Susan Tomes— A history of the piano in only 100 pieces—how can that be? Doesn’t the piano have one of the most extensive literatures of music written for any instrument? In reality, one would need thousands of choices to do justice to the piano music of the last 250 years.
Ralph J. Gleason— Ralph J. Gleason: I was fascinated by the article that you did in Downbeat last year with Don DeMicheal. I read it again last night and I wanted to ask you, have you gotten back further than Sidney Bechet? John Coltrane: No, I haven’t. Since then I
Yesterday, legendary guitarist and inventor Les Paul passed away at the age of 94. Paul’s innovations, including multi-track recording and the Gibson electric guitar that bears his name, forever changed the landscape of popular music. The guitarist’s own compositions, ranging from lilting country ballads to frenetic flat-picking hootenannies to sentimental