Photo of Allan Avi Retrofest

Retro69

www.myspace.com/retro1969

Live Retrofest Recordings at http://lnk.ms/3FFGm Mood: (none) (none)Posted at 2:54 PM Dec 1 view more

View My:

  • Allan Avi Retrofest

  • 39 / Male
  • Nassau County, New York, US
  • Last Login: 12/16/2009

64216341|39|11111|http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/91/m_e4ed09a3922b49fb8d76bc63358c98fb.gif

Music Player

Get Flash now!

In order to listen or view this content you will have to upgrade your version of Flash.

Interests

  • General

    http://www.myspace.com/retro69theband RETRO69 Live Tracks from Retrofest Woodstock Tributes

  • Music

    Richie Havens, Bert Sommer, John Sebastian, Tim Harden, Incredible String Band, Santana, Mountain, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, Grateful Dead, CCR, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Cocker, Country Joe and the Fish, Ten Years After, CSNY, The Band, Johnny Winter, Paul Butterfield, and Jimi Hendrix

  • Movies

    For Immediate Release: Retrofest Endorsed By Artie Kornfeld, "Father of Woodstock"

    Friday, April 03, 2009: One of the pinnacle influential people that has inspired Allan Spielman's efforts with Retrofest has been Artie Kornfeld, known by many as the "The Father of Woodstock" , the name given to him by the Woodstock Preservation Alliance. Together with Michael Lang , John Roberts and Joel Rosenman , he produced the "WOODSTOCK MUSIC & ART FAIR" in 1969 . Artie's efforts were single handedly responsible for the doing promotion, raising capital, signing the movie deal, and finding the alternative Bethel Site.

    By the age of 23, Artie was already one of the top writers and producers, having worked at Roulette and Mercury and was the First Vice President of Rock Music at Capitol Records. As of today he has produced 120 platinum albums. Artists signed, promoted or developed by Artie Kornfeld include Sheryl Crow Sarah McLachlan, Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman, Melissa Etheridge, Billy Joel, John Fogerty, Santana, Kiss, Neil Young, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, The Band, Blondie, Bert Sommer, Bob Seger, J. Giles Band, Linda Ronstadt, Alanis Morissette, Lou Rawls, Joe Cocker, ZZ Top, Marshall Tucker, Greg Allman Band and many others. Artie teamed with Jan Berry (of Jan & Dean fame) and Brian Wilson ( Beach Boys) to write major hits like Jan & Dean's "Dead Man's Curve."One of the most remembered of Artie's hits was his writing of "The Rain, The Park, and Other Things," ( I Love the Flower Girl) a chart-topping single that went # 1 Worldwide. Artie's mark on the music world and all of us is indelible.

    It has been Artie's continued concern for the world and his fellow person's well being that keeps him very busy even today, earmarking proceeds from platinum albums and awards to help inner city children born with aids and cancer and helping to ease suffering in India, for example. He is currently working on effortssuch as the Spirit of the Woodstock Nation for concerts geared at helping struggling children and in support of President Obama in leveraging the energy of the Nation's four generations since Woodstock towards making our country a better place to be. Artie 's intent is to give a large amount of his music project profits to hisplanned Foundation to provide intervention,detox and rehab for free to children struggling with drug abuse. He is currently working on a new book and DVD about his history, including "the Untold Story" of Woodstock '69.

    It has been Artie's belief that the Woodstock Nation's spirit is most viable when music is channeled towards the good of others. An example of a grassroots project that he endorses is the Retrofest Benefit Tribute Concerts ( www.retro69.net) being produced by Allan Spielman in New York. Retrofest specializes in nonprofit charity productions featuring the music from the Festivals of the late 60s through early 70s. On Saturday, April 25, 2009 from 8:30pm – 2:30am, Retrofest 20 will feature the music of Woodstock, just in time for the legendary event's 40th Anniversary. The fund-raiser for CancerCare will take place at Who-Ville Bar & Grill, located at 339 Broadway in Bethpage, Long Island, New York. Allan is very appreciative of the support and mentoring he has received from Artie , who has been a role model and inspiration to him and the other participants.

    For more information about Artie and his upcoming book, please visit http://www.artiekornfeld-woodstock.com, www.myspace.com/artiekornfeld or www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1377135535

  • Television

    http://www.myspace.com/retro69theband RETRO69 Live Tracks from Retrofest Woodstock Tributes

Details

  • Status: Married
  • Here for: Networking, Friends
  • Hometown: Nassau County
  • Orientation: Straight
  • Body type: 5' 7" / Athletic
  • Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
  • Religion: Jewish
  • Zodiac Sign: Libra
  • Children: Proud parent
  • Smoke / Drink: No / Yes
  • Education: Grad / professional school
  • Occupation: Web Developer; Musician

Schools

  • Hofstra University

    • Hempstead, NY
    • Graduated: N/A
    • Student status: Alumni
    • Degree: Master's Degree
    2006 to Present

  • Stuyvesant Hs

    • New York, NY
    • Graduated: N/A
    • Student status: Alumni
    • Degree: High School Diploma
    2006 to Present

Networking

Activity Stream

Blurbs

About me:

Visit www.retro69.net

Our Mission

To help revitalize the great genre of music from the great Pop festivals of the late 60's - early 70's To use music as a vehicle for doing good To create opportunities for musicians young and old to relive the genre and get back on the stage.



