There is a musical elegance when watching Klyph Black perform on stage, whether alone or with longtime buddy John Sparrow. There is no doubt that being a musician is his life’s passion. His soul is connected to music from the tones and licks of the blues masters to the chords and songs of the Grateful Dead. He also has a body of original works including a newly released collaboration with another east end legend, Joe Delia, available on iTunes titled, “All Night Blues.” However, Klyph has been both a witness and a participant of the last 50 years of live music scene on the east end.
A Westbury Long Island native, Klyph Black recalls his beginnings out east “like the mid-seventies when I was playing at people’s parties, the LVIS Fair; I was seventeen.” His first guitar was a Guild acoustic that he got when he was about ten. Eventually he mastered playing the electric bass well enough to have Phil Lenz, bass player of the Grateful Dead, compliment his technique and style.
Black claims pre-1988 the Talkhouse was a jukebox-oriented establishment and the live music of Amagansett was performed at Snuggler’s Cove. He had his first established gigs there. He recalls seeing Paul Simon more than once in the audience more than once . Snuggler’s Cove was located in what is now the restaurant section of Astro’s Pizza Building.
Another performer at Snuggler’s Cove then was Monte Faber with some sort of robot billed as Monte Farber and His Me, My Self and Eye Band. Black recalls, “The band was Monte accompanied by Roland the Robot, a creature he created. Snuggler’s Cove was one of the first places out here (Hamptons) to actually have live music in a small venue and definitely the first one in Amagansett.”
About the music Klyph Black said, “Things have definitely changed. Monte Farber happens to be an incredible musician; his solo act was with a robot, not like the technology of today, but he would make tapes of him playing guitar or bass and a drum machine. He played at Snuggler’s Cove for the longest time and I’d go see him. I’d sit in with him on occasion.”
To add to the remembrance Black said, “At the time it was a very small place; we played right in the window. Eventually Monte put together a three-piece band that was too loud to play there, so I got the gig playing with a Guild guitar with a pickup. I was playing in the window there.” He chuckled and said, “Eventually I played with Jeff Silverman who played electric bongos. It was pretty strange!”
In 1988 The Stephen Talkhouse changed ownership. Klyph Black was the first musical act to perform there and as he says, “… at that point, I was the sound guy.” The first big name musical act was John Hammond who at the time was living in Sag Harbor. Klyph Black claims he was responsible for getting the Talkhouse to go to named acts like Hammond. Since then, acts as prominent as Leon Russell, The Band, Dave Mason, Suzanne Vega, Hot Tuna, Felix Cavaliere, Dicky Betts, Derek Trucks, Judy Collins and list goes on and on have graced the stage there. Black says, “I was the first one to suggest live music there and I was the first one to perform on the stage.”
Klyph Black did travel the road for a decade, “I was on the road from 1994 with the Zen Tricksters until 2009. Sixteen years altogether.” He spent as much time as he could on the east end but, “not very much because the Tricksters were playing in some years over 200 plus shows a year. We traveled the whole United States. We played in Japan, we played in Canada and we got to see most of the United States.”
By 2009 I was playing out here when I could and trying to keep something together musically for myself. To me it’s about playing with people. That’s my thing. I like the communication of it, the musical language. I call it weave.”
Klyph Black recalls playing with Bo Diddley. “There is a funny thing about that, when I played with Bo Diddley; I played with Bo at the Talkhouse. I put together a band and it was a really good band. It was like the Zen Tricksters, but without the lead guitar player. I played guitar. Six months later we got the call to back up Bo Diddley at a venue now called the Paramount and it was funny because they said, “hey you are playing bass?”
Eventually Black played more guitar to play solo gigs besides backing up legends like Levon Helm and Rick Danko with his bass on the Talkhouse stage. He marvels how technology has taken over the music scene, with a computer playing the horns, keyboards and drums. He is not thrilled with the idea of a DJ filling Met Life Stadium to spin records.
Klyph Black is a gifted musical lifer. He has seen and been a part of the musical scene out east for half a century. If you haven’t sampled his work, do so soon.
