Berklee Tribute to John McGann

[J Walsh]

Hello all-

I don't suppose I have to tell anyone here how big of a hole John McGann's passing left in so very many communities, one of which of course is here in the Cafe. Another of those holes is in the Berklee community, and especially the mandolin community here, where even the very existence of a mandolin scene (a thriving one!!) is a tribute to John's time, effort, and inspiring approach to music and life.

In light of that I wanted to let you know that we here at Berklee are rounding up a show to pay tribute to John next month. Every year he'd schedule a concert entitled "Mandolin Mashup" and before he passed he'd scheduled one for the 12th of this coming February. Fellow mandolin instructor Jason (Anick) and I are aiming to make this a proper tribute to him by the mandolin community he established here, and have rounded up a lot of the best mandolin players who got to work with him in his too short time at Berklee.

In addition to Jason and I, the lineup will include Dominick Leslie (of the Deadly Gentlemen), Jake Jolliff (Joy Kills Sorrow), Eric Robertson (the Boston Boys), and Alexander Gable (general all around adventurous mandolinist), all of them alums who'll be coming back to pay their respects. Current students who'll be playing a part of the show include Dan Bui, Bryce Milano, Matt Witler, with repertoire including some of John's tunes and a song composed specifically in tribute to him.

In addition to this cross-section of the first few years of mandolin at Berklee, some other ringers will be rounding out the evening, including Darol Anger, Matt Glaser and Alex Hargreaves on fiddle, Courtney Hartman on guitar, Sarah Jarosz on octave mandolin, and Sam Grisman on the upright bass.

There are so many ways to get a gauge of the way people felt about John, but one of them in this process has been seeing how readily each of these performers has signed on, shifting schedules around in order to play a few notes in memory of this ever inspiring man.

One especially cool thing is that this concert will be broadcast live on Concert Window (http://www.concertwindow.com/shows/mandolin-mashup-7), so anyone with an internet connection anywhere in the world will be able to watch the show. For folks who are within striking distance of Boston the details on tickets can be found here: http://www.berklee.edu/events/mandolin-mashup-7.


Alright. Best to ya's out there.
Joe

[ccarter]

Thank you, Joe.
John was a friend of mine. I miss him. I will be there.
Carole

[David Surette]

Great idea, Joe. Should be a wonderful tribute to a great guy who was a musical inspiration to so many.

[Ryk Loske]

Wonderful! Thank you,

Ryk

[TonyP]

wonderful indeed and thanks for posting that Joe. Do you think that it would be possible to make the concert into a DVD for sale to those of us who won't be able to attend? It would be a great way to maybe make some $$$ for John's memorial fund or Berklee.

[AlanN]

Very nice effort, Joe. John was and continues to be such a patient and learned teaching force for so many of us that his passing is still hard to grasp.

[greg_tsam]

I still miss John's posts here.

[J Walsh]

TonyP- I don't know. I'll look into it, though, and see if Berklee ever does such a thing. They shoot video of everything, so it should end up on youtube.

Greg- he was the best, right? whatever the question, he had the answer, and delivered it with the sharpest wit.

[Ryk Loske]

Joe ....

Ten thumbs up to Tony's idea! Thanks Tony.

Ryk

[AlanN]

This made me go back and see just what I have from JM. In addition to a DVD or 2 and the expert transcriptions I contracted from him, I found a boat-load of transcriptions and exercises John did when he was a regular contributor to Niles Hokkanen's Galactic Crossroads/Mandocrucian's Digest. Everything from Bird, Cannonball, Statman solos to fiddle tunes, to Irish things, all done in an easy, down-home way.

[TonyP]

It truly was a shock when I heard of John's passing. I had known of him since his ad's in Frets in the 80's. And then when he started posting here on the Cafe it was an insight into him that was deep, and sometimes funny. We corresponded and did some deals and he was always so kind and generous. We were in a long range deal where I was going to make a Gard for his Sobell OM in exchange for some tab. I'd heard from him right before the fall school session was going to start and he told me he was going to be too busy, and we'd pick up the next summer when he had time.

