Welcome to the The
Lowdownfrom DN Journal – your source for notable news and information from all corners of the global domain name
industry!
The Lowdown
is compiled by DN Journal Editor & Publisher Ron Jackson.
Music
Loving Domain Pioneers Peter
Maxymych, Michael Castello &
David Castello Back in Spotlight
I’ve
lost track
of how many times I’ve noted that one trait
an extraordinary number of successful domain
investors and developers have in common is creativity.
Success with domains is just as much an art
as it is a science, if not more so (in noting
the difference between the two, 1996 Nobel Prize
winner Sir Harold Kroto said “In
science, the universe is in control. In art, you are.”).
Many
of the most familiar faces in our field are also
exceptionally talented artists, musicians, writers
(sometimes with skills in all of those
areas). One of Canada’s most prominent domain
pioneers, eMall.ca
Founder Peter Maxymych, is a good example.
Peter has a great .ca portfolio, filled with
thousands of top tier keyword domains, and has
posted some of the largest Canadian TLD sales ever
made. Just last week he was on our sales
charts again, this time with the
industry’s #1 ccTLD sale of the week – SportsBet.ca at USD $35,000. In addition to his skills
with domains, Maxymych, a talented accordionist who
has been playing since his teens, has produced some marvelous
jazz CD’s featuring some of the world’s best
musicians.
In
2013, I told you about Maxymych
producing the critically acclaimed major label jazz CD The
Montreal Sessions by the North American Jazz Alliance
on Challenge Records. Fast forward to today and Peter is
celebrating the release of another new CD – When Lights
Are Low featuring Kenny
Kotwitz & the LA Jazz Quintet, on which Peter served
as the Executive Producer.
I
got a pre-release copy of the album a few weeks ago and was blown
away by the tracks put down by the world class players Maxymych
assembled for the project. In addition to
Kotwitz (who is brilliant throughout) on accordian and celeste, the
album has Nick Mancini on vibraphone, John Chiodini on
guitar, Chuck
CD Cover
for When Lights Are Low by the LA Jazz Quintet
Berghofer on bass and Kendall Kay on drums and percussion. These
members of the LA Jazz Quintet have performed live, recorded and
toured with artists including Stan Getz, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, Barbra Streisand, Joni Mitchell,
Michael Buble, Tony Bennett, Celine Dion, Dr.
John, Nina Simone, Nancy Wilson and countless
others.
When
Lights Are Lowfeatures
13 standards and is dedicated to the late jazz accordian player Art
Van Damme. The title track, along with “Cry Me a River”,
“When Sunny Gets Blue” and “Harlem Nocturne” are a
few of my favorites but I love them all. It is the kind of soothing,
tasteful music you could put on repeat play and enjoy listening to all
evening long. While I like all genres of music (I used to be a radio
DJ and also owned a series of record stores), some may say “I’m
not into jazz or country” or fill in the blank. If you have any
pre-conceived notions, I’m pretty sure they will disappear if you
listen to When the Lights Are Low. It is just great music,
period. You can learn more at the LA
Jazz Quintet’s website.
Of course, it is impossible to talk
about domains and music in the same conversation without talking
about brothers Michael
Castello and David Castello who spent their
formative years playing together in rock and roll bands in New
York and Los Angeles (Michael as lead singer and
guitarist and David as the drummer). After taking a long break
from to concentrate on domains, David returned to the stage and
the recording studio a few years ago with bree, another
terrific rock band fronted by his wife.
I
shared Michael and David’s life
Michael
Castello and David Castello
story
in a DNJournal
Cover Story soon after we met for the first time
back in 2006 and have written often about them (and their six
and seven-figure domain sales) since then. Having become
personal friends over the years, I was delighted to see that Giuseppe
Graziano has published new back to back individual
profiles of Michael and David on his blog
at GGRG.com. That is a great approach because, while
Michael and David have much in common (including great character
qualities instilled by their parents), they also have their
own unique personalities, lifestyles and innovative ideas.
Giuseppe’s informative and entertaining articles bring their
stories completely up to date, so you won’t want to miss
these profiles of two of the best people in this business. You
can read the piece on Michael
here and the just published article about David
is here.
