Guitar virtuoso Mark Lettieri will play on the last day of the BRIDGE Guitar Festival with the Metropole Orkest at the Muziekgebouw. The American - the funky king of the baritone guitar - is thus returning to the city where he lived for a few years as a boy. In this episode of Guns about Guitars, we delve into the path the virtuoso took between his departure from and return to Eindhoven.
On a brisk Thursday evening in November 2021, I witnessed a sublime performance by the Mark Lettieri Group at Lantaren Venster in Rotterdam. Midway through the concert, one of the attendees couldn't contain his excitement any longer and burst out with an unadulterated Dutch compliment. Lettieri didn't understand what was said, but briefly responded to the remark. Almost in passing, he said, "Watch what you're saying, I lived in Eindhoven."
I nudged the two friends I was with at the concert. "Did I hear that correctly? Mark Lettieri in Eindhoven?" On the train back, I quickly Googled the obvious query: Mark Lettieri Eindhoven. No results indicated what I thought I had heard. Oh well, maybe I had completely misheard it and it was all a big mindfuck.
Mark in Eindhoven
I learned a few weeks ago that the internet doesn't have all the answers. I was speaking with Mark for a podcast recording when I asked him outright, "Mark, either I had a brief moment of hearing loss, or you lived in Eindhoven. Which of the two options is true?"
"The second," replied the amiable American.
"Ah, so I'm not crazy after all," I said relieved. "But tell me, how, what, why?"
"My father worked in the vicinity of San Francisco as a PR man for various tech companies. In the late eighties, he got a job in the PR department at Philips in Eindhoven. Our whole family went with him. I was, I think, five years old, and we lived there until I was seven or eight."
"Do you remember anything from that time?" I asked.
"Yeah, oddly enough, quite a lot. I was obviously quite young, but old enough to have active memories. I attended the international school, where I had a good time. I also remember De Bijenkorf. And the Tongelreep swimming pool. And the Evoluon. Does that still exist?"
"Yes, it does. An icon of the city. Have you ever been back to your old house?"
"Yes, when we played at the Muziekgebouw a few years ago with Snarky Puppy, I took an Uber to that house. I had sent my father a message to ask for the exact address because I didn't remember it myself, of course. It was very surreal to see that place. It all felt very familiar. In the end, I didn't ring the doorbell. I thought that would be a bit too much."