John McGann

Mike Ihde · Post by **Mike Ihde** » 7 Apr 2012 10:32 pm

John was one of my private students in the late 70's and was just beginning to play pedal steel. At the end of each semester, a student must perform a solo piece of guitar. John decided to play "Jesu, Joy of man's desiring" on pedal steel steel. He did a great job on it.
While I was always the country guy at Berklee, he was the bluegrass guy on mandolin. I can't believe he's gone. What a great teacher and player he was. He will be sorely missed.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 8 Apr 2012 11:13 am

On Mark O'Connor's Twitter feed today: "

I would like to remember a very good friend of mine who died unexpectedly, mandolinist John McGann."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zsq2Qtu ... e=youtu.be

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 8 Apr 2012 10:09 pm

Does anyone know what happened to him?

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 8 Apr 2012 10:33 pm

Apparently there was something wrong with his kidneys.

Mike Ihde · Post by **Mike Ihde** » 9 Apr 2012 3:18 pm

It was a combination of kidney failure and an embolism. It sounded as if had he received some blood thinning medicine, he might have survived.

Here's a nice article about John...
http://www.mandolincafe.com/news/publis ... 1366.shtml

Here's more...

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
APRIL
2012
In Memory of John McGann

I am sad to announce the death of faculty member John McGann. His fine teaching and musicianship influenced many. I think the words of his students and colleagues capture this eloquently:

John was beyond category and beyond compare. He was like a garden of musical and human gifts. That garden is gone.

- Matt Glaser, Artistic Director, American Roots Program, Berklee College of Music

I've had the privilege of studying with John for the past two years at Berklee. We all knew that John was going through health issues for the last couple of weeks, but no one could have imagined this terrible news today.

John was one of the most amazing and knowledgeable musicians I have ever known. My private lessons with him were some of the deepest musical revelations I've had at a school where everyone is thinking about music all the time. He would amaze me by showing me a concept that he had transcribed from Cannonball Adderley, Wes Montgomery, Eric Dolphy, or Bill Evans. These were concepts that he had transcribed years ago, always from memory! His knowledge of Django was vast, as were his knowledge of traditional Irish music and bluegrass. We even had discussions about Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel, and Anton Webern (whom he especially liked!).

But more than anything, John was an absolutely beautiful and caring human being: a teacher in every sense of the word. He always had a smile on his face, would stop and talk to you if he saw you on the street, and was always quick with a joke. I know I'm not the only student who realizes that the void left by John's passing at Berklee can never be filled.

Goodbye, John. We'll miss you.

- Dan Bui, Seventh-Semester Mandolin Principal, Berklee College of Music

So many of us have great memories of John's life. To contribute your own, please visit berklee-blogs.com.

David Yannuzzi · Post by **David Yannuzzi** » 10 Apr 2012 8:09 am

Such a loss . He was a really good guy and amazing musician and teacher

real bummer

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 10 Apr 2012 10:54 am

so sorry to read this. John was very helpful when my son was playing jazz mandolin and couldn't join the jazz band because the music director at his high school objected to a mandolin player playing jazz. He was very encouraging at a rough time.

I'm saddened by his passing.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 10 Apr 2012 11:29 am

John was the best! Always supportive, always encouraging. He didn't believe in musical borders and he was a big factor in the success of the American Roots movement at Berklee college of music over the last few years. Here's John with some his students - all of them just killing it! Look at the smile on John's face.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwALaWvTWKQ

He inspired a lot of kids who will take the music further and remember what he gave. He was a steel player for a long time but finally decided he had just one lifetime and wanted to go further on his main instruments - guitar, mandolin and octave mandolin. Unfortunately that lifetime was shorter than anyone imagined.

Mike Ihde · Post by **Mike Ihde** » 10 Apr 2012 4:39 pm

Another local Boston show speaking about the ability and humanity of John.

http://www.wgbh.org/articles/Brian-ODon ... cGann-5975

Fred Amendola · Post by **Fred Amendola** » 11 Apr 2012 6:40 am

I'm so sorry to hear this.
When I started doing steel transcriptions, John and I had a nice phone visit, which I've always remembered. A very super guy.
Condolences to his family and friends.

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 11 Apr 2012 11:46 am

Another musical tragedy has occured.

John and I conversed through email a few times when he and Andy were collaborating on the Joaquin Murphey book a few years back. Sadly, I never met the man but had the utmost respect for his dedication to teaching.

Hopefully, his legacy... like Jeff Newman's... will be the scores of musicians he trained and influenced that will go on to create more and better players and teachers, expanding the craft and making the pie bigger for everyone.

Susan Alcorn (deceased) · Post by **Susan Alcorn (deceased)** » 12 Apr 2012 3:27 pm

I'm very saddened by the death of John McGann. He was a true virtuoso on the mandolin and a true advocate of the pedal steel guitar no matter what the genre.

My sincerest condolences to his family.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 3 May 2012 4:42 pm

McGann's guitar sparkling in the background on this evocative cut from the Wayfaring Strangers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... BUTT6tz9Oc

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 5 May 2013 10:50 pm

Wanting to remember John still.

Andy that is a great cut by the Wayfaring Strangers.
I was fortunate to see them live, and then jam with John a few days later.

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 6 May 2013 4:12 am

duplicate post.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 6 May 2013 6:55 pm

I drive near John's home fairly regularly and I feel sad every time but very glad to be here. You just never know what's around the bend.