I've now been to 32 Winter NAMM shows in a row, but never have I had such an enjoyable time as this year. Two events made this a very special NAMM show for me.
First, was my surprise in meeting AJ (Ajua Alamanji). I have introduced AJ to the folks of Ketron US last year, and AJ was invited to attend this years show so he might meet with the owners of Ketron and the distributors here in the USA. AJ was only supposed to be here for one day, Friday, which was the day I wasn't going to be at the show. When I arrived at the booth on Saturday, there was a good looking young man, sitting at the new baby grand "SD1", just looking at me as I walked up. All of a sudden, Lou came to me quickly and said "look who's here!". I instantly knew he could only mean AJ. Only ever speaking to AJ over the phone (sometimes hours at a time) I felt like I was embracing a family member as we hugged. This was such a joy for both of us. We spoke for several minutes and then the 2nd best event of NAMM took place. Up walked a good looking man and his lovely wife both wearing T-Shirts which said "SYNTHZONE" across the front and I knew in a second this must be Nigel. I was right, and we all spoke for a long time and AJ had a camera and had my son take some pictures of AJ, Nigel, Dan, Sandro and myself. In all my years, I've never enjoyed a show this much. The Arranger Forum family is incredible. This morning, AJ called me from the airport in Los Angeles and told me it would be ok to let everyone know that he now has a job with Ketron as a technical support person who will be handeling questions regarding operations as well as trouble shooting. As soon as AJ returns home, we will be talking more so that I might find out more details. I am really excited to have AJ on board with Ketron here in the USA. All of you who have been around for awhile know of AJ and his kindness and experience with Ketron products.
When I left the booth to look at other things I ended up at Yamaha at around 4PM. Shortly after, in came Nigel again but this time he had a surprise for me. He and his wife presented me with an official Synthzone T Shirt. Thank you so much both of you. I was able to introduce both of them to my friends at Yamaha who all stated how often they all log on to the Synthzone web site. We had a really nice conversation about our "passion" for arranger keyboards, and Nigel left promising me he will come by my store and see me soon.
What a Great NAMM!!!!!
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California