January | 2014 | nathanguitars

Monthly Archives: January 2014

January 23, 2014 · 8:20 am

Django Day 2014

January 23rd, 1910 – birthdate of Django Reinhardt

Here he is with his famous Selmer guitar. Here is my latest version of the same:

It has the same dimensions as the Selmer-Macaferri body, but I’ve modified the bracing of the top, just for fun. This top has an X-brace. The sound, however, is much like the trademark “quack” of the Selmer. Selmer did make some round soundholes like this one. They are rare, but since Selmer did make some, I am comfortable in believing that I’m not desecrating the design intent!

Nathan guitar #27

From the 25 cent Pile

When the price of LP’s hits 25 cents I don’t mind wasting a quarter on a wild purchase. Thus I acquired an LP by Axel Stordahl, The Lure of the Blue Mediterranean, dating from 1959. Available on itunes now:

I really did get it for the jacket/sleeve/cover/inside pages. It’s one of those LP’s that was sold as a concept, complete with a rather long essay, and a photo spread across a substantial number of pages. It sort of reminded me of Magical Mystery Tour, but for my parents generation. Is it possible the Beatles saw this album and copied the idea?
Stordahl was Sinatra’s band leader in the late forties. To my pleasant surprise, the album is good. The orchestra is excellent, and the sings are interesting and varied. Much better than “elevator” music for sure. And, to top it all off, I discovered a reference to a typewriter inside. The author of the essay was a writer named Horace Sutton. It seem he traveled a lot, and carried with him a Hermes portable. That made it worth 25 cents, for sure.
As for the songs, well, they include Night in Tunisia. Dizzy Gillespie, what could be cooler?
Track list:
1. Majorca. Isle Of Love
2. Isle Of Capri (much better than Sinatra)
3. Tunis, Ports Of Call: Escales
4. Cyprus
5. Red Sails In The Sunset
6. Haifa
7. Autumn In Rome: From Ost By Alessandro Cicognini
8. Miserlou
9. Palermo, Ports Of Call: Escales
10. Off Shore
11. Riviera Pavanne
12. A Night In Tunisia