Melonious Quartet Mandolin?

[LKN2MYIS]

I'm very intrigued by their music, but also by their instruments. Very unique, and very sweet sounding.

I'm trying to get more info on the instruments themselves, but I must be missing something. The luthier is Andre Sakellarides from Marseille.

I can't find any info on this guy. No web page, nothing. I find a few semi-relevant pages that won't translate through Google. (I sadly
don't speak any other languages, and, honestly, I'm not that great with
English.)

Does anyone know either anything about him or his instruments? Or any links to learn more? They fascinate me. They look like they stepped out of a Dali painting.

http://www.meloniousquartet.com/melonious.htm Then click on "Mandolines" for a
nice shot of their instruments.

As always, any help is appreciated.

[Dagger Gordon]

Mandozine once had an interview with Patrick Vaillant of Melonious, where he talks about Andre's instruments. If you Google

CGOW- Patrick Vaillant

[LKN2MYIS]

Yes, I found that stuff. But it doesn't give a whole heck of a lot of info.

I'd like to know more about the luthier and his instruments. He may not even be building anymore - in the Builders section the last update was in 2001.

I was hoping there was a web site I was missing, or something else out there in cyber space that I missed.

[Jim Garber]

Try contacting the group: contact@meloniousquartet.com

[LKN2MYIS]

It may come down to that, thanks.

Am I alone in thinking that these instruments are fascinating?

[Jim Garber]

Am I alone in thinking that these instruments are fascinating?

No, there are at least 4 people in France who agree with you. :)

[LKN2MYIS]

Thank goodness!

For a moment, there, I felt incredibly alone . . . . . . . . .

[Dagger Gordon]

I do as well, and have done for some time. They look great and sound great, and are quite different from what we usually see here.

Having said that, David Grisman now plays a Giacomel mandolin, an Italian maker, and they don't look very traditional either, so maybe the world is ready for some very modern looking European mandolins.

[Michael Wolf]

I think Andre Sakellarides is still building. But maybe he's not interested in building many Mandolins since he's a Violin builder. It seems that nobody has a Mandolin from him except the Melonious Quartet.
Btw.: Here's a newer Mandopolis site: http://www.mandopolis.org/?page_id=8
Unfortunately it is not very common in France to have a English version of the websites.

Hello Dagger,
did you get the "Veranda"-CD of Vaillant/Tesi in the meantime?

[LKN2MYIS]

Michael -

You could be right, but even as a violin maker I was hoping he would have a web site. Or at least that there would be more info available on him.

A shame. The instruments are fascinating and I'd love to learn more about them.

[Dagger Gordon]

No, Michael, I haven't got it, indeed it seems to be unobtainable.

Do you mean did I download it? I think you came up with a site to do that from. Perhaps that's the answer.

[brunello97]

Thank goodness!

For a moment, there, I felt incredibly alone . . . . . . . . .

By coincidence we were just listening to the MQ's recordings of Satie tonight in the car. Very, very nice.

Mick

[Philippe Bony]

Unfortunately it is not very common in France to have a English version of the websites.
;) It's not very common in the U.S.A. to have a French, Italian or German version too...

I thought phone was "international"? :))
André SAKELLARIDES (http://www.musicvibration.com/magasin-musique-sakellarides-andre-178.html)

You could write a letter too...

[LKN2MYIS]

I was in Paris for 5 days with an additional 1 1/2 weeks in Northern France last October. Amazing.

If I was smarter, I would have looked him up while I was there. Paris is an INCREDIBLE place.

I'll probably try to do a contact thing through MQ. It would just be nice to browse a website and learn of his history, philosophy on mandolins and such, and see models.

Truly unique instruments with exceptional tone.

[Philippe Bony]

Well, he lives and has his shop in Marseille...:cool:

[brunello97]

Phillipe, I've always thought French to be one of the more accessible languages for English speakers. (Perhaps the inverse is not so true.) Word order, sentence structure and so many words themselves seem so familiar. I've never studied it properly but seem to make do and we always have a great time traveling in France; people are so very friendly (and tolerant of my poor grammar.) We will make it to Mandopolis one day soon.

Mick

[mrmando]

Marseilles is a fascinating city ... wish I could've spent a little more time there. Well worth the trip, luthiers or no.