JOHN
MONTELEONE: THE CHISELS ARE CALLING
Saturday, October 8th at 7:00 PM
In Person: Legendary Guitar Maker John
Monteleone & Filmmaker Trevor Laurence
Featuring a live Monteleone guitar demonstration by guitarist Steve Salerno
$15 Members | $20 Public
John Monteleone: The Chisels Are Calling is
a mesmerizing portrait of John Monteleone, one of the world’s
greatest instrument builders. Known by many as a modern-day Stradivari of the
guitar, Monteleone is a living artist whose instruments are on permanent
exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A multi-faceted craftsman,
Monteleone builds instruments that are admired not only for their incredible
sound, but also for their visually striking and innovative designs. His archtop
guitars are sought after by players from jazz to rock, including Eric
Clapton and Mark Knopfler.
This feature-length documentary looks beyond the
technical aspects of lutherie and examines the life, passion, talent and unique
approach John Monteleone takes to his art. Starting with his early interest in
the craft, when, at age ten, John repaired the dilapidated family piano, then
smashed a cheap guitar so he could see what was inside, the film follows him
through his realization as a young man that building instruments was actually a
job, and on to his launch of a career repairing some of the world’s finest
instruments.
Largely self-taught, Monteleone used his
background in repair to begin building instruments, both mandolins and guitars,
in the traditional style. Once he mastered this he began to innovate and design
his own models. The film examines John’s influences including his father and
uncle’s artwork, his own interests in Art Deco, architecture, cars, trains, and
the work of industrial designer Raymond Loewy. Branching out
further Monteleone drew on these influences to create one-of-a-kind themed
guitars with names like the Radio City, Sun King, Orange Blossom Special, the
Radio Wave and many others.
John’s family and creative roots are in Italy,
where we follow him to the northern forests to find the perfect wood for his
next projects, and then on to Cremona, known as the city at the heart of violin
building. John takes us on a tour through the Museo del Violino where the
violins of Stradivari and the Cremonase masters are on display, and explains
what can be learned from the old masters’ approach to building, and what must
be learned on your own.
Monteleone is paid tribute throughout the film by
his musician clients, including Mark Knopfler, Ben Harper, David
Grisman, Mike Marshall, Julian Lage, Anthony
Wilson, Woody Mann, and others. Mark Knopfler’s
performance of his song “Monteleone” includes Mark’s
description of how John inspired him to write the song and how the lyrics,
which start with “The chisels are calling / It’s time to make sawdust,” came
about. (USA, 2022, 90 min, color, DCP / Director and Editor: Trevor
Laurence / Producers: Woody Mann & Trevor Laurence /
Featuring Mark Knopfler, Ben Harper, David
Grisman, Anthony Wilson, Julian Lage, Frank
Vignola, Jimmy Bruno, Mike Marshall, Woody
Mann, Steve Salerno, Paul Glasse, Mitch
Watkins, Paul Ricci, Mafalda Minnozzi, Bob
Grillo, Don DeMarco, Don Keiling, Joe
Lostritto, Howard Emerson, Brian Glassman, Steve
Cardenas, Chico Pinheiro)
STEVE SALERNO (guitar) is an
active performer of Jazz and Classical music. He has performed in France,
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, China,
Malaysia, Puerto Rico, Canada, Cuba, Haiti, Russia and throughout the United
States. He is a member of the Ray Anderson Organic Quartet (with Gary
Versace and Tommy Campbell), Paul Smoker 4-Tet (with Drew Gress
and Phil Haynes), Mala Waldron Quartet (with Miriam Sullivan and
Michael T.A. Thompson), Blue Pipa Trio (with Min Xiao-Fen &
Dean Johnson) a duo with the MET’s lyric soprano, Susanna Phillips, a
duo with NY Philharmonic’s principal percussionist, Christopher Lamb and
leads a variety of groups, including his Jazz quartet, Exiles.
He has performed with Jaco Pastorius, John
Abercrombie, Regina Carter, Mark Dresser, Warren Vache, Peter Erskine and many
others. Among his latest recordings are Ray Anderson’s Being The
Point, Mala Waldron’s Always There, Paul Smoker’s Cool
Lives, and Min Xiao-Fen’s Blue Pipa. He was music director
for the PBS special Shoreline Sonata.
He is the author of Planet Wave’s Chord Master
(an 8,000-chord voicing dictionary), which was recently voted the
number one music application for Apple’s iPhone, and is on the
musician’s advisory board for D’Addario Strings.
