Nourishing Roots

Lansdowne’s Joe Todaro has a deep investment in traditional music.

by Mary Armstrong

Curly-haired Joe Todaro sits in the greasy spoon next door to his music shop in Lansdowne, chatting over breakfast. As the dishes disappear he begins passing color snapshots around the table. He offers one of a woman holding a very new baby and announces with a big grin, "I’m gonna be a godfather and I got to name the baby!"

The story might not sound too surprising. After all, Todaro, 37, is a first-generation American out of Sicily. But the snapshot isn’t of a kid from Rome, or even South Philly. It’s of a Quechua (descended from the Incas) baby in the highlands of Bolivia. How does a music store owner with a degree in classical guitar develop such closeness and trust in the Altiplano region?

Over apple pancakes and coffee, Todaro spoke of a lifelong fascination with the Lenape, the indigenous people of the Delaware Valley. He proclaims himself a self-taught expert, having traded research with academics who’ve made their living studying indigenous peoples. All the while he was seriously studying music, earning a degree in music education from West Chester.

When it came time to switch from student to wage earner, Todaro gave it some thought and decided to follow — at least partially — in the family footsteps by becoming a businessman. His music store on Lansdowne’s main drag has become a treasure house for people who love indigenous music and want to play it themselves.

Todaro endeavors to honor roots music from all corners of the world. A few years ago the hot item was the digeridoo, for those feeling the call to the outback. Apparently Brazil has surpassed the land down under in musical appeal, because now he finds the cry is for the birimbau. Charlotte Alston, celebrated African-American storyteller, buys many of her drums and other props from Todaro’s Music. Kalimbas (thumb pianos), tiny and perfectly tuned, are the perfect pocket instrument for those who disfavor harmonicas.

Everywhere you look in the store there is some species of instrument you may have never seen up close. Or, if you already own some of Todaro’s wares, you can get those rare supplies that keep your instrument from devolving into a New Year’s noisemaker, from strings to reeds to cork grease. But what you see is only part of what you get. Since he covers so many bases, Todaro can’t possibly display everything he’s got. In order to avoid the appearance of a garage sale hit by lightning, he displays only one of each object, but produces a wealth of choices for those who ask.

Some of the most interesting instruments Todaro offers are those he imports directly from the finest builders in the Andes. He has the traditional bamboo flutes and panpipes associated with the highlands, and of course, nearest to his heart, the tiny cousin of the guitar, the charango. The various voices of the charango are represented, from student models to museum pieces.

Though running a music store for over a decade has kept Todaro busy, he hasn’t let his own chops fade. He is the first guitarist and assistant conductor of the Munier Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra.

The vacations in Bolivia, starting five years ago, have led Todaro to develop close ties with the best instrument builders. Nothing binds musicians faster — especially those who don’t share another common language — than playing together. Ask Todaro to see those snaps of the picking parties in Aiquile, with the boys sitting around tipping back a few chiches (fermented corn brewskis) and laughing. His classical training transfers nicely to the charango, as witnessed by a recent performance Todaro gave as guest soloist with the Lansdowne Symphony. Sandwiched between two traditional dance numbers from the Andes was Todaro’s transcription of the allegretto from Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, set for charango and orchestra.

But how did it go over? Ask the happy symphony-goers who crowded around Todaro and his accompanist during intermission, exclaiming over the instruments and asking excited questions. Todaro seems not only to be the godfather of a baby in Bolivia, but of roots music in the Delaware Valley.

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