A Small Town Musician Makes His Home in a Smaller Catskill Town…

STAMFORD — And from there goes on to tour America. Drew grew up in a small town, outside of Buffalo, New York called Lockport - "Lock" as in the canal locks on the Erie Canal. He started playing in middle school with friends for something to do. As with many childhood pickup bands, they started before they knew how to play their instruments. The social aspect of learning to play music together was a primary motivation.  Back then at the start, his influences were Green Day; Nirvana; and his parent's music, Steely Dan; the Beatles; Crosby Stills and Nash as well as a love of jazz, blues and classical music. These styles are obvious in his jazz version of Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" which he plays with his trio member, Eamon Rayhn. His command of cool jazz takes this old familiar tune from his parent's day out of the angry streets of Vietnam era America and slips it into the West Village Jazz Clubs of Greenwich Village. 

Drew observes that there seems to be a link between the blue collar nature of the Western New York towns and the proliferation of guitarists who come out of those small towns, He recalls how together his friends and he played together for hours, discovering the muscles and techniques that would shape their lives in music in ways that can't be taught in a classroom.  

In those small Western New York State towns, it wasn't about making a living as a musician, though a lot of working musicians came out of the scene. But music was a part of the fabric of life. Playing music is needed, Drew adds emphatically. A lot of blues musicians came out of those towns at that time. Hard times are often the pastures of plenty for a nation's cultural identity. Blues gave voice to the dreams and disappointments of a generation of small-town progeny. 

But this musical form born, New York State blues, in the hard times and hardships of the American experience isn't about bitching and moaning. It is often about the indomitable spirit of survival for those who worked hard because they had to in order to survive. You hear all of this in Drew's compositions, as he plays with Ethan Fox at Touhey's Gallery. With a backdrop of local art, he sings "What I'm Needin," a song about first coming to Stamford. And on the crest of Stamford's Mount Uthsayanta, where our own Romeo and Juliet story played out several hundred years ago, Drew records "Julia Florida" By Agustin Barrios Mangore. 

What an appropriate setting for a piece by Barrios/Mangore, a member of the indigenous Guaraní people.  Drew and Barrios both became accomplished classical guitarists. Both express the original roots of their family's culture as well. Barrios embraced his Guarani roots, becoming "Mangore" and Azzinaro honors the small town, working class musical heritage of his birth. Both are equally comfortable in the delicate perfection that comes of classical training. But what is classical music? Drew and I fall into the oft surmised struggle for sapience for definition when folk musicians grasp at poles of abstraction - "folk" vs. "classical music," "What  is classical Spanish guitar?" Drew says as he considers, "'Classical' is a funny word to me. Most of that music is Spanish Folk Music that has been concertized." And so, as one listens to Drew playing modern rock tunes, one may catch a theme from a Bach prelude or a hint of Pachelbel's Canon. 

Drew speaks of styles and technical fluency as tools to be fully present in the moment as he plays. He finds playing music to be a discipline like meditation or yoga, through the communication of music, to be in a state of heightened awareness of living and being conscious of the connectivity of life.  It is a practice of growth in proficiency and awareness. "Miles Davis never even wanted to be him, from ten years ago." Music for Drew is being in a living conversation with roots in the past that does not look back, but lives in the present moment. 

The conversation we are having is taking place in a comfortable corner of the Stamford coffee shop, which is full of the buzz of happy people catching up on this and that. Drew is searching to put the science, the color, the total experience of music into words. He reaches for an image, sound as color slows down, and his words describe the wordless experience of musicians, proficient in the mechanics of their craft, being freed enough to reach a state of communication with each other and the audience, beyond the language of the notes, the words of the music. "Every note has harmonics underneath the note, that are there and you can hear if you are listening. You kill that awareness when you think simply "play an A."Today in his musical journey through life he basks in the awareness that music is perhaps among the handful of original human arts. It must predate language. And it is that purity of messages shared in sound that Drew lives in his music and tries to find words to describe. 

Life isn't easy for touring musicians. He plays concert halls where the audience is waiting in rapt 

 expectation of music they love, but also working-class taverns where there is a mix of folks out for a night of musical entertainment and folks out for a boisterous night of drinking. As Drew puts it, he plays all kinds of spaces, listening spaces and sometimes rowdy places. Drew considers the loud patrons at the bar as a challenge to be enticed into his music, to be won over and invited into his world of meaningful sound. 

Besides his musical conversations in concert, Drew Azzinaro teaches from beginner to advanced classes. "I'm really lucky in that regard," he says of the mix of students, teaching seems to him to be another joyful way to share in the conversation of sound. He teaches kids to adults. Most of the young people are still in Buffalo and these students he teaches online. Here in the Catskills most of his students are adults and  a lot of his students are artists in other mediums.  Most have played before, but some are just starting out, "so they have no bad habits," Drew says with a laugh. But most who have played for a while, want to venture further. Some want to study classical guitar, and that's really easy, he reflects, "there is a clear path with that one!"

 However small-town Drew Azzinaro may be, he is playing some big towns and with his band opening for national and international artists such as Greg Allman and his son, Devon Allman. And from there, goes on to tour America. Drew grew up in a small town, outside of Buffalo New York called, Lockport - Lock as in the canal locks on the Erie Canal. He started playing in middle school with friends for something to do. As with many childhood pickup bands, they started before they played their instruments, The social aspect of playing music learning together was a primary motivation.  Back then at the start his influences were Green Day Nirvana, and his parent's music, Steely Dan, the Beatles, Crosby Stills and Nash as well as a love of Jaz, Blues and classical music. These styles are obvious in his jazz version of Buffalo Springfield's "For What it's Worth" which he plays with his trio member, Eamon Rayhn. His command of cool jazz takes this old familiar tune from his parent's day out of the angry streets of Vietnam era America and slips it into the West Village Jazz Clubs of Greenwich Village. 

