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.
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
André Cholmondeley has worked with some of the premier modern guitarist legends: Adrian Belew, David Torn, Pat Metheny, to name a few. Here is are a couple of great Rig Rundowns featuring guitarists who have been pushing the technology envelope for a long time.
hnology for a long time. The Metheny rundown includes Cholmondeley talking about some of Pat’s history with technology.
I have seen Nick Reinhart improvise brilliantly with a set of pedals he was handed less than an hour before. Here, he and Gardner pull off an improv that sounds like a fully composed piece, with Nick using a guitar made of cardboard (including the neck). Check it out, as well as a video on the making of this unusual instrument.
For my big birthday (75), I decided to brave a festival.
I hadn’t seen a true concert in over three years. A show at the Jazz a Junas festival seemed ideal: small, outdoors, 40 minutes away from our apartment in Nîmes over mostly non-life-threatening roads.