#DidYouKnow that April is International #GuitarMonth? It’ll come as no surprise that we’re big fans of that so we’re going to be showcasing some of our wonderful #guitars during April, starting with our Connoisseur Collection.
The Connoisseur Collection is a range of unique and beautiful hand crafted acoustic guitars. Each is a one-off, a masterpiece, representing the finest work of three of the most revered independent luthiers in the world. Tone, playability, appearance – these guitars make no compromises, every one is exquisite in all areas. The timbers used were chosen specifically for their tonal qualities, seasoned naturally for at least ten years (often decades longer) and handcrafted to reveal the beauty inherent in the wood.
Blurring the lines between lutherie and art…Each guitar took between four and six months to make, its personality often evolving as the character of the wood guides the luthier, almost like the sculptor that reveals the beautiful statue hidden inside a block of stone.
The Connoisseur Collection is for those who appreciate the value of something that is truly unique, those who want something crafted, not ”manufactured”.
The Collection features examples of the work of three master luthiers; a superb French Busato gypsy jazz guitar from Maurice Dupont, Spanish Flamenco and Classical guitars by Ricardo Sanchis Carpio, and some unique, characterful and very special steel-strung acoustic guitars by Irish luthier John Catherwood.
A little later than usual, we’re paying tribute to the 115 individuals from the music industry who died during March. The music industry is the poorer for their passing.
1 Hauk Buen, 87, Norwegian fiddler Michael Gudinski, 68, Australian music industry executive, co-founder of Mushroom Records Agim Krajka, 83, Albanian composer Ralph Peterson Jr., 58, American jazz drummer
2 Chris Barber, 90, English jazz bandleader and trombonist Àlex Casademunt, 39, Spanish pop singer, actor, and TV presenter Mark Goffeney, 51, American guitarist Rina Gunawan, 46, Indonesian singer and presenter Kari Rasmussen, 88, Norwegian singer and actress and singer Prabhat Sarma, 85, Indian flautist and singer Anna Shuttleworth, 93, English cellist Bunny Wailer, 73, Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter, and Grammy winner (1991, 1995, 1997)
3 Medea Abrahamyan, 88, Armenian cellist Duffy Jackson, 67, American jazz drummer Dagoberto Planos Despaigne, 64, Cuban singer Maria José Valério, 87, Portuguese singer Roger Verhaart, 54, Dutch musician and composer
4 Alan Cartwright, 75, English rock bassist Barbara Ess, 73, American musician and photographer Bhaskar Menon, 86, Indian-born American music industry executive, chairman and CEO of EMI Worldwide Jana Šulcová-Kühnová, 85, Czech music teacher Helmut Winschermann, 100, German classical oboist and composer
5 Chuang Ling Yun, 21, Taiwanese singer and actress Sasa Klaas, 27, Motswanan singer-songwriter Michael Stanley, 72, American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter
6 Renée Doria, 100, French opera singer
7 Dmitri Bashkirov, 89, Russian pianist Sanja Ilić, 69, Serbian composer and keyboardist Josky Kiambukuta, 72, Congolese singer Lars-Göran Petrov, 49, Swedish heavy metal singer
8 Adrian Bărar, 61, Romanian guitarist and composer James MacGaw, French guitarist Éva Tordai, 83, Hungarian opera singer Julien-François Zbinden, 103, Swiss composer and jazz pianist
9 Freddy Birset, 73, Belgian singer and musician Maarja Haamer, 82, Estonian opera singer James Levine, 77, American conductor and pianist Shuichi Murakami, 70, Japanese jazz drummer Len Skeat, 84, English jazz double-bassist René Taesch, 69, French musician, writer, and photographer Mark Whitecage, 83, American jazz reedist
