PCM: You are selling your Humphrey guitar to acquire another one?

Eliot: I'm not selling my famous old one. I have two Humphrey's .

I don't think I should have a bunch of guitars sitting around that I won't use. Guitar players tend to have many guitars, I have ten. There are two makers I use a lot, Thomas Humphrey and Steve Conner who is a Humphrey disciple.

PCM: How old where you when you stared playing the guitar?

Eliot: Seven.

PCM: What made you pick up the guitar?

Eliot: Well, my only brother had Downs Syndrome and my mother thought we could help him by bringing music in the house. My dad went out and bought a banjo and a guitar. I started on the banjo and then picked up the guitar. That was in Philadelphia.

PCM: Where did you grow up in Philadelphia?

Eliot: Lansdowne, next to Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital.

PCM: Who was your first teacher?

Eliot: My first teacher has passed away the guy that was really important to me was my second teacher. William Viola who's still alive. He just retired from teaching. He gave me the basis of the technique I still use. In fact the only regular instruction I had was with William Viola at the Classical Guitar Store. He was a profound influences. Even more than the guitar stuff he taught me I think the thing that was really influential about him was that he always said, "You will never be satisfied" he insisted that you work all the time and keep a big repertoire.

PCM: Do you feel like you are between an old world and a new world?.

Eliot: Oh yeah, all the time. That is one of the reason it is so import for me to keep active, I am last direct pupil of Andre Segovia. The whole romantic lyrical expression of playing was rejected by my generation. Most of the people of my generation ran away from that. They turned the guitar into an mediocre upright piano instead of being a great guitar. I'm not interested in a lot of things people of my generation are interested in. I'm a much more passionate spontaneous player. I'm a through back to the old romantics.

PCM: Did you study Maquams to work with Burhan Ocal?

Eliot: No, I didn't study anything. I played by ear. We weren't trying to be authentic Turkish musicians.

PCM: How did you start to work with Paco Pena?

Eliot: We knew each other for years. We played a lot of concerts together. We will be getting together soon to start rehearsing to record. We will most likely record with Nimbus Records, a Canadian Company.

PCM: What about your concert in Philly.

Eliot: I will be with Paula Robinson on flute. We are playing a lot of music that has been written for us. We are playing the Berio, Sequenza which is a wild solo guitar piece that was written for me in the 80?s. and we are doing the Beaser's Mountain Song. The Berio Sequenza is part of a series of solo works for various instruments. Berio was a genius, I had the good fortune to be close to him during his life.