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MR Ralphe Armstrong

burk48237

burk48237

Supporting Member
Nov 22, 2004
9,850
3,568
68
Oak Park, MI
#1
Just want to say he is still smoking on the fretless, saw him tonight at Bakers Keyboard in the D. He had a great band, and they did a KILLER version of Chameleon, a couple of Ralphes originals and some standards. Here's a shot of Ralphe showing off his Warwick Custom shop fretless
IMG_0620.jpg
 
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#2
My wife’s sister is involved in a major community service organization in the Detroit area. We were up there 6 or 7 weeks ago for the annual fund raising gala; and I look up on stage after the meal, and was stunned to see Ralphe’s band killing it, playing mostly classic standards. Turns out wife’s sister knows Ralphe pretty well.

So, this weekend we went to the D for their annual fam Holiday gathering; AND wife’s sister arranged a get together for me with Ralphe. Which ended up being breakfast at Farmer Frank’s at the Eastern Market.

IMG_5717.jpeg


We had a great time; and he is a wonderful and gracious gentleman. Turns out, we both had some common experiences, including having the same upright teacher, Bob Gladstone.

When I got home, I went looking for some early material of his, and found this vid; which is altogether amazing, especially considering the timeframe.



What a cat! If my math is correct, he would have been 18 in that performance. I hope our paths may cross again down the road.

Edit: thought I might search out some more recent of Ralphe’s work. This one is pretty mind boggling:

 
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#4
bucephylus said:
My wife’s sister is involved in a major community service organization in the Detroit area. We were up there 6 or 7 weeks ago for the annual fund raising gala; and I look up on stage after the meal, and was stunned to see Ralphe’s band killing it, playing mostly classic standards. Turns out wife’s sister knows Ralphe pretty well.

So, this weekend we went to the D for their annual fam Holiday gathering; AND wife’s sister arranged a get together for me with Ralphe. Which ended up being breakfast at Farmer Frank’s at the Eastern Market.

View attachment 7102744

We had a great time; and he is a wonderful and gracious gentleman. Turns out, we both had some common experiences, including having the same upright teacher, Bob Gladstone.

When I got home, I went looking for some early material of his, and found this vid; which is altogether amazing, especially considering the timeframe.



What a cat! If my math is correct, he would have been 18 in that performance. I hope our paths may cross again down the road.

Edit: thought I might search out some more recent of Ralphe’s work. This one is pretty mind boggling:

Click to expand...

Love that clip of Jean Pierre, one of my favorite Miles tunes from his later era. I've seen him do that a couple of times at Bakers. A couple of other notes. Gaylynn Mckinney on the drums is a beast! And Gerard Gibbs ain't bad on keys either, I played with him a couple of years ago at Bass Day. Ralphe is not only a monster player, he's a great guy and gives a ton back to the community in music education too.
 
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