Festivals have been attempted and the jury is still out whether they were a good idea. As a new round boots up this summer, along with a new strain of Covid, here is a safe festival that somehow has been sitting in the can for almost a year (my how time flies). Legends, legends in the making, and some upstarts.
Bill Frisell Trio, Recorded July 3, 2021
With the Xmas season fast approaching, this Swiss label could provide one-stop shopping for all the modern guitar records you need to please fellow fans or yourself. This small label offers over 250 recordings, many of which feature pioneers (Fred Frith, Elliot Sharp) and current stars (Mary Halvorson, Kurt Rosenwinkel) of modern guitar. It is also a great place to discover new players from Europe (Dominic Landolt, Vojko Huter).
Apologies for the dearth of posts. I have people trying to migrate my site away from the awful Bluehost and it has been taking longer than expected. It is still not done but they have fixed the email and assure me I can post, so here is a Guitar Festival for those increasingly hot days when you don’t want to go outside.
Adrian Belew
Sidsel Endresen and Stian Westerhus live at the Torino Jazz Festival 2019
Fred Frith Quartet at the Festival Météo, Mulhouse, 2015
Nels Cline and Yuka C Honda collectively known as FIG performing “Purple & Red” at The Stone on Aug 26 2016
I am trying desperately to catch up with all the terrific music being brought to my attention. Here is a wide spectrum of interesting modern guitar, including a pair of solo recordings from Bill Frisell: one new and one you may have overlooked—I had.
There were many terrific records in 2017. In another year, Charlie Rauh’s Viriditas, Dan Phelps’ Arc, and Rights by Manuel Troller’s band Schnellertollermeier might have fit on my “Best of…” list. But this year saw so many releases by modern guitar superstars that I just have to recommend reserving some money to also pick up their worthy efforts.
This list is mine; feel free to list yours in the comment section.