10 Bruce Abel, 84, American bass singer János Gonda, 89, Hungarian jazz pianist Lyudmila Lyadova, 95, Russian composer and singer, People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1984) Stephen Scott, 76, American composer Roger Trigaux, 69, Belgian musician
11 Ray Campi, 86, American rock double bassist Jewlia Eisenberg, 50, American singer Florentín Giménez, 95, Paraguayan pianist and composer Sally Grossman, 81, American music label executive Victor Lebedev, 86, Russian composer, People’s Artist of Russia (2005) Τakis Mousafiris, 83, Greek composer, lyricist and musician, cancer Lily de Vos, 96, Dutch singer
12 Maximiliano Djerfy, 46, Argentine guitarist Dion Payton, 70, American blues guitarist and singer Stahan Rakhimov, 83, Uzbek singer, People’s Artist of Russia (2002)
13 Raoul Casadei, 83, Italian singer and composer Mark Lubotsky, 89, Russian violinist Michael Stein, 70, German schlager music singer
14 Eulalio Cervantes, 52, Mexican saxophonist Mahmoud Khoshnam, 85, Iranian music critic Friedrich Meyer-Oertel, 84, German opera director Thione Seck, 66, Senegalese singer and musician Reggie Warren, 52, American R&B singer
15 Dragoljub Đuričić, 68, Montenegrin drummer Doug Parkinson, 74, Australian pop and rock singer
16 Emilia Fadini, 90, Spanish-born Italian harpsichordist and musicologist
17 Gerhard Augustin, 79, German music producer Mayada Basilis, 54, Syrian singer Antón García Abril, 87, Spanish composer Matt Miller, 34, American keyboardist Freddie Redd, 92, American pianist and composer Corey Steger, 42, American metal guitarist Anna Wójtowicz, 73, Polish violinist and cellist
18 Paul Jackson, 73, American jazz bassist Valeriu Negruța, 80, Moldovan violinist and conductor
19 Cristián Cuturrufo, 48, Chilean jazz trumpeter Margie Evans, 81, American blues and gospel singer and songwriter Irmão Lázaro, 54, Brazilian gospel singer and politician Éva Nagy, 73, Hungarian singer
20 Constance Demby, 81, American composer Buddy Deppenschmidt, 85, American jazz drummer Taryn Fiebig, 49, Australian operatic soprano Robert Gard, 93, British-born Australian tenor Yevgeny Nesterenko, 83, Russian operatic singer Dan Sartain, 39, American rock and roll musician
22 Pierick Houdy, 92, French composer and musician
23 Connie Bradley, 75, American music executive Noel Bridgeman, 74, Irish musician Corinne Chapelle, 44, French-American violinist Ethel Gabriel, 99, American record producer, music executive, and Grammy winner (1982) Don Heffington, 70, American drummer Hana Hegerová, 89, Slovak singer and actress Peter Viskinde, 67, Danish rock musician
24 Jean Baudlot, 74, French composer Dorin Leșeanu, 33, Moldovan composer Richard Stoker, 82, British composer
25 Alexander Lipnitsky, 68, Russian musician Tavish Maloney, American guitarist Jaroslav Šaroun, 77, Czech pianist, composer, and music educator
26 Želimir Altarac Čičak, 73, Bosnian music promoter, publicist, and poet Brett Bradshaw, American drummer Cornelia Catangă, 63, Romanian singer Coosje Wijzenbeek, 72, Dutch violinist and violin pedagogue
27 Zafir Hadžimanov, 77, Macedonian-Serbian singer and actor Rodion Roșca, 67, Romanian rock musician
28 Olgierd Buczek, 89, Polish singer. Malcolm Cecil, 84, British musician and record producer Ryszard Zimak, 74, Polish conductor, pedagogue, and rector of Chopin University of Music
29 Hans Kinds, 74, Dutch guitarist Keiko Tōyama, 87, Japanese pianist
30 Claire dela Fuente, 62, Filipino singer
31 Anzor Erkomaishvili, 80, Georgian composer, musician, and MP (2008–2009) Jane Manning, 82, English operatic soprano Jadwiga Wysoczanská, 93, Czech opera singer
We were in The Old Dairy over the weekend getting things ready for reopening on April 12th and found the cherry tree just outside our reception window in full bloom.
We hope it’ll still be that way next week when you’ll be able to visit us and see it in person
