photo: David Olsen
No one needs to make a case for how great a town Tucson is for music, but it’s still important that we do. Between the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame and the Tucson Area Music Awards and its annual TAMMIES Hall of Fame inductions, we get to honor the accomplishments and the legacies of many fine musicians.
Yet, as wonderful as it is to have these Halls of Fame, other on than their respective websites, there wasn’t a location to learn about who these people are.
Enter the Tucson Musicians Museum (TMM).
Six years ago George Howard and Susan French, co-founders of TMM, had the vision to establish what French refers to as “an actual brick and mortar facility to pay tribute to those who have contributed so much to our rich local musical heritage.” Although she says the museum has had an “annex” at Lowes Ventana Canyon, on Saturday, November 19, the Tucson Musicians Museum will officially christen its new home within 17th Street Music, 840 E. 17th St.
French also says that she and Howard wanted the museum to be active in the community. And while it may have begun as a way for Howard, a musician and professional photographer, to showcase his growing collection of outstanding portraits of local musicians, TMM sponsors a mentorship program that benefits budding young musicians. The Mariachi Kids and Junior Strings, beneficiaries of the mentorship program, are featured performers at the opening event.
Currently TMM has 112 members, almost all of whom can be found on the walls of 17th Street Music, showcased in Howard’s impressive black and white portraitures. And it’s an extraordinary group. While many of the usual suspects are on the walls—folks who are members of the aforementioned halls of fame—there are also dozens of folks who have toiled for years, and if not in obscurity, certainly outside of the limelight. This group includes folks like Julian Ackerley, Director of the Tucson Boys Chorus; Phil and Joe Levkowitz, previous co-owners of the Chicago Store (who both passed away in 2004); and John Markovich, a bassist and electronics whiz who is a first call amp and sound system repair guy.
The museum’s grand opening is from noon-3pm on Saturday, November 19 and includes performances from Stefan George and Bryan Dean, one of this year’s ten inductees. More information about TMM and the event is at TucsonMusiciansMuseum.org.
