The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    who exactly is VAN MORETTI? is he still alive? does he have published books? a google search doesn't return any listings. thanks to any of you that help shed light on my question
    Last edited by srs; 02-17-2013 at 08:32 AM.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Re your query. He has his own site/blog and can be found on YouTube-does great chord/melody arrangements one of which is in this months JustJazzGuitar Mag.

  4. #3
    jazzuki thanks so much for the reply. do you know the web address? i've seen arrangements in jjg mag but never any additional info on the man. i've seen one youtube video of an individual playing one of van moretti's arrangements, but never one of van playing van. thanks again.

  5. #4

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    If you Google his name you'll find it there .Cheers.

  6. #5
    that's a false statement jazzuki. the first entry on google for van moretti is now my question " who is van moretti?" there are entries listing his arragnments in jjg mag, and one that informs that he is a contributer to that mag. a google search does not direct me to his website. jjg magazine website doesn't even list his contact information or website. if you know web address i would definitely be interested in having it. thanks

  7. #6

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    Sorry!Not much help to you.

  8. #7
    thanks so much for offering your assistance. i think i'll now write to jjg mag and ask them. maybe they will publish a piece about van moretti.
    Last edited by srs; 02-20-2013 at 02:29 PM.

  9. #8

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    Search for "van moretti" book with his name in quotes.

    The world's best easy guitar : solos or duets (Book, 1958) [WorldCat.org]

    Good luck finding the actual book, but there it is.

    Actually, there appear to be 3 books:
    Results for 'au:Moretti, Van.' [WorldCat.org]

  10. #9
    thanks for the help rpguitar. i know my search technique isn't too advanced. published in 1958, i gather he's a seasoned artist.

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by srs
    who exactly is VAN MORETTI? is he still alive? does he have published books? a google search doesn't return any listings. thanks to any of you that help shed light on my question
    " I was a student of Van Morretti in the early 80's, from what I understand he is over 90 years old and is still alive and lives in New Milford, New Jersey. Van was a guitarist on some of the early TV orchestras ( including Milton Berle) and owned two original John D"Angelico jazz guitars and his basement where he taught students was filled black and white pictures of him and his wife was a dancer in the chorus line of the Berle show. Hope this helps !! JZ"

  12. #11
    thanks for the reply jaz1947. he sounds like one of the unsung jazz guitar talents. was he a low key personality when you worked with him? was he playing out locally or touring in the 1980's?
    Last edited by srs; 03-04-2013 at 10:07 PM.

  13. #12

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    I took a few lessons with Van about 30 Years ago when He was living in (I think) River Edge, or Oradell, New Jersey.
    I think He did some Big Band work at one time.
    He was very good at chord melody as I recall, and knew theory quite well.
    A real Gentleman as well!
    Think He lives in South New Jersey these days.



    Quote Originally Posted by srs
    thanks for the reply jaz1947. he sounds like one of the unsung jazz guitar talents. was he a low key personality when you worked with him? was he playing out locally or touring in the 1980's?

  14. #13
    thanks smilinjack for answering some of my questions.

  15. #14

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    Moretti is the author of Chord Melody Soloing: The Van Moretti Guitar Method, edited by Ed Benson (former? publisher of Just Jazz Guitar). The book was distributed by the folks at JJG, and doesn't contain the usual things that mark a book these days: ISBN, Library of Congress publication data, bar code, etc. Moreover, it is in a ring binder with a plastic cover. I bought mine ten years ago or more. It's an excellent, practical guide to solo chord melody, focusing primarily on the triads on the first three and second (2, 3, 4) string sets, showing how inversions can make effective melody.

  16. #15
    thanks for sharing that information scot63. van moretti arrangements seem to be a staple in the just jazz guitar magazine. the magazine is still published (18 plus years). i guess his book was self published and therefore had no isbn number. the magazine doesn't currently advertise any offerings from van moretti.

  17. #16

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    I too studied with Van, back in the 80's in New Milford. Wonderful guy and fantastic player. It was actually a funny story how I found him. I was 14 or 15 at the time and looking for a new guitar teacher. My dad was a professional woodwind doubler, and my mom's cousin had just seen a concert with none other than Jim Hall. So my mom grabs my dad's Local 802 union directory, calls Jim Hall and asks him if he'd teach her kid . Jim declined but highly recommended Van Moretti. I only studied with him long enough to learn the basics, and wish I could have learned more chord melody stuff with him. (Which I learned through various teachers and on my own much later)

    Quote Originally Posted by smilinjack
    I took a few lessons with Van about 30 Years ago when He was living in (I think) River Edge, or Oradell, New Jersey.
    I think He did some Big Band work at one time.
    He was very good at chord melody as I recall, and knew theory quite well.
    A real Gentleman as well!
    Think He lives in South New Jersey these days.

  18. #17

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    He is still alive!! He lives in Birches in Newtown PA. He was in WW2. Born in 1919. At the end of WW2 he had a pic taken while laying in Hitler's bed! He played for many famous people in many prestigious venues. My daughter interviewed him for school in the last week and I googled his name and wanted to share.

  19. #18

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    Van passed away 3/22/18 at the grand old age of 98. I started lessons with him in 1968 when I was 8 years old. I still have his books and still practice the pieces he taught me in my 8 years with him. Thank you for the knowledge and inspiration in helping me start my journey in music. Your eternal student Marc Muller

  20. #19

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    I studied with him from 1968 to 1975. He was wonderful. I was lucky enough to catch up with him 8 years ago. I was eager to show him some of my music. I played one of my pieces and he said "Hmm, very nice, but who taught you how to hold your pick? It wasn't me...." ha. Very lucky to have known him.