Drew observes that there seems to be a link between the blue collar nature of the Western New York towns and the proliferation of guitarists who come out of those small towns, He recalls how together his friends and he played together for hours, discovering the mussels and techniques that would shape their lives in music in ways that can't be taught in a classroom. 

In those small West New York State towns, it wasn't about making a living as a musician, though a lot of working musicians came out of the scene, but music was a part of the fabric of life. Playing music is needed, Drew adds emphatically. A lot of blues musicians came out of those towns at that time. Hard times are often the pastures of plenty for a nation's cultural identity. Blues gave voice to the dreams and disappointments of a generation of small-town progeny. 

But this musical form born in the hard times and hardships of the American experience isn't about bitching and moaning. It is often about the indomitable spirit of survival for those who worked hard because they had to in order to survive. You hear all of this in Drew's compositions, as he plays with Ethan Fox at Touhey's Gallery. With a backdrop of local art, he sings "What I'm Needin", a song about first coming to Stamford. And on the crest of Stamford's Mount Uthsayanta, where our own Romeo and Juliet story played out several hundred years ago, Drew records "Julia Florida" By Agustin Barrios Mangore. What an appropriate setting for a piece by Barrios/Mangore, a member of the indigenous Guaraní people.  Drew and Barrios both became accomplished classical guitarists. Both express the original roots of their family's culture as well. Barrios embraced his Guarani roots and Azzinaro honors the small town, working class musical heritage of his birth. Both are equally comfortable in the delicate perfection that comes from classical training. But what is classical music, As Drew puts it as we discuss folk vs. classical music. What  is classical Spanish guitar? "Classical" is a funny word to me. Most of that music is Spanish Folk Music that has been concertized.? And so, playing modern rock tunes one may catch a theme from a Bach prelude or a hint of Pachelbel Canon.

With his many musical interests and mastery of styles, Azzinaro's music is its own journey. He plays Mera Dil Yeh Pukare Aaja (My Heart Calls Come Back to me), with Ethan Fox  on tabla the two drums played together, common in classical Indian music. This song was originally sung by Lata Mangeshkar, in the classical Indian film "  Nagin , filmed in 1954

His performance is colored by his Spanish classical tradition which shines through in spite of his drop  down D tuning which gives him the effect of drone strings found in sitar, the main stringed instrument in Indian music.  I bask in their performance as in it I am carried back to the spices of my mother's kitchen. Mom's father was a Lovari Rom, a nation of the Vlax Roma, a people commonly called "Gypsy," We came out of Western India nearly a thousand years ago. Just as our food burns with the fire of Indian spice, the language some two million of us speak glows with the warmth of the Hindi and Persian language to this day. Drew may or not intentionally evoke the journey of those of my mother's tribe who brought Flamenco to Spain, and now are called Kalo Gitanos,  a major influence in Spanish classical guitar. In my mother's language, Romaness, we would translate the name of this song into " O miro ilo iril pes mande." (My heart calls come back to me) Romaness) One sees the Hindi root of our words as one hears the Romani echo in Drew's playing. 

Drew speaks of styles and technical fluency as tools to be fully present in the moment as he plays. He finds playing music to be a discipline like meditation or yoga, through the communication of music, to be in a state of heightened awareness of living and being conscious of the connectivity of life.  It is a practice of growth in proficiency and awareness. "Miles Davis never even wanted to be him, from ten years ago." Music for Drew is being in a living conversation with roots in the past that does not look back, but lives in the present moment. 

The conversation we are having is taking place in a comfortable corner of the Stamford coffee shop, which is full of the buzz of happy people catch up on this and that. Drew is searching to put into words the science, the color, the total experience of music. He reaches for an image, sound as color slows down, and his words describe the wordless experience of musicians, proficient in the mechanics of their craft, being freed enough to reach a state of communication with each other and the audience, beyond the language of the notes, the words of the music. "Every note has harmonics underneath the note, that are there and you can hear if you are listening. You kill that awareness when you think simply "play and A."

Today in his musical journey through life he basks in the awareness that music is perhaps among the handful of original human arts. It must predate language. And it is that purity of messages shared in sound that Drew lives in his music and tries to find words to describe. 

Life isn't easy for touring musicians. He plays concert halls where the audience is waiting in wrapped expectation of music they love, but also working-class taverns where there is a mix of folks out for a night of musical entertainment and folks out for a boisterous night of drinking. As Drew puts it, he plays all kinds of spaces, listening spaces and sometimes rowdy places. Drew considers the loud patrons at the bar as a challenge to be enticed into his music, to be won over and invited into his world of meaningful sound. 

Besides his musical conversations in concert, Drew Azzinaro teaches and teaches from beginner to advanced classes. "I'm really lucky in that regard," he says of the mix of students, teaching seems to him to be another joyful way to share in the conversation of sound. He teaches kids to adults. Most of the young people are still in Buffalo and these students he teaches online. Here in the Catskills most of his students are adults and  a lot of his students are artists in other mediums.  Most have played before, but some are just starting out, "so they have no bad habits," Drew says with a laugh. But most who have played for a while, want to venture further. Some want to study classical guitar, and that's really easy, he reflects, "there is a clear path with that one!"

 However comfortably small-town Drew Azzinaro may be, he is playing some big towns and with his band opening for national and international artists such as Greg Allman and his son, Devon Allman.