Manhattan Valley Ramblers – Bill Christophersen and John Saroyan

I went to a house concert last night and heard these guys. Aren’t they great? They are John (left) and Bill (right), aka the Manhattan Valley Ramblers. Bill told this charming story about applying for a job at Forbes, and apparently Malcolm Forbes was quite the toy collector. As he waited for his interview Bill listened to a waltz playing that was part of what I think he described as a carousel-type toy, and he memorized the song and worked it out on his fiddle when he got back home. Now I want to go over to the Forbes building and see if that toy is still there.