The Rainbow Sound of Bianco, His Harp And Orchestra - Joy To The World
Not only was this album downloaded at Ernie (not Bert)'s blog late last year but it holds the distinction for having the longest title of ANY Christmas album reviewed here! Woe to the poor guy who had to give the stage announcement whenever Bianco played a concert! Late last month, Ernie stated in a post at his blog that Bianco was one of his top three harpists of all time. The other two are Robert Maxwell and a Marxist named Harpo. Maxwell or Harpo were the only harpists I thought I knew existed, the rest were anonymous pluckers of the golden strings. So let's spend some time finding Bianco (not Nemo). Born Eugene Capobianco in 1927, he began studying the harp as a boy under the tutelage of his father Fillippo, himself a successful harpist from the old country in Italy, and Marcel Grandjany, an early star of the classical harp. Gene studyed at Juilliard and after graduation played the classical harp circuit for several years. However, his love for jazz drove him ...