Keith Watling Guitarist

Dick Eliot shares some of his favorite lines

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Dick Eliot shares some of his favorite lines

At a recent visit to my old friend and guitar teacher Dick Eliot I shot a video of him while he performed and explained some of his strategies for soloing over chord changes and guitar riffs.

Dick is a veteran guitarist who has been performing for over 60 years. He spent 35 years in Los Vegas as a call guitarist for the hotel orchestras, recording sessions, and smaller groupings. While in Las Vegas, Dick played for all of the Sinatras (Frank , Nancy, and Frank Jr.), Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, Tony Martin, Barbara Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Nancy Wilson, Perry Como, Eydie Gorme & Steve Lawrence, & Frankie Laine, to name a few. He was staff guitarist in Caesar’s Palace House Band, the International Hotel House Band, with twenty-five years at the Riviera Hotel, with the Dick Palombi Orchestra. From an era of huge bands and Orchestras Dick Eliot is a master guitarist — a musical archive embodied in an instrumentalist.

He has over the years shared his vast experience with me and supported me in all my efforts.

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Eastside Swing

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Eastside Swing New Hot Club Jazz Ensemble

On January 6th of this year with my friend Phil Schwinn and myself formed a new Hot Club Jazz ensemble. The group for that nights performance consisted of Phil on Mandolin, myself on Guitar, and Jose Acevedo on Bass. Our repertoire consisted of tunes written by Django Reinhardt, gypsy jazz standards, old swing tunes and a couple of Latin tunes. We performed at the Hot Club Happy Hour for the Bremen Cafe's 10th Anniversary celebration.  The performance took place at the Bremen cafe located at 901 East Clark Street in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood. More performances hopefully coming soon.

Keith Watling - guitar

Phil Schwinn - mandolin

Don Jose Acevedo - bass

Limited Edition Stephane Grappelli T-Shirts

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Limited Edition Stephane Grappelli T-Shirts

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Back in ’81 I had the pleasure to sit and watch a true jazz legend perform. I saw Stephane at what once wasthe Blue River Cafe in down town Milwaukee.

Stephane was passing through with a trio that had a young Martin Taylor as sideman. I snuck my old Nikon F into the show and got off a roll of which this is one of the shots. He posed for me briefly, looking right at me when I took this shot.

Stephane passed away on Dec. 1st, 1997 after living a long productive life as one of the premier jazz violinists in the world and who was DJANGO REINHARDT’s partner for many years before the war.

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Now get a black cotton t-shirt with this historic image in white to celebrate your love for the music he played. Get yours today.

Now Available $22.99

Hot Club Jazz Guitar Strings

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Hot Club Jazz Guitar Strings

savarez-1510-1.gif“The original Argentine strings were those used by Django during the years when he wielded his Selmer Maccaferri guitar. These strings although giving excellent tone were prone to early wear and breakage. These were still available until only a few years ago. The New Concept” strings now available incorporate modern winding technology, though not giving way to quality of tone. Providing a harder wearing, smoother string that delivers that elusive Hot Club Jazz tone that other strings just cannot live up to. Used by many of the great current Hot Club Jazz artists today they are without doubt the most popular. Once used most do not go back to earlier varieties.” – HotClub Trading

I use these strings on my D hole and petit bouche (oval hole) guitars. I use the heavier gauge on the D hole and the lighter gauge on the  petit bouche. The because the oval hole has a 26 5/8″ scale the lighter gauge works. This longer scale has more tension giving these strings more snap.

cart-logoI get my strings form Strings and Beyond by mail. They are hard to find locally. Below are the gauges they have

Gauge:
1610 Extra Light Ball End – 10 14 22 28 36 45
1610MF Light Ball End – 11 15 23 29 37 46
1510 Extra Light Loop End 10 14 22 28 36 45
1510MF Light Loop End – 11 15 23 29 37 46