. When the young man leaves, Stephens says: “If you’re any kind of a businessman, you throw a man a few feathers.”
Late in the afternoon he sits in one of the four old chairs just inside the front door in a pensive mood. “These are all old customers now,” he says quietly. “They know I won’t sell them a bad hat. If I had said a $100 for the hat, Mitch would have paid it. No arguments.” — at Combat Zone
Combat Zone Boston MA — Hand The Hatter, Arthur was one of the greatest hatters of all times. I had all my hats custom made by him when I was playing Hammond organ 7 nights a week in the Zone – at World Famous 2 O’Clock Club, Picadilly, Mouse Trap and some of the other ‘continuous adult entertainment’ clubs back in the 70’s – Jon Hammond
http://www.csmonitor.com/1988/1011/rhat.html
By David Holmstrom, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor / October 11, 1988
Jazz Session, Jon Lord, R.I.P., Hammond Organ, Local 802, Musicians Union, Blues, New York City, Journal, July 16, 2012, Deep Purple, Organist, Musikmesse, Sk1, Sk2, Suzuki
Hammondcast's Weblog 