Uploaded July 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Carl Chatzky, Pioneering computer wizard who devoted his life to social justice, empowering the powerless and in finding things out. He will be missed.
Posted out of Seattle There they spell his name Chatski instead of Chatzky
bluegrasstoday.com/carl-chatski-passes
Carl Chatski passes
by John Lawless | July 28, 2014
Carl Chatski The Seattle bluegrass music community has lost a long-time member in the person of Carl Chatski, who passed away unexpectedly July 24 at the age of 75.
Originally from Baltimore, MD, Carl had lived in the Seattle, WA area for some time. As a younger man, he performed sporadically with The Stanley Brothers on mandolin, and became a fixture in bluegrass education in Washington state. He had been friendly with other Baltimore/Washington, DC artists like Mike Seeger, Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, and also shared their passion for progressive politics and social justice issues, something he continued to champion throughout his life.
Carl was a quasi-legendary figure for having purchased Ralph Stanley’s Style 4 Gibson Mastertone (Hearts & Flowers), and for bringing it out from time to time in the Seattle area. He had also performed with Red Emma’s Dance Band.
We understand that Carl had recently been living in Florida, but had returned to Seattle last week to see his doctor. He was found sitting alone in a rental car at a friend’s house where he was staying, and is thought to have died around noon on the 24th.
Ken Weil
July 28 edited July 28
Re video: such a fine group of NW bluegrassers. I will not name them all, but, what great fun to have two bluegrassers from the Bronx in the video. Besides Carl, there is Gene Silberberg, who is the author of FIDDLE TUNES I LEARNED AT THE TRACTOR TAVERN (AND OTHER PLACES AROUND PUGET SOUND). Also, for you banjo aficionados, that is the great Harley Bray of the Bray Brothers playing on banjo (first banjo to play; the other banjo player (with beard) is Bill Scott). There was a lovely memorial jam held for Carl on Sunday.
tom keeney
July 29
Carl got a chance to record a nice project with some of his old buddies from the Baltimore area (Mike Munford and others) a year or so ago. He gave me a copy back in December and it's a good mix of the kind of material Carl liked best. He was a mainstay on the local Seattle area bluegrass scene (BTW, that's Cliff Perry with the long white hair on guitar in the video; he led the Southfork bluegrass band for years and has some great recordings of Carter family material with Laurel Bliss).
He often shared stories of playing around the Baltimore area with the Stanleys, Hazel Dickens, Jon Glick and others. Carl also taught a bluegrass class locally and helped get beginning players up & running. I saw Carl at many local concerts & festivals and he remained a big fan and supporter of bluegrass in all its forms.
Carl and I spent some time examining the banjo he bought from Ralph back in the 60s this past December, and while it's not the RB-4 Ralph recorded with it is an interesting banjo with a mix of prewar and newer parts. RIP Carl!
Flag
arnolddickensarnolddickens
12:34AM
Carl was a friend of the Dickens family not only Aunt Hazel but also my father Arnold Sr. my younger brother is named after Carl, I had the chance to meet him later in Ca. at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass we both had a great time there and later when he came to Baltimore and spent a couple days at the house. He been everywhere and played a little music with just about everyone. I am truly sorry we didn't get to hang out more was looking forward to his next Baltimore visit.
Baltimore, MD from habitat.igc.org/projects/609-mont.htm
1980.10
Databases
BIC - BIC Database
Database, written in BASIC, designed for organizational membership contact information, used for generating mailing labels, membership directories, etc. The original version of BIC had been written by Carl Chatzky, an eccentric radical visionary genius who had gained a freedom from conformity to any normal conventions of schedule and time through having written the software for the Maryland State Lottery. Carl Chatzky was the co-founder, with Robert Pollard, of the Baltimore Information Cooperative - BIC - after which the database was named. BIC Database was progressively revised by Pollard with a modular structure that allowed, inter alia, the easy maintenance of multiple sort order indexes for a database. BIC Database was made freely available to organizations that participated in the Information Co-op.
Carl gives brief introduction to KIETH MCHENRY from Food Not Bombs. freelibs.org/movies/scm-382725-kiethmchenrythecaseforfoodnot.html
Carl Chatzky, Pioneering computer wizard who devoted his life to social justice, empowering the powerless and in finding things out. He will be missed.
