GUITARS OVER CANCER…A CONCERT FILM

The concert was created by Lee to pay tribute to his longtime friend, Warren King, aka, the Kingfish, the Pittsburgh guitar wiz who died of liver cancer in January 2010 at the age of 57. Lee had decided then to make the event annual, yearly honoring another who presently is, or has been battling cancer.

"I wanted to have a concert for the Fish (King) and Glenn (Pavone) last Christmas, when both were still with us," Lee says with obvious disappointment. "I wanted them playing on stage together, surrounded by their friends and colleagues, and that didn't happen …something that will surely stick with me."

Pittsburgh guitar hero Glenn Pavone appeared briefly at the Guitars Over Cancer concert. "We were fortunate to have him there at all," according to Lee.

Pavone had undergone chemotherapy that week for his own battle with esophagus cancer and was not feeling up to snuff. He died eight weeks later.

While the film captures the concert itself, and the honoring of King through archival film clips, it showcases the Pittsburgh musicians who were King's contemporaries, and subsequently his friends. And the dynamic connection between King and Pavone emerges in the film.

There were no rehearsals for the 25 musicians who played this gig, yet the concert came off-not as a jam session-but a well rehearsed show, that can only be attributed to the connection all these musicians had with each other…and King. In the film, Lee attempts to capture the essence of that connection, and the event.

"The idea to make a concert film was almost an afterthought," says Lee, as the concert footage itself was shot by friends of Kings' with their home cameras. And there are 16mm film clips that Lee shot in the 80s of Kingfish in his most notable band, The Mystic Knights of the Sea. That band has had many players pass through over the years (most on stage that night), a band still anchored by Gil Snyder on keyboards. And there are scenes from the 70s of a red spike-haired King, in an early lineup of the Iron City Houserockers.

Some of the noted Pittsburgh musicians on stage that night were Gil Snyder, Norman Nardini, Billy Price, Don Hollowood, Shari Richards, The Granati Brothers, James Dougherty, Bill Toms, Marc Reisman, Craig King, Zack Weisinger, Gary Beloma, Ernie Hawkins, Kenny Blake, Max Woodhall, Randall Troy, Frank Czuri, (Pavone band-mate Tom Valentine)…and of course, Glenn Pavone.

Clearly, the city's best guitarists were on stage that night.

King and Pavone had an interesting guitar bond, one of great respect and camaraderie. They shared an apartment building once, but never a band. They were two completely different guitarists and men, a fact not lost on Nardini, who knew both men well, and contributes much to the film.

Another honoree will be named later for Guitars Over Cancer2, this coming June.

The screening of the film takes place on Sunday, April 3rd, at the Pittsburgh Filmmakers Melwood Screening Room, 477 Melwood Av. in north Oakland, at 7:30 pm, (doors at 6:45) and will be a benefit for the same charities that received funds from the concert; the Mario Lemieux Foundation, the Susan G Komen for the Cure and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, plus an additional donation of the screening proceeds to the Canine Cancer Foundation, in honor of the late Glenn Pavone. Tickets are $25 and include an after party with entertainment, refreshments, spirits, raffles, and an auction of sports items from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Seating is very limited. Please come early to secure a seat.