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HOME : CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Roots Music Cabaret Features Matt Munisteri Playing the Music of Willard RobisonOctober 13, 2007
Cultural Events
Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Matt Munisteri is a Brooklyn native who grew up as almost assuredly the only bluegrass banjo player on his block. As a self-proclaimed musical archaeologist Munisteri has developed a lifelong infatuation with early American music which led him to the work of the prototypical American singer-songwriter Willard Robison. On Saturday, October 13, at 8 PM at a Roots Music Cabaret in MASS MoCA’s Club B-10 Munisteri will present Still Running 'Round in the Wilderness: The Lost Music of Willard Robison. After years of delving into old 78rpm records, Munisteri's latest obsession comes to full bloom as he and his exceptional band, Brock Mumford, perform Robison's compositions. Willard Robison composed sophisticated rural/religious-themed tunes in the 1920s and sang, played piano, and conducted a live orchestra - all at once! None of his recordings have been available since their original releases on 78’s -- most from the mid 1920's. This project has been years in the making -- Munisteri went to auctions of 78 rpm records, painstakingly tracked down whatever sheet music he could, ebay-ed, swapped, and begged in order to locate the source materials. After identifying and acquiring as much original material as he could, he set to work transcribing, arranging, taking apart and generally monkeying with Robison’s music, all while preserving Robison’s melodic and harmonic content. The end result of all this work is that Munisteri now has over a hundred of Robison’s recordings to cull from. The music of The Beatles, Hoagy Carmichael, Randy Newman, Cole Porter and The Band were as present in Munisteri’s childhood as his own cherished Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley records. This might be the reason for his unique synthesis of tradition and reach, which is evident in his remarkable, homespun guitar technique and his ‘high lonesome’ jazz singing. As a freelance guitarist, Munisteri is regularly called upon to play on a wide range of CD’s as well as television and radio commercials. He has performed at MASS MoCA with several artists such as Steve Bernstein as part of The Millennial Territory Orchestra accompanying Laurel & Hardy films in August and jazz singer Catherine Russell in February. Tickets for Matt Munisteri’s Still Running 'Round in the Wilderness: The Lost Music of Willard Robison are $14 in advance or $18 the day of the event. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams from 11 A.M. until 5 P.M. (closed Tuesdays). Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line at www.massmoca.org.
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