My biggest regret is my wife's niece had a wedding and we blasted back from the Left Coast to attend the wedding, just for the weekend. I so wanted to drop in and finally meet John face to face, maybe even see Berklee. But there was no time. I thought there would be another trip back and we'd do it then. It's still a shock when I think about it. He was younger than I....time truly is harsh master.

RIP John McGann, you are missed and will never be another to take your place.

[greg_tsam]

I so wanted to drop in and finally meet John face to face, maybe even see Berklee. But there was no time. I thought there would be another trip back and we'd do it then. It's still a shock when I think about it. He was younger than I....time truly is harsh master.

RIP John McGann, you are missed and will never be another to take your place.

Carpe Diem.

[WJF]

One way or another (live or via concert window) I will be there. It's so great that you're doing this Joe ... Like so many others here, I still miss him beyond the ways in which words can describe . I'm sure that he will be listening in on the 12th and grinning from ear-to-ear!

[hank]

Thanks for the heads up Joe. I got the link bookmarked and my calendar highlighted. Though I never had the good fortune to meet John his internet words and thoughts inspired me to work harder on left hand economy of motion as his untimely passing reminds me of how precious our time truly is.

[Rich Michaud]

Joe, As you know, I have John's octave mandolin. Please let Sarah know that if she wants to use it in the Tribute concert that would be fine by me. I live just outside of Boston and work in town. Just send me or have her send me an email at rbmlaw@aol.com or my office email at rmichaud@bg-llp.com.
Rich Michaud

[Larry S Sherman]

I have John's octave mandolin.

This one? He was a monster on the octave.



Larry

[Rich Michaud]

Yes, it is a Sobell. John was a friend and musical mentor. Simply put, I miss him and think of him often. Rich M.

[Killian King]

Just got back from this incredible show. I had a smile on my face from the opening song right through to the final note of the grand finale with almost everyone on stage.
So many wonderfully talented musicians.

And no mimes!!

[SternART]

I watched it on the internet.........that was a very nice show indeed & a great tribute to John. It was also like a Mandolin Symposium alumni review......I was exposed to most of those mandolin players when they were much younger. Then a few years later they were off to Berklee........ Great to see how much they have grown musically.

[lauri Girouard]

Just got back from this incredible show. I had a smile on my face from the opening song right through to the final note of the grand finale with almost everyone on stage.
So many wonderfully talented musicians.

And no mimes!!

I agree 100%. It was wonderful

[pglasse]

Due to previous commitments I was only able to catch the last part of the simulcast. However, I really loved what I saw and heard -- fine playing all around and such a great feeling of warmth for much-missed John McGann. Clearly, his legacy lives on in the great players he taught and inspired.

Will this be an annual event? That would be a cool thing that I'm sure others in our mandolin community would support. I'm in.

Thanks to all involved for a great show,

[JFDilmando]

Does anyone know it this was recorded for any future broadcast ??

[J Walsh]

Hey John-
Berklee records everything, so we should be able to get most or all of it up on youtube. Whether the Berklee peeps would let it be broadcast, I don't know. I'll try and keep this thread posted, no pun intended, as I get access to the video.

[J Walsh]

Oh, and Paul, the mandolin mashup has been an annual event. it started as a way for John to feature the ringers in each class of mandolinists at Berklee. He had actually scheduled this one before he passed, and we felt strongly that this year we should pay tribute to him with the show.

He was such a talented man, of course, and in so many diverse ways that it seems impossible to try and cover all of the moves he had in his musical bag in one show. We did get a good cross section of some of his past Berklee students, though, and played a variety of pieces ranging from tunes he wrote, to Beatles tunes that he'd internalized, and pieces written in memory of him.

As to whether this will be an annual event? the mandolin mashup will surely continue, though I will probably use it (as John did for six years) to feature the best students, as opposed to bringing in alumni and former friends (like Hiro Arita who flew in from japan this week!). Even if it wasn't an explicitly titled "tribute" to John, in my mind the very fact that there are mandolins (and lots of them!!) at Berklee is a tribute to him, and that each of these shows would be done in the spirit of carrying on the great things he started.