  21. #20

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    Just visited where he's buried in Pen Argyl PA. He's next to his wife. There's no headstone for Van yet. Hopefully there are plans to put one up. I placed the music for Classical Gas he gave me, dated 1968. Funny, I still can't play it. RIP Mr and Mrs Moretti.

  22. #21

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    Van Moretti was a player and teacher. Living in Vermont in the late 90s I went to a guitar show at Saratoga Springs NY. I stumbled upon a couple of VHS tapes picking them up the first one was Joe Pass. There was a second VHS tape entitled chord Melody by Van Moretti.

    When I arrive home I played the tape and I was amazed at what I saw. I had gone to Berklee that was not happy with the chords that they had taught. I was close to coming on to the system but still didn't quite understand. So Ed Benson was listed on the back of the VHS tape so I immediately called him and the message I got from him was that tape was done 10 years ago and we don't have anymore and he hung up on me.

    So then I realized that this was part of just jazz guitar and one of my teachers at Berklee, Charles Chapman who has written many books on different musical subjects would know who this person was. Charlie was a regular at just jazz guitar writing different pieces for them. So I called up Charlie and ask him I like to get my hands on the first VHS tape that was made. Charlie said I'll do one better I have his phone number.

    I was living in Vermont at the time so nervously I called mr. Moretti who was living in New Jersey at this time and ask him how I could get the first tape. Mr. Moretti said I'll do one better why don't you just come down and take some lessons. He had heard of me and said I was a great player why do I want to take lessons?

    My response to him was there was a lot of holes in what I was taught. So after a six-hour drive I was able to meet Mr Moretti who is extremely tall, wonderful man we sat down and he wanted me to play the seven string guitar which was his favorite. I explained I had enough problems with six strings.

    Mister Moretti's system is built on piano chords for guitar. This was the sound that I was hearing on all those records that I couldn't quite figure out. He would simply take C7 chord and build these voicings on each chord tone. I actually brought a video camera I did an interview with him.

    I'm going to go back in storage and try to find this video and post it on YouTube and we'll let you know when I've done so. I also have copies of the first VHS and the second one they will try to post his up on YouTube I don't know what kind of trouble I'll get into but I'm going to try.

    Ed Benson has a lot of this stuff and why he has not said anything is beyond me cuz they were very close friends and now owns one of the D angelico's that was once Mister Moretti's.

    I also tried to convince mr. Moretti to put his book out there since it was a very unique method. Mr. Moretti was in World War II with a guy called Mel Bay. They were very close friends and the last time I spoke to Mr Moretti he told me that Mel Bay had a copy of his book. I hope this helps again I will keep updates as to finding these videos and the movie that I made as Mister Moretti. God bless him and God bless you all

  23. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by JFG
    Van Moretti was a player and teacher. Living in Vermont in the late 90s I went to a guitar show at Saratoga Springs NY. I stumbled upon a couple of VHS tapes picking them up the first one was Joe Pass. There was a second VHS tape entitled chord Melody by Van Moretti.

    When I arrive home I played the tape and I was amazed at what I saw. I had gone to Berklee that was not happy with the chords that they had taught. I was close to coming on to the system but still didn't quite understand. So Ed Benson was listed on the back of the VHS tape so I immediately called him and the message I got from him was that tape was done 10 years ago and we don't have anymore and he hung up on me.

    So then I realized that this was part of just jazz guitar and one of my teachers at Berklee, Charles Chapman who has written many books on different musical subjects would know who this person was. Charlie was a regular at just jazz guitar writing different pieces for them. So I called up Charlie and ask him I like to get my hands on the first VHS tape that was made. Charlie said I'll do one better I have his phone number.

    I was living in Vermont at the time so nervously I called mr. Moretti who was living in New Jersey at this time and ask him how I could get the first tape. Mr. Moretti said I'll do one better why don't you just come down and take some lessons. He had heard of me and said I was a great player why do I want to take lessons?

    My response to him was there was a lot of holes in what I was taught. So after a six-hour drive I was able to meet Mr Moretti who is extremely tall, wonderful man we sat down and he wanted me to play the seven string guitar which was his favorite. I explained I had enough problems with six strings.

    Mister Moretti's system is built on piano chords for guitar. This was the sound that I was hearing on all those records that I couldn't quite figure out. He would simply take C7 chord and build these voicings on each chord tone. I actually brought a video camera I did an interview with him.

    I'm going to go back in storage and try to find this video and post it on YouTube and we'll let you know when I've done so. I also have copies of the first VHS and the second one they will try to post his up on YouTube I don't know what kind of trouble I'll get into but I'm going to try.

    Ed Benson has a lot of this stuff and why he has not said anything is beyond me cuz they were very close friends and now owns one of the D angelico's that was once Mister Moretti's.

    I also tried to convince mr. Moretti to put his book out there since it was a very unique method. Mr. Moretti was in World War II with a guy called Mel Bay. They were very close friends and the last time I spoke to Mr Moretti he told me that Mel Bay had a copy of his book. I hope this helps again I will keep updates as to finding these videos and the movie that I made as Mister Moretti. God bless him and God bless you all
    Looks like this is your first post and it's a very informative. Thanks for posting and look forward to any updates you can accomplish.

  24. #23

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    I too was a student of Van Moretti between 1964 - 1968 and had a D'Angelico too which he really liked.

    He was a great guy and teacher. He was so patient with me while teaching triads but we had a small falling out when he told me the Beatles and Rolling Stones music sucked and it would never go anywhere. Looking back I can laugh about it.