Hunkered Down

The week before Wade Ripka was on the New York Lawn Bowling Green in Central Park with his small band playing for the "Old Timers Day" Tournament. It was the first paying gig he and his musicians had had for over seven months. He was on the Green a week later -- this time bowling -- and after our game I sat down with this talented and multifaceted musician to catchup on how his career is progressing and his new interests. This talented guitarist and band leader and music transcriber -- always has a new interest -- right now it is the Turkish lute -- Bağlama.Wade is a wild and loving cat and I am glad to call him a friend.

Pedro Cortes is a master Flamenco guitar musician with roots in Spanish Gypsy traditions. He learned his craft from his family's close friend Flamenco legion -- 'Uncle' Sabicas. Mr Cortes performed professionally since he was 17 – all over the world – St. Louis Opera -- New York Grand Opera -- Guthrie Theatre’s production of Lorca’s "Blood Wedding" – and he had a regular gig at Alegerias – at the Spanish Benevolent Society -- until the pandemic hit. The artist was interviewed before his performance at a music salon arranged by Deirdre Towers in honor of her longtime companion who had recently died -- Jared Newman. Pedro played his own composition "Mineros" on Jared's guitar. NOTE: In the program notes photo - Pedro Cortes is playing the blanca guitar commissioned by Paul Jared Newman and made by Andrés Marvi in Ferreirola, Spain.

Part 2 of a two-part HD episode. Mark Kaplan is a leading violinist of our time. He has performed solo at nearly every major American orchestra including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras and many more. Mark Kaplan has collaborated with the world's foremost conductors, among them Ormandy, Maazel, Masur, Foster, Gatti, Rattle, Slatkin and so many others. In Part 1 of this conversation, we talked about Mark's early career and how he got started as a soloist for the world's foremost orchestras. In Part 2 we focused on his chamber music and his most interesting predictions of where big-time professional music will be after the pandemic. Along the way we included excerpts from Mark's performances of Bach, Bartok, Lerdahl and Schoenfield. This is a wonderful listen and should not be missed.CONTACT: upperwestsideradio@gmal.com