Andy Statman Archives | The Cinch Review

If you’re ever visiting New York City (or indeed if you live in the area) and are looking for a truly only-in-New-York thing to do, you could most certainly do no better than to check Andy Statman’s concert schedule and see if you can catch him at his home base of Charles Street, in the West Village, where his trio plays informal gigs in the basement of a humble synagogue. Andy Statman plays clarinet and mandolin; in fact, that’s exactly how he was described to me when I first heard of him, and naturally (me being me) I pictured in my mind’s eye a man playing a clarinet and a mandolin at the same time, and I thought to myself, “That’s pretty amazing.” Continue reading “Andy Statman at Charles Street”

The funeral of country singer extraordinaire George Jones will be this coming Thursday at 10 a.m.; it will take place at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House (where else?) and the public will be permitted to attend.

My guess is that it will prompt a kind of outpouring rarely seen. There will an awful lot of ordinary people who will want to pay their respects to George Jones, people who felt like they knew him, and felt like they were somehow blessed and helped through some of the darker times in life by his way with a song.

It would be nice to think that George might be watching from a window up above.

Hey, that reminds me of a song. Indeed, “Window Up Above” is one of George Jones’ greatest hits, dating from about 1960. George has been known primarily as a vocalist, but this is one of his own songs, and a beautiful tune it is too, a song of broken love of the kind Jones sang so well, with a melody both lilting and mournful. Continue reading “George Jones’ funeral to be open to the public”