About Our Retrofests

I started booking bands in 1986 and have been hitting the bars on a weekly basis looking for work for our various blues - 60's groups. Sometime in 2005 I had a compulsive thought to have a Woodstock Tribute concert with local Long Island bands. We held our first Retrofest on June 25 2005 at the Blue Parrot in Massapequa. About that time I started feeling empty with what was going on at work (call it a mid life crisis!) and started questioning about if there was a way to do something more meaningful that can make a difference. Seeing how many wonderful people were using their gigs to help the victims of the Katrina Hurricane, my band and I decided to turn our next Retrofest into a fundraiser. From that point on (we are up to Retrofest 20), each event raises money for a different charity. Most of them are related to helping children who are suffering from illness.

One of the things that emotionally have been so uplifting is to see the faces of older musicians get back on the stage and play the music they loved so much as youth. As these bands and individuals get involved in the project, they feel less marginalized and less jaded by the difficult bar scene that has made it harder and harder for players to perform.

The music is a tribute to the great Pop Festivals of the 60's and 70's. With each attempt at tributing Woodstock, we try to come closer and closer to the original arrangements performed in August 69, often following the same order of the set lists (A subset of course!) As word gets out, some of the original performers have worked with or volunteered to work with us such as Ira and Maxine Stone, who played with Bert Sommer on the first day of Woodstock, Jimmy Kunes of Cactus, David Bennet Cohen of Country Joe and the Fish, and Andy Pratt, author of "Avenging Annie". We have also been in contact with Steve Knight from Mountain and Mark Naftalin of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, both great pinnacle keyboardists.



On a one by one basis, the concerts have yet to be big fundraisers. Our best event raised a little over $3000, most average $1200; however, collectively, we have raised over $25,000 since 6/2005 and with the Woodstock 69 Tribute for LI Cancer Care planned in the spring, we hope to hit $30,000. This is done as of now with a zero budget, and no paid publicity. The only expense we have is paying the house band members $60 a man to work a 6 hour event and share their back line with all the other bands; often that cost is covered by the bar or sponsors. Thus, the energy and enthusiasm of all the musicians allows us to create something wonderful out of nothing.

It has long been my dream to team up with others and take these events to a larger level. This means running the event out on a farm, a campgroun.. with much more PR and better resources. The show would run a full day, covering one act from Woodstock after the other. Every band and performer would be represented, so when a band could not be sampled it we would play a recording of it. The event would bring together people who had been at Woodstock to share their experiences together with those who were too young to have been there. All bands would perform for free, just as done at Monterey Pop in 1967. Hopefully we would be blessed with the appearances of some performers from the original event, just like at the reunions done at Bethel over the past decades. We hope you help us spread the word and join us at our bext Retrofest!



Allan Spielman allan@retro69.net

 

....

Walkin' Blues Video by LdyBluz - MySpace Video
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids....



IRA STONE (Bert Sommer at Woodstock 1969) Performs Smile Video by Retro69 - MySpace Video
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids....



IRA STONE (Played with Bert Sommer at Woodstock 1969) Jeniifer Video by Retro69 - MySpace Video
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids....



IRA STONE (Bert Sommer 1969) Performs AMERICA at RETROFEST Video by Retro69 - MySpace Video
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids....



Check out this event: Retrofest 21
http://newyork.going.com/event-645300;Retrofest_21...

Who I'd like to meet:

Visit www.retro69.net

RETROFEST AND EMPLOYEES OF ASCAP JOIN TOGETHER IN THE SPIRIT OF WOODSTOCK TO PAY TRIBUTE TO THE 40th ANNIVERSARY TO BENEFIT THE MAX'S KANSAS CITY FOUNDATION (New York City, NY) July 9, 2009— David Bennet Cohen from Count ry Joe and the Fish, together with Ira and Maxine Stone from Bert Sommer's band, will be among the many musicians performing at "Retrofest 21" — a concert event featuring the music of the legendary Woodstock Music Festival — on Thursday, September 10, 2009, from 6:30pm to 11:30 pm at The Triad Theater in New York City. Organized by Retrofest, an ongoing grassroots effort run by Allan Spielman that recreates famous festivals of the late 60s through early 70s, Retrofest 21 celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the famous Woodstock Festival of 1969 with a musical lineup to closely follow the order and instrumentation of the original Woodstock Festival concert experience. Included will be the music of Santana, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix, CSNY , CCR, The Who, and more. Headliners such as David Bennet Cohen, as well as upcoming artists such as Lin McEwan will be backed by a house band comprised of employees from both A.S.C.A.P. and Retro69. Rounding out the program will be 1960s Tribute Bands covering the Grateful Dead, The Band, and more. "As an original member of Country Joe and the Fish, I would like to be a part of the festival," states David Bennet Cohen. "I spent many a night at Max's (Max’s Kansas City) in the '60s and 70's and played there with the likes of Country Joe,=2 0Phil Ochs, Melvin Van Peebles, Tim Hardin and a host of others." Proceeds from Retrofest 21 will benefit Max’s Kansas City Project, a non-profit foundation that embraces the philosophy of Mickey Ruskin, a true patron of the arts and the creator of Max's Kansas City, the legendary restaurant/bar/club, formerly located on Park Ave S. in New York City. The Max’s Kansas City Project was established in his memory in 2001, providing emergency funding(one time grants) and resources to financially distressed individuals in the arts, and has in development an interactive teen empowerment through the arts program, Fearless Youth, with a focus on substance abuse and suicide prevention, www.dropin2maxs.com. For more information and ticket sales, visit www.retro69.net or www.triadnyc.com. For more information about the Max’s Kansas City Project or the Fearless Youth program, visit http://www.maxskansascity.org. To find out about sponsorship, raffle donations, and volunteering opportunities, please contact Allan Spielman at 917-583-2505 or email at allan@retro69.net. ###

Comments

Displaying 25 of 327 comments