Posted out of Seattle There they spell his name Chatski instead of Chatzky
bluegrasstoday.com/carl-chatski-passes
Carl Chatski passes
by John Lawless | July 28, 2014
Carl Chatski The Seattle bluegrass music community has lost a long-time member in the person of Carl Chatski, who passed away unexpectedly July 24 at the age of 75.
Originally from Baltimore, MD, Carl had lived in the Seattle, WA area for some time. As a younger man, he performed sporadically with The Stanley Brothers on mandolin, and became a fixture in bluegrass education in Washington state. He had been friendly with other Baltimore/Washington, DC artists like Mike Seeger, Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, and also shared their passion for progressive politics and social justice issues, something he continued to champion throughout his life.
Carl was a quasi-legendary figure for having purchased Ralph Stanley’s Style 4 Gibson Mastertone (Hearts & Flowers), and for bringing it out from time to time in the Seattle area. He had also performed with Red Emma’s Dance Band.
We understand that Carl had recently been living in Florida, but had returned to Seattle last week to see his doctor. He was found sitting alone in a rental car at a friend’s house where he was staying, and is thought to have died around noon on the 24th.
Ken Weil
July 28 edited July 28
Re video: such a fine group of NW bluegrassers. I will not name them all, but, what great fun to have two bluegrassers from the Bronx in the video. Besides Carl, there is Gene Silberberg, who is the author of FIDDLE TUNES I LEARNED AT THE TRACTOR TAVERN (AND OTHER PLACES AROUND PUGET SOUND). Also, for you banjo aficionados, that is the great Harley Bray of the Bray Brothers playing on banjo (first banjo to play; the other banjo player (with beard) is Bill Scott). There was a lovely memorial jam held for Carl on Sunday.
tom keeney
July 29
Carl got a chance to record a nice project with some of his old buddies from the Baltimore area (Mike Munford and others) a year or so ago. He gave me a copy back in December and it's a good mix of the kind of material Carl liked best. He was a mainstay on the local Seattle area bluegrass scene (BTW, that's Cliff Perry with the long white hair on guitar in the video; he led the Southfork bluegrass band for years and has some great recordings of Carter family material with Laurel Bliss).
He often shared stories of playing around the Baltimore area with the Stanleys, Hazel Dickens, Jon Glick and others. Carl also taught a bluegrass class locally and helped get beginning players up & running. I saw Carl at many local concerts & festivals and he remained a big fan and supporter of bluegrass in all its forms.
Carl and I spent some time examining the banjo he bought from Ralph back in the 60s this past December, and while it's not the RB-4 Ralph recorded with it is an interesting banjo with a mix of prewar and newer parts. RIP Carl!
Flag
arnolddickensarnolddickens
12:34AM
Carl was a friend of the Dickens family not only Aunt Hazel but also my father Arnold Sr. my younger brother is named after Carl, I had the chance to meet him later in Ca. at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass we both had a great time there and later when he came to Baltimore and spent a couple days at the house. He been everywhere and played a little music with just about everyone. I am truly sorry we didn't get to hang out more was looking forward to his next Baltimore visit.
Baltimore, MD from habitat.igc.org/projects/609-mont.htm
1980.10
Databases
BIC - BIC Database
Database, written in BASIC, designed for organizational membership contact information, used for generating mailing labels, membership directories, etc. The original version of BIC had been written by Carl Chatzky, an eccentric radical visionary genius who had gained a freedom from conformity to any normal conventions of schedule and time through having written the software for the Maryland State Lottery. Carl Chatzky was the co-founder, with Robert Pollard, of the Baltimore Information Cooperative - BIC - after which the database was named. BIC Database was progressively revised by Pollard with a modular structure that allowed, inter alia, the easy maintenance of multiple sort order indexes for a database. BIC Database was made freely available to organizations that participated in the Information Co-op.
Carl gives brief introduction to KIETH MCHENRY from Food Not Bombs. freelibs.org/movies/scm-382725-kiethmchenrythecaseforfoodnot.html
