RONALD NETSKY

After attending Philadelphia College of Art and Washington University in St. Louis, in 1975 I began teaching art at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY (not a Catholic school - we need a new name). I'm still there. I also teach at the Woodstock School of Art. I occasionally organize art shows and served as co-curator for "Leaving For The Country: George Bellows At Woodstock."

I'm primarily a printmaker but I've also been writing for the last four decades, mostly about art and jazz. Like my twin brother Steve, for a while in the 1970s I wrote a lot of songs. Of the dozen or so that were recorded, the best is "Love Don't Hurt People" (written with Steve), by the great soul singer Cissy Houston: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OcPoKntfNI&feature=kp
Many of our other songs are here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy3pKfkhSns&list=PL1x-9p0gGJaYX8Yz-6ceOnrkQfbzgsMr1&index=1

My oldest son is a singer and writer. The other two are in Maybird (30th Century Records). Their music and videos are so psychedelic they look and sound like they could have been done in 1969. Warning – this may cause flashbacks for some of you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VcMXtvHRvs

During my Central years I would hear jazz coming from my little brother Hankus’s room – Paul Desmond, Joe Henderson, Stan Getz, etc. But my twin brother Steve and I were too busy listening to The Beatles and Motown to get into it. Then, in 1967, Joe Fleisher took me into the school library, placed headphones over my ears, and played John Coltrane’s version of “My Favorite Things.” That got me.

Fifty-five years later, I’ve published a book of jazz interviews I’ve done over the past two decades. It’s called “Jazz Snapshots” and includes articles on Sonny Rollins, Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea and many more. I even got to ask McCoy Tyner about Coltrane’s decision to record “My Favorite Things.”