So sorry for the loss of your dear friend … and thank you for reminding me of his beautiful (and, apparently, sometimes rollicking) music. I’ve been a Windham Hill fan for many years, have several CDs that include Mr. Aaberg’s more peaceful compositions, Montana Half-Light and High Plains among them. My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends; thanks for posting these fine tributes by you and Deb.
Thank you for sharing, and I really enjoyed his interview for the Five Things I Learned about America. From yours and Deb's tribute messages, Phil seems like a good man to know.
I loved your OUR TOWNS tour, of 10 years. I learned so much. I have lived in many places across our country. Now settled for 30 years in SKI TOWN USA, no longer small town America. Thank you for this beautiful story of the plains of Montana and your remarkable friend Phil.
Thank you! And you may have noticed in our Our Towns travels that we avoided locations in the home state of SKI TOWN USA!!, simply because of the mountain ranges. (Though we've landed the little plane many times at Centennial, and then rented a car for a drive over the front range to your locale. That comes from twice having landed the plane at Aspen and thought—OK, we'll declare victory by never doing this again....)
Appreciate your kind words. Last night, Montana Public Radio had an extraordinary one-hour live special tribute to Phil Aaberg, with interviews from him and selections from his work. I'll post a link to the program when I can find one.
The photo of your friend with his fly rod drifting down a Montana stream and now gone reminded me of similar photos I have of friends now passed away. Thanks for letting me know about Phil Aaberg.
Thank you for sharing such a charming story. As someone born in NY City, and often living near this amazing metropolis, I forget that there are unusually rich and fulfilling lives being lived very differently.
[Though...As a child I often spent a great deal of time in undeveloped nature, and thoroughly enjoyed and still remember those simple pleasures--exploring any place with water and the creatures living just beneath the surface, discovering wild flowers, all sorts of birds and some of their habitats, gathering berries and sumac to use as art materials later...]. Back then nature was easier to find within an hour of "the city."
How wonderful to get to know Philip Aaberg a little bit even though he has departed from a special area of Montana.
Thank you. Among the glories of the years Deb and I spent reporting on smaller-town America was exactly the sensation you describe: Coming upon rich cultures and achievements practically everywhere we looked. From tiny Ajo, Arizona to tiny Eastport, Maine, to places like Columbus, Mississippi or Winters, California. Not every place has the exact likes of Phil and Patty Aaberg. But there is so much out there to learn about and share.
And yes, just wandering in nature has the same inspiring potential. In DC, which has been our home base over the decades between stints in other parts of the world, nature actually seems to be getting closer, and expanding, with the District's very aggressive and successful campaign to expand its already-striking tree cover, to foster indigenous plants, to improve its parks, etc. Our house is about three miles from the White House, within DC, and in our back yard we have foxes, hawks and owls, of course all too many deer.
Thank you for sharing the story of your friend Phil and his wonderful music. 🎶🎹 I enjoyed listening to Phil's piano playing from the links you provided. No doubt, Phil will be missed by many.
Thank you for this beautiful tribute to a wonderful musician. Although as a professional musician I was familiar with his name, I couldn’t have identified any of his work. To be introduced to his music and his thoughts in the Five Things I’ve Learned interview after his passing makes me feel a real sense of loss but also gratitude for your sharing his brilliance. At least we have his music to continue to play. What a great addition to my musical knowledge!
As a dear friend and fan of Phil Aaberg since high school, I am deeply grateful to you, Jim and Deb, for noting his genius and accomplishments, along with his sad and early passing. Phil was a great soul. Thank you! You two are treasures, as Phil was. As I hope you know, Phil was a big fan of you two. Best, Jim
Oh no. I knew Phil and used to enjoy seeing him at reunions. He came east for a concert in CT years ago and I heard him there. As good a showman as he was composer and performer. His collaboration disc Tuli Wamu with the African musician Kinobe is one of my workout playlists. And his work with Perry and the Pumpers is not to be missed. A treasure has been lost.
Tom, yes, alas. I have heard Phil playing at your class's reunions, and I know that until early this year he was talking about possibly performing again, at the reunion next week. We're all fortunate to have known him.
We met him once and only for a day, while traveling the country on a trip very much inspired by your own trips. (Thank you for that, as well.)
As you can imagine, he was immediately kind and gracious, and immediately you felt that he knew things worth sharing. He didn't know us at all, but we met for lunch and then he welcomed us back to his studio for a conversation that lasted the better part of a full afternoon.
