Oral History -
John Allegrezza began working in the piano business in 1957 and soon discovered he had a real passion for the business and the people. In 1981 he opened his store, Allegrezza Pianos, in Ridgeland, Mississippi, just north of Jackson. Over the years he has worked with some of the biggest names in the business including Kawai, which was his first line! John has been named the K
This is the full length NAMM Oral History interview with Richard Allen, which was captured on May 17, 2003. For his biography and web clip, please follow the link: https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/r-c-allen
Andy Allen established the custom shop within the Maton Guitar Company in Melbourne, Australia.
R. C. Allen was a guitar luthier that used the style of his many friends of the era in the early 1950s in Southern California when guitar innovators were reshaping the instrument and grooming it for a new birth. RC was building his own unique instruments when Leo Fender and Lowell Kiesel of Carvin were also just starting out.
Spencer Aloisio began working for the Slingerland Drum Company in 1969 and stayed with the company until 1980. During that time he worked on the selling, promoting and marketing of the popular percussion products. Spencer worked his way up from factory employee into the office as sales manager and then as Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Marco Alpert has had a fascinating career in the music industry and lucky for the NAMM Oral History collection he shared many of his stories with us. Marco was an electronic music composer in Los Angeles when he happened to meet the two founders of E-mu. Marco was hired to promote the innovative synthesizers that Dave Rossum and Scott Wedge were creating for E-mu.
This is the full length NAMM Oral History interview with Marco Alpert, which was captured on January 16, 2011. For his biography and web-clip, please follow this link: https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/marco-alpert
AJ Altieri began working in the music retail business in the mid 1970s after a childhood filled with music. He played in bands as a student along with being a Drum Major, before performing in area rock bands. He began working in Elliott Rubinson’s Thoroughbred Music in Tampa, Florida.
Grace Altieri has a background in law but was willing to put that career on hold when her husband decided to open a drum shop in Tampa. AJ was working for a local music store and was really growing the drum segment of the business, so, when a chance came along to open his own store he jumped at it.
Steven Ambrose first started liking country music after hearing Johnny Cash through headphones during a recording session. This prompted him to develop a toll that could be used by all musicians to get the same sound. The result was the first set of in ear monitors – something that the music industry would learn to love and not be able to live without.