Comments
Happy Birthday, Mattie! Miss you!❤🎶
just got back from NYC ... picking up the finest guitar I have ever owned ... the Stahl (1930) ... I bought it a year ago ... and about a month ago, the bridge began to lift ... so I took it to Matt Umanov on Bleeker St. ... he and his luthier, Yuri, went over it, and it needed more than just a bridge re-glue ... 3 back braces (reglued) frets dressed, top cracks sealed (it IS 90 years old), and the piece of maple below the bridge where the pins go through the top replaced ... Matt and Yuri are the ONLY folks I trust with this guitar ... we should be good for another 90 years now
I met you through a mutual friend (no idea; maybe van ronk or barry cornfield or steve katz). It was 1964 and I had just purchased a 1951 or 1952 Martin D-28 that had water damage and was warped around the bout and had a couple of small pieces missing out of the bout. You repaired it plus changed the bracing to resemble that of a pre-war D-28. You were just starting out and did an excellent job! I still have that guitar today and it sounds better than ever.
Saw the post about your shop closing and just wanted to touch base.
Steve Newhouse
Many thanks to Matt Umanov of Matt Umanov Guitars for this very nice piece about the Izzy’s Impact: Remembering Izzy Young and the Folklore Center panel that we had at the Brooklyn Folk Festival this year.
Thank you Matt!
The panel was recorded, keep an eye out as we will be posting the audio a little ways down the road...
Happy Birthday, Mattie! Will be up there Sept 14-16 with Dick Boak & Susan Ellis. Let's get into some trouble.
From David Chevan on passing of Stacy Phillips on 6/5/18
I have sad news. My friend Stacy Phillips, a man who was many, many things, including a Grammy award winner, a Bluegrass legend and a founding member of the Afro-Semitic Experience, died yesterday evening, Tuesday, June 5 around 9:30. He was 74 years old. He experienced a massive heart attack on Sunday and from then on it was just a matter of time. He was surrounded by his family, his sister and his niece and nephew. Stacy was his own person and that was reflected in the life he led as a musician. If this news seems like a surprise or a blow, I agree. I have spent the past two days in a state of disbelief as the life of someone who was a colleague, a mentor, a friend, and a genuine world class grump slipped away. I would say more about Stacy, but others have already said it better. There is a great obituary about Stacy in today’s New Haven Independent.
This Sunday, June 10, beginning at 1:00 p.m. three different parts of Stacy Phillips’ complex musical life will come together as we give the first of several memorials. This one will be at Café 9 in New Haven. There was never anything typical about Stacy Phillips and it turns out that is going to be true about him even after life. You see, Stacy isn’t having a funeral. Why? Because he donated his body to Yale Medical School. So, no funeral, we will do some of what Stacy would have wanted and probably not wanted to memorialize him.
Stacy had scheduled a performance of his ever-changing cast of players known as Stacy Phillips and his Bluegrass Characters for this Sunday at Café 9. The Bluegrass Characters and Café 9 have graciously offered their performance time and space to all as a place where we can honor Stacy’s memory and remember him as musicians so often do: through words and music.
Doors will open at 12:00, noon.
Café 9 is located at 250 State Street in New Haven, Connecticut.
Since Stacy won’t be having a funeral, we are planning to begin the day at 1:00 p.m. with a short memorial service to comfort his family and other mourners.
And then, from 1:30 we are celebrating his life and music
If you are interested in sharing a personal story or a song at this memorial, please see the information near the end of this email.
1:00-1:30 memorial service and family reminisces about Stacy led by Cantor Malachi Kanfer
1:30 Nu Haven Kapelye
2:30 Afro-Semitic Experience
3:30 (Stacy Phillips and) his Bluegrass Characters
4:30-6:00 Open mic: people or groups who wish to share a musical piece in Stacy’s memory are invited to participate. If you wish to be guaranteed a slot please sign up in advance by getting in touch with David Chevan at
[email protected].
Zikhrono l’vrakha May his memory be a blessing
Best,
David
Enjoy your retirement Matt Umanov.
I'm am so sad that Matt Umanov's is closing. I bought my Fender Music Master bass there. Here is a love letter to Matt Umanov's I made with my brother a couple of years ago.
https://youtu.be/FiynsznNESY
Say it isn't so!
Say it isn't so!
Matty, I treasured our friendship and business dealings for so many years. I hope you'll find time to have a java with me at some point in time...I took that little sign with me and I hope that is ok with you....Thank you for everything Matty for so many years--it did not go un-noticed....Jack p.s. I will dearly miss all the gang and the store, especially Zeke...
Sad.