It was a great afternoon, thrilling at times.
Then, he twirled around and played and knocked us out.
Except for some followup correspondence, that's as much as we got to know him – but even spending just a short time together it was easy to see he was filled with all that's best in people and the country. We felt lucky to have met him and to share what he'd learned.
I'm glad you discovered his interview. We're pleased to think that you and Deb have seen it.
All the best to you both. And thanks to you, again, for your note.
What a gracious thing to say. We were so glad to find his 'My Five Things' segment, and all the more appreciative of this back story. Onward together...
Thank you so much Jim and Deb. What a wonderful, moving tribute. I am so sorry for your loss.
I went straight to "Upright" from 1989 ... great energy, a nice little 12 bar blues included.
Catholic music? I went to a convent school from 1st grade - through HS, and yup, plenty of fantastic music, Gregorian chant, choral. And a bonus ~ spirituals. My first grade teacher was Marie Louise Jenkins rscj. Try "https://rscj.org/memoriam/mary-louise-mamie-jenkins-rscj/" and you'll find links to her singing.
I listened to the links (here, here, etc) and eventually realized the final tune is at the bottom of the "Five Things" link, after the spoken videos of the five things. So, the second time I heard "Upright", I noticed again that at the very end is the theme for all the great boogie-woogie preceding it. I thought, that's a hymn. Well, sort of. The tune is a movement in the middle of Finlandia, composed in 1899 by Jean Sibelius, but an earlier (1752, by German poet Katharina von Schlegel (1697-1777)) lyric of a hymn that was translated to English by Jane Borthwick in 1855 and added to the movement from Finlandia, titled by its first words, "Be Still My Soul", and David Evans is credited with that combination.
So sorry for the loss of your dear friend … and thank you for reminding me of his beautiful (and, apparently, sometimes rollicking) music. I’ve been a Windham Hill fan for many years, have several CDs that include Mr. Aaberg’s more peaceful compositions, Montana Half-Light and High Plains among them. My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends; thanks for posting these fine tributes by you and Deb.
Thank you for sharing, and I really enjoyed his interview for the Five Things I Learned about America. From yours and Deb's tribute messages, Phil seems like a good man to know.
I loved your OUR TOWNS tour, of 10 years. I learned so much. I have lived in many places across our country. Now settled for 30 years in SKI TOWN USA, no longer small town America. Thank you for this beautiful story of the plains of Montana and your remarkable friend Phil.
Thank you! And you may have noticed in our Our Towns travels that we avoided locations in the home state of SKI TOWN USA!!, simply because of the mountain ranges. (Though we've landed the little plane many times at Centennial, and then rented a car for a drive over the front range to your locale. That comes from twice having landed the plane at Aspen and thought—OK, we'll declare victory by never doing this again....)
Appreciate your kind words. Last night, Montana Public Radio had an extraordinary one-hour live special tribute to Phil Aaberg, with interviews from him and selections from his work. I'll post a link to the program when I can find one.
The photo of your friend with his fly rod drifting down a Montana stream and now gone reminded me of similar photos I have of friends now passed away. Thanks for letting me know about Phil Aaberg.
From what you write, Deb and Jim, it's clear you were very fortunate to have known this fellow.
Grif, indeed. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing such a charming story. As someone born in NY City, and often living near this amazing metropolis, I forget that there are unusually rich and fulfilling lives being lived very differently.
[Though...As a child I often spent a great deal of time in undeveloped nature, and thoroughly enjoyed and still remember those simple pleasures--exploring any place with water and the creatures living just beneath the surface, discovering wild flowers, all sorts of birds and some of their habitats, gathering berries and sumac to use as art materials later...]. Back then nature was easier to find within an hour of "the city."
How wonderful to get to know Philip Aaberg a little bit even though he has departed from a special area of Montana.
Thank you. Among the glories of the years Deb and I spent reporting on smaller-town America was exactly the sensation you describe: Coming upon rich cultures and achievements practically everywhere we looked. From tiny Ajo, Arizona to tiny Eastport, Maine, to places like Columbus, Mississippi or Winters, California. Not every place has the exact likes of Phil and Patty Aaberg. But there is so much out there to learn about and share.
