Pianos
Leon Russell was the noted musician and songwriter who contributed greatly to popular and rock music during his long career. As a studio musician, Leon was active in the development of the Linn Drum Machine having provided Roger Linn with several ideas to create new sounds, such as the hand clap...
John Allegrezza began working in the piano business in 1957 and soon discovered he had a real passion for the business and the people. In 1981 he opened his store, Allegrezza Pianos, in Ridgeland, Mississippi, just north of Jackson. Over the years he has worked with some of the biggest names in...
DW Caffey was very young when he found himself enamored with the piano. In 1940, when he was just fifteen years old, DW taught himself how to tune pianos. He read a book and asked an old time tuner a few questions and was soon hired by a music store. He worked for several piano stores in...
Ron Sfarzo may be the only interviewee within the NAMM Oral History collection who served as a police officer in California! Ron has been involved with music his entire life, with both his father and brother involved with music retail. While working in his brother’s San Francisco store, Ron was...
Sharman Beasley-Vesecky grew up in the music business as her grandfather, William Howard Beasley, served as the president of the NAMM Board of Directors from 1939-1940. Sharman has become the holder of her family's history and was kind enough to share the history with us during her NAMM Oral...
Robert Walker worked for the retail stores of the Baldwin Piano Company. He was located in the San Francisco store but later traveled the western states repairing and adjusting organs as they arrived in the stores. While the retail arm of Baldwin did not last, the ideas created in the stores were...
Mike Greene is the president of Greene Music in San Diego, California, a store he started with his father in 1974. Mike grew up in the business and recalls dressing up like a circus barker to help his dad sell chord organs at state fairs. After the boom of the home organ, Mike focused on pianos...
Lucien Hut dedicated his entire career to teaching, selling, restoring and designing the piano! As a retailer he established Pianos International in Colorado. He later moved to Montana where he taught at the university for several years. His interest and involvement in music began when he...
John Simpkinson had a strong background in advertising when he was hired by the Baldwin Piano Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. Bob Cosgrove and James Mixter hired John for company and product branding. John worked closely with the dealers and district managers to communicate promotional ideas and...
George Benson played trombone during school and studied piano during college. It was during that time that he began working for a local music store. He worked for Hoover Music in Jackson, Michigan and later for Schroeder Piano before James Mixter hired him as sales manager for the Baldwin Piano...