Resonant memories strike chord in

      Ken Lelen's Vintage Music Concert
Posted Monday, Nov 22, 2010 @ 2:42 pm

By Daniel Castro

Wednesday, November 17, 2010 - HOLDEN, Mass. — As Ken Lelen strummed the strings on his rare vintage guitars at the Holden Senior Center and his deep voice crooned the lyrics to songs from the  1920s, 1930s and 1940s, the music evoked memories of bobby-soxers, youths on roller skates, trysting lovers and drugstore cowboys—images behind the music that tell the stories Lelen has been collecting for years to weave into his Vintage Music Concerts.

                                                      Photos: Daniel Castro
Ken Lelen and his 1938 B&D Groton No. 1

Lelen, a New Jersey native and former Washington Post reporter, performs with an extensive collection of guitars that were made between 1892 and 1952 by companies such as Martin, Kay, Washburn,  Gibson, Kay and Vega. The unique tone of each instrument is the starting point for a performance from the era when each instrument was made, whether the style is ragtime, jazz, or swing classics.

     The first guitar he played, a B&D Groton made by Regal of Chicago, had cost $15 in 1938; it is now worth $2,500. "This guitar has been through 70 winters, 70 summers, 70 falls and 70 springs," he said, plucking its strings. "Somebody played it, sang to his girlfriend and put all the music inside."

     The music inside Lelen was put there as a youth, listening to his mother's 78 RPM records. "My mother was 17 years old in 1945, a bobby-soxer, the third of three girls and called Baby all her life," he said. "So she ran away from home and joined the roller skating show. She told me once, 'We were rebels in our day.' "

     As the troupe of skaters traveled around the country doing dance routines to the songs of the day, his mother collected records Lelen would later play and absorb into his musical repertoire. "I've listened to "Rhapsody in Blue" 5,655 times," he said. "That was one of the records she had and George Gershwin affects you in a very significant way when you're two years old, so my [musical] goose was cooked at an early age."

     Lelen not only performs songs that are familiar to older generations, but is interested in less familiar tunes in the American Songbook. For example, at Wednesday's concert he played an upbeat "You Are My Sunshine" in the way Tex Ritter would have played it and a slowed-down version of "After You've Gone."

     "Some guitarists like Django Reinhardt played this song at 110 miles an hour - but when you do "After You've Gone" real fast it's a revenge song," he said. "What you're saying is 'Someday, you dirty dog, you'll get yours.' Well, I found the sheet music for this song, which Sophie Tucker sung in the 1920s, and it was written in 1918. Across the top of the sheet music it says: 'Ballad-not too fast.' When you sing "After You've Gone" as a ballad, you're saying 'Someday, you will feel what I felt - you dirty dog.' "

Some of Ken Lelen's collection
of vintage acoustic guitars.

     After the concert Lelen explained he is careful when he performs a song for seniors not to completely let his audiences lose themselves in the nostalgia of the moment. Such audiences might have grown up with a song, but he makes sure he adds something of his own to each version to pull them back into his performance. Either way, his songs struck a chord in the hearts of his audience members at the Senior Center, who kept slipping into singing along with him.

     Lelen's concert at the Senior Center was made possible by the Friends of the Holden Council on Aging. To learn more about Vintage Music Concerts, visit www. kenlelen.blogspot. com.

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© 2010 — TheDailyHolden.com  and  Linear Publishing

Ken Lelen Combo
Autumn 2010 New England Tour

Sunday, November 7, 2010 to Wednesday, November 17, 2010

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We entertained 500 people at nine concerts in ten days.
The Ken Lelen Combo played six concerts, while Ken Lelen performed three events as a solo act.
I played four guitars: 1912 Grauso; 1926 Maurer #493;

1937 Kalamazoo KG-21 (Riggs); and 1938 B&D Groton 1.

Sunday, 7 November 2010

Southgate, Shrewsbury, MA

This was the first concert for the Ken Lelen Combo at this venue, which consists of several apartment towers surrounding a multi-service building with a beautiful theater. Our sponsor drew an enthusiastic audience of 50 people to a Sunday afternoon concert, which included 17 songs in a 70-minute program.

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Monday, 8 November 2010

Willows, Westborough, MA
I've played this facility several times and always enjoyed myself, especially on nights I didn't have to compete for an audience with a Red Sox or Celtics game! This was the first time for the Combo and our sponsor attracted a friendly crowd of 50 people to the 100-seat Community Room for an early evening concert of 16 songs in a 70-minute event.

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Tuesday, 9 November 2010

Avery Heights, Hartford, CT
The Combo played this retirement facility last April for a small but enthusiastic audience in the Adams Room. This time we played an entirely new program of 16 songs in a 60-minute set for 25 people.

Arbors, Manchester, CT
We opened our 70-minute concert with several ragtime tunes from the 1920s as I played my 1912 Grauso and 1926 Maurer guitars. Then, a lady in the audience asked, "Can you play some ragtime?" Matt and I were surprised at the question, but honored the group with another set of ragtime tunes. In all, we performed 17 songs for the Arbors crowd of nearly 50 people.

