Vestapol

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Vestapol is a music publishing company with over 100 DVDs and videos published as of 2004. [1] It has been releasing videos since the 1960s, mainly featuring jazz, blues, country and folk music artists. [2] [3] [4] The video line is produced by Stefan Grossman. [5] Artists who have recorded on Vestapol video include Merle Travis, Joe Pass, Pat Kirtley, Norman Blake, Preston Reed, and Raymond Fairchild. The name Vestapol refers to an open D Major tuning for the guitar, common in finger-style guitar in country and folk music. [6]

Grossman also began to acquire concert footage of the old blues and country artists who had been rediscovered in the 1960s and had often made TV appearances; this was the basis of Vestapol Videos, which edited and reissued this footage. It was a breakthrough for younger guitarists to be able to watch Big Bill Broonzy, Lightnin' Hopkins, Reverend Gary Davis and many others long after these players had died. Vestapol rapidly expanded to include concert footage from living artists too. Although originally issued as video tapes, almost all of this material (both instructional and concert) has in the last few years been re-issued on DVD. The Guitar Workshop mails worldwide from its bases in New Jersey and Yorkshire.

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References

  1. Purcell, Lee (30 January 2004). Making DVDs . McGraw-Hill Professional. p.  120. ISBN   978-0-07-143191-0 . Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  2. JazzTimes. JazzTimes, Inc. April 1996. p.  121. ISSN   0272-572X . Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  3. Ferris, William R. (1 November 2009). Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues . Univ of North Carolina Press. p.  284. ISBN   978-0-8078-3325-4 . Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  4. Cohen, Norm (30 March 2005). Folk Music: A Regional Exploration. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 148. ISBN   978-0-313-32872-5 . Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  5. Grossman, Stefan (3 May 2004). Fingerpicking Guitar Techniques. Mel Bay Publications. p. 5. ISBN   978-0-7866-7138-0 . Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  6. DeSalvo, Debra (1 January 2006). The language of the blues from Alcorub to Zuzu. Billboard Books. p. 150. ISBN   978-0-8230-8389-3 . Retrieved 21 August 2012.