Full Interview
Terence Blanchard remembers with pride the special way Lionel Hampton coached and encouraged him. It was his first professional gig and Hamp took the time to share with young Terence, an act of kindness that continues to give to this day. While having a successful jazz career, Terence never...
Ernie Vincent played a key role in expanding the role New Orleans played in music on a national and international level. As a songwriter he wrote the funk based songs "Dap Walk" as well as many others based on the blues and zydeco. "Dap Walk" proved that New Orleans was not just about jazz and the...
Scott Summerhays was the President of the company his parents established in Salt Lake City back in 1936. Scott and his brother Briant worked together to grow the family business and eventually split the company into separate entities, both based in Utah. Scott had been a key player within NASMD...
Benny Turner grew up in a music family and after his brother, Freddie King, took him to a session with Howlin’ Wolf and Willie Dixon, he was hooked. While Benny played guitar with the Kindly Shepherds in the 1950s, he also spent time playing bass with Freddie and touring with R&B singer Dee...
Allen Toussaint represented one of the quintessential New Orleans sounds. Toussaint’s compositions and songs seamlessly blend blues, jazz, ragtime, R&B, and funk to create an amalgam that is unique and readily identifiable to New Orleans. Starting on piano in the 1940s and initially influenced...
Deacon John Moore has been a noted studio musician in New Orleans for decades. His performance and recordings have not only represented the New Orleans Sound over the years, he has helped define it! Deacon John was very active in the studios of New Orleans in the heyday of R&B and can be heard...
Pat Quilter is a man with a vision. Pat built his first guitar amp after reading about a new technique for bridging using solid state transistors. Quilter Sound Things transitioned into Quilter Sound Company with the company focused on guitar and bass amps and selling direct to consumers out of...
Dave Starkey is the engineer who served on the teams that brought us such innovative instruments as the Lowrey MX1 in 1979. For that special project, which included sixty circuit boards, he worked with the designer and engineer, Jack Cookerley. Dave has worked on several amazing teams over the...
Mike Olsen has worked in the very shop his grandfather established right after World War II to make parts for band instrument makers in and around his hometown of Elkhorn, Wisconsin. At one point, after Mike joined the company full time after high school, three generations were working together. ...
Larry Seaver spent decades designing, engineering and producing parts, instruments and tools for band and orchestras. The key to his success was simple, Larry was an engineer’s engineer! He was always thinking about ways to better a process or improve an instrument. Over his career in the music...