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Wednesday, 10 November 2010

Tower One / Tower East, New Haven, CT

This was not our finest concert. We first played this downtown New Haven venue last April for a crowd of 35 people. This time the sponsor drew only 25 people to a midday concert that was marred by nearby concurrent events, people moving in the room, private conversations among audience members, people on cell phones and, once again, absent program people.
     Just before we began playing, a tai chi teacher demanded I relocate one speaker so her students could pass through the audience and reach their classroom. Then, halfway through the concert several people in our audience began noisily moving tables and chairs to one corner of the room for a church service, which started 15 minutes before we ended the event. "We're Catholics and sanctified," a man told me as I sang. "It's how we get a priest in here."
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Thursday, 11 November 2010
Overlook Community, Charlton, MA
Overlook is an enormous retirement village spread across 450 acres in central Massachusetts and run by the Masonic Health System. Although bass player Matt Koch was unable to attend this concert, I enjoyed performing a 75-minute solo concert of 16 songs in the Performing Arts Center, a fabulous 280-seat theater.
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Friday, 12 November 2010

Edgewood, North Andover, MA

In the last five years I've played this sprawling retirement village several times as a solo; this fall I returned with Matt Koch on bass. The facility's auditorium wasn't set when we arrived, so we moved 75 chairs and 15 tables to provide theater-style seating for our audience as well as to create a concert space for ourselves, our sound system and my guitars.
     Just minutes before we were to start the concert, our host for the evening arrived. She was a therapeutic recreation specialist, one who typically works with assisted living and skilled nursing residents, not the independent living activity person who had booked the concert with me. Oblivious to work we'd done, the rec specialist told us she was happy the maintenance people had set the room so well!
     She also told us we should encourage people in the audience to sing or hum along since it's healthier for them to do so. I informed her we regularly perform concerts for adults at senior villages and don't feel a need to prompt, stimulate or patronize an audience to sing; in fact, they just do it!
     In this concert we performed 15 ragtime, jazz and swing tunes as well as told amusing tales about Tin Pan Alley artists, stage door johnnies and drug store cowboys in a 65-minute program.
     And by the way, we saw no exception to the singing, humming, foot tapping and other mirthful reactions we've seen at our concerts across the East Coast over the past 11 years.

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Tuesday, 16 November 2010

Briarwood, Worcester, MA

I've played well-attended concerts at this community at least once a year since 2004. My continued success has depended on the joint efforts of the social event person and marketing director who send publicity to local media as well as newsletters to current and prospective residents. In seven years their efforts have supported and enhanced Briarwood's reputation for quality programming even as they assured me audiences that ranged between 100 and 125 people at a mid-sized CCRC of 200 residents. My latest concert, a solo event with 14 great songs in a 70-minute program, was no exception.

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Wednesday, 17 November 2010

Holden Senior Center, Holden, MA
This concert was the year's best event for me. It came about because several people living in and near Worcester had seen my concerts and told the program people at Holden's Senior Center to call on me. Well, they did, and we both enjoyed a successful event sparked by lots of advance publicity.
     It was filled by a friendly audience of 100 people who came for great concert of 16 songs in a 75-minute program. As icing on the cake, the event generated great follow-up publicity.
     For more details on this concert, see postings of November 17 and 23, 2010 in the Journal section of this website.
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                 © 2010 Kenneth Lelen - All Rights Reserved

Wednesday, 17 November 2010

Holden Council on Aging, Holden MA

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Held on a beautiful autumn afternoon, this concert was a big deal for me and it neatly capped my second tour of New England in 2010.
     Working with the Holden, MA Council on Aging, we drew 85 people to a large and sunny activity room in the senior center. The central Massachusetts town has about 15,250 residents, including 2,200 people 65 years of age and older.
     The free concert was sponsored by Friends of Holden COA and followed a lunch program offered by Elder Services of Worcester, MA. In the 75-minute program I sang 16 songs, played four vintage guitars, and talked about how I was exposed to music of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s at a young age.
     My host, program coordinator for Holden's COA, contacted local newspapers and websites to publicize the event. Besides garnering photo-caption articles in a few papers, the concert was attended by a reporter and photographer for The Daily Holden, a local news website that published a 600-word account, “Resonant memories strike a chord,” two photographs and two-minute video of the concert.
     “Lelen not only performs songs that are familiar to older generations, but also less familiar renditions of tunes in the American Songbook,” the reporter said. “For example, at the concert he played an upbeat ‘You Are My Sunshine’ just as Tex Ritter would have played it and then a slowed down version of ‘After You’ve Gone.’ ”
     The coverage was much appreciated because the writer soaked up the vibe and summed up everyone’s experience of the concert. “His songs struck a chord in the hearts of his audience members at the Senior Center,” he said.

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© 2010 Kenneth Lelen - All Rights Reserved

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