Thursday, April 24, 2008

Farewell to a master

I was sad to learn recently of master guitar craftsman Tom Humphrey's death. An Ulster County resident (Gardiner), Humphrey and his Millennium guitar design were recognized internationally by performers as diverse as Sting and Eliot Fisk. I had hoped to feature Humphrey's work in an upcoming issue of Hudson Valley Connoisseur.

Over the years, I had the good fortune to attend several of the amazing concerts that the Unison Arts & Learning Center in New Paltz produced with Humphrey's assistance. One concert in particular, in 2004 with three generations of the amazing Assad family of Brazil, absolutely blew me away and pushed me closer to appreciating a genre of music that I absolutely adore today.

Stuart Bigley, executive director of Unison, wrote a tribute to Humphrey in the Poughkeepsie Journal. Here is hoping the center is able to celebrate Humphrey's legacy with more concerts of the same caliber.

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