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Von Cello Live
VON CELLO LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY!
Von Cello has played many of the famous clubs in New York City. On a freezing cold night in February, a videographer came along to the Elbow Room to document the live Von Cello experience. It starts outside the club and continues through several songs and jams showing Von Cello playing his cello the traditional way and in his famous "Celtar" style: standing with his cello held like a guitar with a strap around his neck.
There were a few problems that the band confronted at this club. They were not given a sound check, and found it hard to hear themselves. They were also not aware that the set up in the club would put John up in the stratosphere where he and Von couldn't communicate visually. Yet the band battled on against these problems and put on an exciting show with some real high points as you will see.
Joining Von Cello in this performance are Tom Charlap on bass and John DiGuillio on drums. John has toured with Little Anthony, Kenny Loggins, Flo and Eddie, and the Doobie Brothers. Tom has performed on Broadway (his father, Moose Charlap, wrote Peter Pan), and has toured in many shows. Tom is also a fine jazz player and the brother of famous jazz pianist, Billy Charlap. He was once the roomate of Von Cello, when they both attended the Manhattan School of Music.
This concert included songs from the CD, Von Cello Rules! and some extended jams. The video contains sections of the following songs: Get Up Get Out Of My Way, Hello Mr. Jutter, Feelin' Fine, Spy Vs. Spy, Scared, and for an encore - Purple Haze!
Check out the Into clip (approx. 1 minute), and check out the Full Video when you have the time to enjoy the show (19 minutes). The videos may be viewed with Real Player. If you need to download it, click on the Real Player image link below.
VON CELLO TEACHES THEM A LESSON AT U. CONN.
With his "pre Von Cello", Aaron Minsky Trio, Aaron performed for an audience of cellists at the New Directions Cello Festival at the University of Connecticut. Here he plays his famous rendition of the Star Spangled Banner going into Purple Haze. You can tell from the reaction of the audience (and the cameraman) that this was a very exciting event for the cellists. Aaron was surprised himself by the reaction. He expected the other cellists to either be hostile or uninterested. This was one of those instances where he started to realize that he really did have a place in the cello world and was finally starting to be recognized as the innovator he always strove to be.
VON CELLO PLAYS FOR 9/11 CHARITY
Around a month after the horrifying attack on New York, on September 11th, 2001, Aaron was asked to play his Hendrix style cello rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at an outdoor festival in Harrisburg, PA. The proceeds of the festival went to benefit the families of the victims of the attack. All of the other bands in the show were from the Harrisburg area, but the promoters wanted Von Cello, a real New Yorker, to come to represent the city that was on everyone's mind. Phil Carnavale, of Yamaha Corporation of America, kindly drove down from northern Massachusetts to join Aaron on drums in this performance. His brother Jeff filmed the duo, and this is the evidence of a particularly inspired rendition of the national anthem..
The festival was sponsored by Rogue Stork Entertainment and radio station WQXA-FM 105.7, the rock radio station of the Harrisburg area. Von Cello opened the festival, but the promoters were so impressed with his playing that they asked him to stay to play again several hours later. He gladly complied with the request. Aaron felt a great sense of pride to be able to play the national anthem in his glorious way, to celebrate the heroes and victims of that terrible tragedy. Before he went to Harrisburg, a musician back in New York said, "You're going to go all the way to Harrisburg just to play for five minutes?" Von Cello said, "I would go anywhere in the country to play the national anthem for the victims and the heroes of 9/11!"
(The video for this clip is in Windows Media format so you will need the have a Windows Media player to view it. For some reason the hi fi version tends to get stuck at 1 minute 28 seconds. Just push the tracker forward a few seconds and it will continue.)
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