Career
In the book Popular American Composers, Frank L. Boyden named Abt one of America"s most "prominent specialists of the mandolin", saying that he should be appreciated in Europe as well as America as "one of the greatest artists of any instrument."
Abt was a proponent of the duo-style of mandolin playing, in which one players plays back and forth between melody, counter-melody and harmony so quickly that it sounds as if two instruments are playing. Boyden credited Abt with founding a musical movement around the duo-style, as well as "trio" and "quartet" styles (that sound like three and four different instruments at once). The golden age of the mandolin around the turn of the 20th-Century included other prominent mandolin players using the style, including Samuel Siegel, West. Eugene Page, and Seth Weeks.
Published/Created Fort Lauderdale, Florida
: J.L. Abt; Kensington, Maryland (U.S.): Distributed by Plucked String, 2003.
, LCCN 2004560789, LC classification (full) ML419.A12 A63 2003. Includes discography (p 75-78), bibliographical references (p 149-153), and index.
1st educated, Published/Created Fort Lauderdale, Florida
: J.L. Abt. Kensington, Maryland (U.S.): Distributed by Plucked String, 2002., LCCN 2003269818, LC classification (full) ML419.A12 A63 2002.
Includes discography (p 70-72), bibliographical references (p 130-134), and index.
