The History of Fretwire Bracelets
My grand father, Donato Patarino was a fine musician and played violin for the NY Philharmonic. A man of many talents, he played numerous instruments, stringed and non-stringed. He was born in 1910 in the U.S. before moving to Italy at a very young age. He moved back to the U.S. in 1951 and settled in Newark, NJ before migrating to East Orange where he spent many years of his life. He spent his final years in Toms River, New Jersey.
As a child I always thought his style of playing the guitar was very unique. It wasn't until years later I realized his style was reminiscent of the great Django Rienheart, who was also born in 1910. Donato was sought after by many lovers of fine Italian music and played guitar or mandolin at numerous restaurants and private parties, popular by the likes of Connie Frances and Dom Deluise.
On Christmas Eve 2001 at 11:05 we received a call that grandfather had passed away. Being a luthier (a maker or repairer of stringed instruments) the family decided that I should inherit all my grandfathers instruments. After taking possession of them, I took a closer look and noticed the frets on his mandolin were terribly worn and about to detach from the finger board so I decided to replace them.
