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Wallowing in the Jazz Fest

The F-Word with Frank DeBlase


I find myself wallowing in this jazz fest as a whole, I find myself gigging up and into my childhood. All those purloined copies of GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE slipping out the door in my seventh grade book bag. They swung out the door along with copies of PLAYBOY Magazine, lifted from the barber shop down the street. You see, the hammer of the gods was what I longed for. A Les Paul, owned by practically any guitar player. A Birdland strangled by Ted Nugent. Fender stratocaster, and last but not least, a sweet archtop played by Lee Ritenour. I believe it was an ES-335 T at the time.


Ma and Pa Kettle wouldn't let me have a guitar  — electric or otherwise. Question of morality I was told. So I hit the lawn-mowing train. Newspaper and dry-cleaning too.


Flash forward…


I eventually got the guitar. It was a black beauty, a Squire Strat with a rosewood finger. And I learned to make that sucker wail.


So I credit Ritenour with me learning to play a bootleg guitar. However, I’m not that sure about the magazines.


MORE LATER.


F-OUT


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Frank DeBlase is a prominent Rochester, NY figure, known for his contributions as a music writer and crime novelist. His deep connection to the local arts and music scene has made him a notable personality in Rochester's cultural landscape. Frank is a top contributor to the Get Your Gig On blog, running his own segment of it that you're reading now, called The F-Word.



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