(The following article by Scott Morgan was posted on the Bordentown Register News on January 22. Dick Gratton is a retired member of BLET Division 11 in New York. His last run was features in the Spring 2003 issue of the Locomotive Engineers Journal.)
BORDENTOWN, N.J. — Dick Gratton doesn’t play guitar to get rich and never planned to ride his six-string to fame.
And he hasn’t, which is perfect for him. So long as he can play for those who like their jazz textured, he says, everything will be all right.
A lot of words get tossed about when someone says he plays guitar. Words like “ax” and “metal” and “loud.” But Mr. Gratton, at least judging by the whisper-quiet intro to his first and only CD compilation, “The Guitars of Dick Gratton,” eschews such attacks on the musical jugular in favor of a more evocative brush against the aural shoulder. As he puts it himself, the sound of Dick Gratton strumming “is like cocktail piano played on a guitar.”
For those who think that all this sounds a bit familiar, you might recognize Mr. Gratton from his weekly gig at Farnsworth Avenue’s Jester’s Café. From 5 to 9 p.m. every Monday, the 62-year-old Mr. Gratton, who wryly refers to his age as “old,” serenades the dinner set with his acoustic handiwork, as he has since April of 2002.
For those of you who have never seen Mr. Gratton play Jester’s, but still think this sounds familiar, you might have caught him in Trenton on one of his occasional shows at the Mill Hill Playhouse; and for those of you who don’t think this sounds familiar, but think it at least sounds interesting, you can catch him at the Mill Hill Playhouse this weekend when he splits the stage with the Bob Smith Trio Saturday night.
Though not as regular as his Monday gig at Jester’s, the Woodland Road resident and retired Amtrak engineer says the Mill Hill shows give him the chance to play with friends for a change. While he considers himself far stronger when playing solo, Mr. Gratton relishes any opportunity he gets to play beside his longtime pianist friend and accompanist of choice, Jim McDonough; something he will get to do again on Saturday.
“Jim is amazing,” Mr. Gratton says — the only pianist he knows who can seamlessly keep pace with the complex, improvisational-by-nature jazz guitar he wields in concert. “He’s my number one choice if I can get him.”
But despite the thrill afforded by being half of a lethal duo, Mr. Gratton says he’s still most at home with a single guitar and a small club with enough of an audience to let his Beatles medleys, jazz compilations and original offerings inspired by giants from Les Paul and Tony Mattola to Guy Lombardo and Jimmy Dorsey become a sort of auditory wallpaper. Such small venues give him immediacy, and they give him a chance to try new things, he says — something that becomes second nature when your world is live guitar.
And as for his visions of grandeur, Mr. Gratton says his “currently-selling- like-malaria” CD and his Monday seat in the city is plenty.
“For a small town, I’ve played three clubs,” Mr. Gratton says, ticking off his history of playing at Jester’s, the Farnsworth House and Conti’s Ristorante. “That suits me just fine.”
Dick Gratton will perform at the Mill Hill Playhouse, Front & Montgomery streets, Trenton, on Saturday, Jan. 24, with the Bob Smith Trio. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 and will be available at the door. For more information, call (609) 989-3038.