Andy Statman in NYC 05/10/18

[Sherry Cadenhead]

Recently I took a girls' trip to New York. Based on recommendations in the Cafe, we saw Andy Statman perform at a synagogue in Greenwich Village. What an experience! I was not expecting such an intimate venue. Andy and his trio set up in a small room, which had a few chairs set up in rows, plus a table with a few chairs. Wish I had thought to take a picture of the room. Anyway, we were 4 of only about 20 people. I believe these performances are somewhat regular, but must be the best kept secret in town.

Andy graciously offered to let me play his mandolin after the performance. If all goes well, I'll post my favorite video of that night, as well as a picture of Andy and me. (I have permission to post the video here.)

[Sherry Cadenhead]

https://youtu.be/C8UWXNKD6FQ

[Sherry Cadenhead]

[Jon Hall]

He's really great! Thanks for sharing!

[Sherry Cadenhead]

He's really great! Thanks for sharing!

He is amazing!

[Trav'linmando]

Sherry, sounds like you had a great time. I think Andy is a tremendous player. Seems like he doesn't get the same love here at the cafe compared to other people. I have one of his method books also. Good stuff. Thanks.

[DavidKOS]

Sherry, sounds like you had a great time. I think Andy is a tremendous player. Seems like he doesn't get the same love here at the cafe compared to other people. I have one of his method books also. Good stuff. Thanks.

I like his playing a lot - more than I like a lot of his contemporaries' mandolin playing.

But I am also partial to Klezmer music, too - and although he's a master clarinet player, I love his Klezmer mandolin style.

[Sherry Cadenhead]

You're right, Larry. I had a terrific time. I hadn't heard of Andy until he was recommended by a couple of folks in the Forum. I was blown away by his playing. Admittedly, I'm blown away by everyone's playing but mine. Andy's was exceptional, though.

David, Andy played his clarinet the night I attended, and I suppose he always does. Never having had the opportunity to hear someone play mandolin live, I was rather anxious for the clarinet to end. I suppose Andy played some mandolin Klezmer, although I don't know exactly what that is and wouldn't necessarily recognize it.

[bbcee]

I had planned to drag my friend out to see him when I was back in NYC in April, but he had taken a couple of weeks off from the synagogue gig. What a drag!!

"Old Brooklyn" sounds to me like a record that could only be made by New Yorkers - exuberant, intelligent, funny and sweet by turns. Not much I miss about the place, then I hear a record like that ... It's so great that he's such a nice guy on top of it. Glad you had such a good evening, Sherry!

[JEStanek]

What a wonderful experience. Thanks for sharing.

Jamie

[DougC]

I like his playing a lot - more than I like a lot of his contemporaries' mandolin playing.

But I am also partial to Klezmer music, too - and although he's a master clarinet player, I love his Klezmer mandolin style.

Andy Statman is kind of a mystery to me. And a source of frustration. I understand the appreciation the people like Sherry have for his good nature and intimate performances. And if I had the chance I'd go to a concert there. And maybe I should so I can speak to him 'face to face' about this issue. And that is that he rarely plays klezmer music for the public. Andy knows a lot about traditional klezmer music but he only does klez improv and popular stuff like bluegrass, improv on popular tunes, blues, jazz, even tunes from the 'Beach Boys'.

I play klezmer music on mandolin and mandola and sure would like to see some from the 'expert'. Oh well...

[DavidKOS]

Andy Statman is kind of a mystery to me. And a source of frustration. I understand the appreciation the people like Sherry have for his good nature and intimate performances. And if I had the chance I'd go to a concert there. And maybe I should so I can speak to him 'face to face' about this issue. And that is that he rarely plays klezmer music for the public. Andy knows a lot about traditional klezmer music but he only does klez improv and popular stuff like bluegrass, improv on popular tunes, blues, jazz, even tunes from the 'Beach Boys'.

I play klezmer music on mandolin and mandola and sure would like to see some from the 'expert'. Oh well...

Has he stopped performing Klezmer in secular contexts? I know he has gotten more Orthodox over the years.

[DougC]

Has he stopped performing Klezmer in secular contexts? I know he has gotten more Orthodox over the years.

I'm no expert on Andy Statman. But I know that he played at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst Mass. not long ago. It is the most logical place to see klezmer music. He played blues and Beach Boys tunes.

As for klezmer clarinet, he is really into improv. Not much help there if you want to hear the standard tunes. It seems that he saves the good stuff for the Hassidic community. I wish I knew more. Or I hope he would know how much we want to hear traditional klezmer on mandolin.

[Sherry Cadenhead]

I had planned to drag my friend out to see him when I was back in NYC in April, but he had taken a couple of weeks off from the synagogue gig. What a drag!

Bummer!

[Randi Gormley]

A couple years ago I went with other members of Carlo Aonzo's Manhattan Mandolin four-day orchestra camp to see Andy Statman and he recognized Carlo so only played his mandolin that night (although the clarinet was sitting by his side). the music was pretty incredible. I remember some klezmer but it was mostly a mix and a lot of improv. It was almost like being at a secret concert. Pretty neat.

[Mandolin Cafe]

Seems like he doesn't get the same love here at the cafe compared to other people.

There's plenty of Andy going around on the Cafe. Not many mandolin players get two lengthy feature articles about them. He's well known among many. Case in point:

Andy from the history database
Andy Statman Interview from 2010
An Evening with The Andy Statman Trio from 2012

There is a lot of archived news about him as well, mostly around new project releases.

[Trav'linmando]

Thank you for the info. I will have to dig into these articles. I probably worded that poorly. Should have said something along the lines of " he doesn't get___

Ah never mind. I should just shut my mouth.
And dig into the archives more.

[Sherry Cadenhead]

Larry, don't beat yourself up. If it weren't for you, those links wouldn't have been posted.

[Trav'linmando]

Thank you for that Sherry.