And yes, just wandering in nature has the same inspiring potential. In DC, which has been our home base over the decades between stints in other parts of the world, nature actually seems to be getting closer, and expanding, with the District's very aggressive and successful campaign to expand its already-striking tree cover, to foster indigenous plants, to improve its parks, etc. Our house is about three miles from the White House, within DC, and in our back yard we have foxes, hawks and owls, of course all too many deer.
We will miss dear Phil greatly.
Thank you for sharing the story of your friend Phil and his wonderful music. 🎶🎹 I enjoyed listening to Phil's piano playing from the links you provided. No doubt, Phil will be missed by many.
Thank you for this beautiful tribute to a wonderful musician. Although as a professional musician I was familiar with his name, I couldn’t have identified any of his work. To be introduced to his music and his thoughts in the Five Things I’ve Learned interview after his passing makes me feel a real sense of loss but also gratitude for your sharing his brilliance. At least we have his music to continue to play. What a great addition to my musical knowledge!
Thank you. We were very grateful to see the Five Things feature as well.
As a dear friend and fan of Phil Aaberg since high school, I am deeply grateful to you, Jim and Deb, for noting his genius and accomplishments, along with his sad and early passing. Phil was a great soul. Thank you! You two are treasures, as Phil was. As I hope you know, Phil was a big fan of you two. Best, Jim
Jim, thank you so much. I had forgotten that your ties to Phil went all the way back to high school. We very much appreciate your friendship.
Oh no. I knew Phil and used to enjoy seeing him at reunions. He came east for a concert in CT years ago and I heard him there. As good a showman as he was composer and performer. His collaboration disc Tuli Wamu with the African musician Kinobe is one of my workout playlists. And his work with Perry and the Pumpers is not to be missed. A treasure has been lost.
Tom, yes, alas. I have heard Phil playing at your class's reunions, and I know that until early this year he was talking about possibly performing again, at the reunion next week. We're all fortunate to have known him.
Thanks so much for this note about Phil.
We met him once and only for a day, while traveling the country on a trip very much inspired by your own trips. (Thank you for that, as well.)
As you can imagine, he was immediately kind and gracious, and immediately you felt that he knew things worth sharing. He didn't know us at all, but we met for lunch and then he welcomed us back to his studio for a conversation that lasted the better part of a full afternoon.
It was a great afternoon, thrilling at times.
Then, he twirled around and played and knocked us out.
Except for some followup correspondence, that's as much as we got to know him – but even spending just a short time together it was easy to see he was filled with all that's best in people and the country. We felt lucky to have met him and to share what he'd learned.
I'm glad you discovered his interview. We're pleased to think that you and Deb have seen it.
All the best to you both. And thanks to you, again, for your note.
What a gracious thing to say. We were so glad to find his 'My Five Things' segment, and all the more appreciative of this back story. Onward together...
Thank you.
Great piece. I was delighted to be introduced to Phil Aaberg's music.
Jack, thanks. That 'Five Things' clip really shows the jazzy, lively side of his music.
Thank you so much Jim and Deb. What a wonderful, moving tribute. I am so sorry for your loss.
I went straight to "Upright" from 1989 ... great energy, a nice little 12 bar blues included.
Catholic music? I went to a convent school from 1st grade - through HS, and yup, plenty of fantastic music, Gregorian chant, choral. And a bonus ~ spirituals. My first grade teacher was Marie Louise Jenkins rscj. Try "https://rscj.org/memoriam/mary-louise-mamie-jenkins-rscj/" and you'll find links to her singing.
I listened to the links (here, here, etc) and eventually realized the final tune is at the bottom of the "Five Things" link, after the spoken videos of the five things. So, the second time I heard "Upright", I noticed again that at the very end is the theme for all the great boogie-woogie preceding it. I thought, that's a hymn. Well, sort of. The tune is a movement in the middle of Finlandia, composed in 1899 by Jean Sibelius, but an earlier (1752, by German poet Katharina von Schlegel (1697-1777)) lyric of a hymn that was translated to English by Jane Borthwick in 1855 and added to the movement from Finlandia, titled by its first words, "Be Still My Soul", and David Evans is credited with that combination.
Thank you so much Dale! I must listen again ~ I missed the Finlandia excerpt.
Wow! Deb was in Catholic school through the grade school years, but she never mentions sisters who could sing like that.
A beautiful tribute, two actually.
Thank you. We both feel fortunate to have seen Phil and Patty on their home turf.