It is getting hard to keep up with all the terrific new releases. Modern guitar continues to make inroads in places as far-flung as Argentina, Switzerland, and Tasmania. The pandemic has resulted in works that are largely solo or remote collaborations, but no less successful than the in person collabs.
Shahzad Ismaily is a multi-instrumentalist perhaps best known for his bass work with Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog. He has also worked with Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed, Tom Waits, John Zorn, Shelley Hirsch, Nels Cline, Graham Haynes, Billy Martin (of Medeski Martin and Wood), and Burnt Sugar, among many others. Thanks to Jam Pedals we have this fascinating interview.
With acoustic guitars largely still based in centuries-old technology, there is rarely an opportunity to talk about them in Guitar Moderne. Thus, I was happy to feature the Lava guitar in my NAMM report a couple of years ago. The Asian-based manufacturer Lava presents more like a technology company than a luthier-based enterprise, but either in spite of that or because of it I find them intriguing.
Joe and I go back decades. He is responsible for jump-starting my career as a music journalist. He has played guitar with PJ Harvey, Tracey Chapman, and Tom Waits, been an editor at Guitar Player Magazine and Premier Guitar, worked on guitar-based things for Apple’s Logic, and designed pedals. He just released his terrific first solo record, Falling Through Time: Music From The 1300s. A collection of ancient music played on modern instruments. We talk about everything under the sun.
Two mind-boggling masters of modern guitar dance with and around each other at a house concert, in Lincoln, MA on December 1, 2021. Fortunately it was captured on video.
Photo by Reed Hutchinson
