Joe Longstreth and John Escosa - Christmas With


Many times I've come across this album in thrift stores, online vinyl markets, and even eBay and Amazon.com. Two silouetted harps in black and white tell the story.

What I didn't know was the connection this album had to my hometown of Fort Wayne until I had a copy in my hands. It seems not only were one of the harpists (Escosa) had deep roots in Fort Wayne but it was actually recorded here as well on the Carriage Records label.

Side one is The Christmas Story according to St. Mark. Written and narrated by Longstreth, this full 15 minute story is interspersed with lovely music for solo harp (Escosa). Side two has the harpists trading off each other as they go through ten different Christmas carols.

Nothing fancy but it's well done Christmas harp.

One free day this past summer, I went looking for the location of the recording studio listed on the back cover. Located in a iffy part of town, I managed to find it - an empty lot full of grass and trees. Nothing to suggest there was a structure anywhere on the lot.

Across the street stood an apartment building with a prominent name: Carriage House Apartments. I'll have to do some detective work to see if the two are related or if the area has some sort of history with carriages, etc.

String this one along:


Joe Longstreth & John Escosa - Christmas With


Happy listening...


Capt

Comments

Anonymous said…
John Escosa was my father and made several records (vinyl) and later audiocassette tapes which were sold at their concerts. Longstreth and Escosa and later, Escosa and Rado toured the US and Canada under the auspices of Columbia Artists. He was born in Fort Wayne and attended the FWCS.
1/07/2009 09:08:00 PM
CaptainOT said…
Ann - How long were your father and Mr. Longstreth an act?

What else can you tell me about Carriage Records, the Fort Wayne record label that issued this LP?

Was this played at your house at Christmas?


Capt
1/13/2009 05:35:00 PM
n morse said…
John played at the Carriage House Restaurant until it burned down, is what I think he told me.

Nice guy.
nmorse
1/24/2014 05:08:00 PM
n morse said…
Additional thoughts here,
John was a wonderful musician and professional friend. He would invite me over to read through a piece that he was submitting to be published, so that I could "proof-read" it first...because when you write something yourself, you may not catch any inadvertent omissions like a desired pedal indication on harp.
He had a wonderful sense of humor, was very kind and tremendously gifted. A gentle person.
I very much enjoyed knowing him. He told me once that, once a month he had a lesson with Salzedo. Salzedo preferred teaching the girls. Interesting.
n morse, harpist
1/24/2014 05:12:00 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Santastic II - Clausome!

Image
Welcome to Mash-up Saturday! Today we look at four different Christmas online comps that feature the handy work of DJs and mixers from around the world to create brand new takes on your favorite Christmas music. For those not wise in the ways of the mash-up, this phenomenon may have gotten its start way back in the classical days. Composers used to rework other compositions and used the term "variations on a theme by..." Fast forward to the 1960s. Dickie Goodman was breaking new ground with his break-in records. A gent by the name of John Oswald began experimenting with fusing two pieces of music using tape and scissors. The BBC TV show " I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue " featured a segment entitled "One Song To The Tune Of Another" that featured crude forms of the mash-up. In the 1970s, Frank Zappa began picking out basslines and other samples from music into his own. Club and disco DJs began mastering the art of the mix board. A company named ...
Read more

2001 Playlist

The 2001 playlist: 1.) 2001 intro My usual intro with the Flat Duo Jets on "Jingle Bells" mixed together with " Also Sprach Zarathustra ". 2.) Monty Python - Christmas In Heaven I waited years to use this one... it fits perfectly leading off the CD. 3.) Wayne Newton - Jingle Bell Hustle At the time, I thought this was the worst Christmas disco song ever (see 2008 below). 4.) Casey Kasem - American Top 40 Christmas bumper (No. 3) Found on Napster (the pre-legal days) from one of Casey's old radio programs. 5.) Dale Monty & The 2x2's - The Lil' Endless Summer Boy Take a surf guitar version of "Little Drummer Boy" and "Wipeout". You get this track. 6.) The Surfaris - A Surfer's Christmas List The same group who originally did "Wipeout"! Great Christmas surf track. 7.) Sleepless in Seattle - Meg Ryan listening to Christmas radio "Coming up, 'Jingle Bells' backwards!"...
Read more

A Christmas Yuleblog Sampler - 2011

Image
Merry Christmas! We've had quite a year here - digitizing all of our Christmas music, a radio show , and remastering yuleblog samplers past.  But I can't complain.   Taking the nine months to get every album and MP3 onto my hard drive (and an external hard drive for backup) was the best decision I may have made in my Christmas life.  To have every song at my fingertips saves me time and led to discoveries of songs I never knew I had.  I thought that what the CD was supposed to do but that only shows you how far in the past I was living. The radio show was very satisfying.  The folks at the radio station were very supportive and thrilled with the end results.  Will it happen again next year?  I'm hopeful but only time will tell.  Lots of things are in store at the station...  Okay... enough about you Capt...  where's the samplers? During a break in digitizing in June, I went back and remastered the Yuleblog ...
Read more