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Musician's Corner
SARATOGA TODAY’S
weekend pulse introduces
Harry G. Pellegrin
About the artist:
Classical guitarist Harry G. Pellegrin is. originally from New York City, but presently resides in Scotia. Artists such as Julian Bream, Agustin Barrios and Andres Segovia have influenced Pellegrin’s acoustic, instrumental music.
The 51-year-old began playing guitar 36 years ago and started per¬forming out in 1978. In 1989, Pellegrin had to halt his music career for a few years because he was involved in a severe car accident, but he returned to playing live again in 1996.
In June 2007, Pellegrin released “The Guitar,” a full-length album composed of 15 cover songs and three originals. Over the past month and a half, he has begun work on a follow-up CD.
Pellegrin has approximately 40 original tunes, which range in length from three to 17 minutes. He said he can play for about two hours.
Since 1980, Pellegrin has been giving private guitar lessons; he cur¬rently has 18 students. Just last month, he joined Union College’s music faculty as an adjunct.
In addition to performing and teaching, Pellegrin is also an author. His first murder mystery, “Low End,” was published in 2003, and he is in the midst of writing his third novel.
Pellegrin has played at many local venues including the Hall of Springs, Glen Sanders Mansion, the Gideon Putnam Resort, the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and Sunset Café. He frequently performs at weddings, restaurants, gallery openings, dinner parties and corporate events.
Hany G. Pellegrin is playing at The Enchanted Wedding Expo on Sunday, Feb. 24, at the Saratoga Springs city Center. The event, which is sponsored by Saratoga TODAY, runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free.
To check out the artist, visit www.pellegrinlowend.com.
Quotable Quotes:
“My goal is to expose more people to classical guitar music. I think people would be into it if they heard it,” Pellegrin said.
- Saratoga Today
Upstate author pens rock 'n' roll mystery
LEE GOODEN , For The Saratogian 08/13/2004
Low End
By Harry G. Pellegrin
Published by Bedside Books
332 pages $22 Trade paperback
'Low End' is a mystery that Harry Pellegrin's protagonist Gary Morrissey solves between 1988 and 1989. It is similar to other mystery crime noir characters written in the first person, like Robert B. Parker's Spencer, Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe and Lawrence Block's Mathew Scudder.
Pellegrin sets the story in the late '80s New York City rock 'n'roll scene with believability. His knowledge of blues and rock is undisputed. He mentions the late great guitarist Rory Gallagher, who was not only one of the world's greatest guitarists, but also a fan of detective and crime fiction.
The novel begins with a cleverly paced prologue describing the murder of Morrissey's friend and former bass player and band mate Devon. As a present day Morrissey reminisces about Devon, Pellegrin sends the reader back to 1988.
In 1988 Morrissey is a rock 'n' roll blues guitarist and a recent divorcee who lives in a hot sticky apartment in the South [Yonkers]. His day job consists of repairing copy machines.
He drives a [Fiat 124S Spider] and seems relatively happy going day to day from beer to beer, paycheck to paycheck and gig to gig until a friend and band mate named Captain Marty, from their defunct band Air Raid, informs Morrissey that their mutual friend and bassist Devon has died and was possibly murdered.
Captain Marty asks Morrissey to investigate because he thinks Morrissey would be good at getting the answers.
Morrissey follows clues and discovers that everything is not what it seems. He is led to a gripping cat-and-mouse ending with a remorseless killer.
'Low End' is crafted like a song. It is a crime novel narrated in the first person with the typical wise cracks and testosterone-fueled bravado, and a mystery that one can sink their teeth into. But it is also a spiritual journey.
There are many writers who try too hard to emulate the masters, like Hammett, Chandler, MacDonald, Spillane and McBain. So cumbersome are their efforts, that they lose their own voices. But Pellegrin's protagonist has a voice of the street and a hardened cynical edge, softened with a good heart.
But readers will trust Morrissey only so far, because we know that with enough rope he will hang himself. Morrissey is like a mouth sore that we just can't help but touch. We know it's going to hurt but we don't care. Pellegrin, like God, sits in the back seat while his creation takes over.
I look forward to the further adventures of Morrissey and anything else Harry G. Pellegrin writes. He has written for periodicals like Soundboard: The Journal of the Guitar Foundation of America, The Horse: Backstreet Choppers. He lives with his wife and two daughters in rural upstate New York.
©The Saratogian 2004
- The Saratogian
Discography
The Guitar, release date: May 1, 2008. Label: PAB Entertainment Group.
Photos
Bio
Harry George Pellegrin lives a life of music. It began with piano lessons at the age of five and bass at eleven. At the age of thirteen he picked up a guitar and hasn’t put it down since.
He studied classic guitar at Manhattan’s prestigious Mannes College of Music. Here, he honed his talents under the late pedagogue Albert Valdés-Blain and recitalist Eliot Fisk. Both of these guitarists are noted students of Andre Segovia. Mr. Pellegrin received training at guitar master classes with David Russell, John Duarte, Ben Verdery and Kostas Kotsiolis.
After years of performing, Harry opened a guitar studio in New York City which operated for many years until he moved to upstate New York. Currently, Mr. Pellegrin teaches through Jay Street Music and as a member of the faculty of Union College in Schenectady. He has been a contributing writer for “Soundboard: The Journal of the Guitar Foundation of America”. He is the author of “Classic Guitar Method” and also dabbles in fiction writing with, “Low End”, Deep End” and the Gary Morrissey series of mystery novels.
Harry George Pellegrin has performed at Carnegie Recital Hall, Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and other venues in New York City, Saint Louis and Tulsa. He plays many charity events like the 50th Anniversary Fashion Show/Luncheon for the Schenectady Symphony and The Saratoga Springs Annual Old Bags Luncheon. Mr. Pellegrin, his wife and family currently live in Upstate New York.
The Guitar, Mr. Pellegrin’s second classical guitar album, is a collection of pieces including early music composed for the Renaissance lute and Vihuela de mano, Classical and Romantic period offerings, as well as 20th Century pieces and original music written by Mr. Pellegrin. Recorded at SBR Studios with N.S. “Buck” Brundage engineering and producing, The Guitar was mastered by multi-Grammy award winning engineer Phil Magnotti.
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