David Torn with Don Cherry – Live at Empire Theatre, Paris 1979

For a brief time, David Torn was a sideman for the legendary musician Don Cherry. “Don was encouraging me to do things I’ve been doing anyway, saying, ‘This is your shit, you’re not really a guitar player, don’t worry about the guitar, just make these sounds, do whatever you need to do.’”  As this video shows, forty-five years ago he was already Torn.

 

 

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The Anthony Pirog Interview II

Anthony Pirog is a modern guitar hero on the level of his heroes Bill Frisell, Nels Cline, et al. In some ways he transcends them in his ability to deftly navigate a variety of genres—Jazz, Rock, Noise, Country, Ambient—genuinely but with his own take. At the time of this interview, his latest release is a collection of ambient guitar duos with Nels Cline, John Frusciante, Luke Stewart, Andy Summers, Janel Leppin, Brandon Ross, Wendy Eisenberg and Ryan Ferreira called on Otherly Love Records called The Nepenthe Series Vol. I.

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The Oz Noy Interview

Oz Noy and I go back 20 some years. From the beginning, it was obvious that he was unfettered by the limitations of technique—the guy could play anything from SRV blues to avant sonic explorations. We talk about his new record with Dennis Chambers and Jimmy Haslip, the second Ozone Squeeze record, and much more.

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Guitar Moderne Festival XXVII

Guitar Moderne began as a place to curate videos of live performances by modern guitarists. During Covid, with touring shut down, I posted many imaginary festivals comprised of shows on You Tube. Festivals are back, though not until the spring, and some of us are still wary of crowded clubs, so here is another virtual festival featuring legend Eivind Aarset, as well as legends in the making Julien Desprez, Liberty Ellman, Susan Alcorn, Ava Mendoza, and Mike Baggetta.

Quatuor IXI, Jan Bang, Eivind Aarset, Michele Rabbia—live at Chamber Remix Cologne

Julien Desprez—at Angelica Festival Internazionale di Musica 2021

Vijay Iyer, Liberty Ellman, Reggie Workman, Tyshawn Sorey—The Stone, NYC – Jan 22 2015

Morphic Resonance 8 Livestream (the first 50 minutes is guitarist Nick Robinson.)

Susan Alcorn and Ava Mendoza at the Cunneen—Hackett Arts Center

Ava Mendoza and Mike Baggetta duo—at First Street Green

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The Adam Levy Interview

Adam Levy and I go back decades and it was a pleasure to talk to him about how he developed his distinctive voice, what makes a modern guitarist, and more. For more about Adam’s history and great gear talk, click “more” to watch his interview with my friend Zac Childs.

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