On the Road to PRS Guitars Experience 2009
Today is the first day of the Paul Reed Smith Experience 2009 trade show, an event that Paul and crew came up with and started back in 2007.
Today is the first day of the Paul Reed Smith Experience 2009 trade show, an event that Paul and crew came up with and started back in 2007.
Guitar International was invited to the premiere showing of Steve Vai’s new DVD release, Where the Wild Things Are and charity event.
As classical guitarists and guitar pedagogues, we have become used to lugging around a mountain of books with us everywhere we go. There is a book for scales, a book for arpeggios, a book for right hand technique and a book for the left.
One of the newest luthiers on the block is Mollenhauer Guitars based out of California’s high desert. With a focus on producing high-quality, low cost guitars, the guys at Mollenhauer are quickly making a name for themselves among players and collectors alike.
The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is special. That’s what I found out when I went to my first one in 1985. So special to me that I’ve been back every year since (okay, I missed one). It’s an immersion, an immersion in all things New Orleans and Louisiana; music, food, culture and fun.
From the early days in 1969, Ian Grandy worked with the band Rush and did what needed to be done to help keep things running smooth, until his departure in 1983. As the road crew grew, he settled into his role as front-of-house sound engineer, finally transitioning to the role of security chief shortly before leaving the organization.
As I walked out of the festival grounds the thought struck me that I’d just seen something special. I missed Muddy Waters and Stevie Ray Vaughn, the two blues musicians I would most like to have seen live, but I had now seen Kenny Wayne Shepherd in his prime. And it was a show I would remember.
I’d heard Kenny in 1996 at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium when he was 19 years old and remember thinking he was pretty good for a kid. But, this time he had matured as a guitar player and showman and I found him mesmerizing. Part of it was his appearance – in command of the stage and somewhat surly. Yet when he talked to the crowd he sounded polite and appreciative. With a white scarf wrapped around his neck he reminded me of a 1970’s guitar god. Kenny played four different Stratocasters, swapping them out every few songs. Maybe because he’s so partial to Strats, Fender named an Artist Series signature model after him!
Juggling is an ancient art. Archeologists discovered a 15th century Beni Hassan tomb in Egypt depicting female dancers juggling. Juggling either migrated or was discovered independently in the cultures of the Chinese, Aztecs, Romans, Indians and the Greeks. So, you’ll be just one of a new generation of jugglers once you get a handle on the sport.
Pat Martino Unstrung documents the physical and psychological struggles faced by the legendary jazz guitarist before and after undergoing brain surgery in 1980 that resulted in the removal of more than half of his left temporal lobe. The film focuses mainly on the neurological aspects of Martino’s condition, both before and after surgery, with added snippets of music and concert footage spread throughout the documentary.
When I first became interested in solo jazz guitar in the early ’80s there was one name that stood out above the rest: Joe Pass. Joe had recorded more solo jazz guitar albums than anyone and with his special talent he kept the music inventive and engaging. With Norman Granz promoting him and issuing his Virtuoso series on Pablo records beginning in 1973, Pass raised the bar for all jazz guitarists that followed.
