New York Guitar Festival
Friday Jan. 10 2014 8:00 PM | Pepe Romero
2014 OPENING NIGHT CONCERT
Pepe Romero’s distinguished career, both as a solo performer and charter member of the “Royal Family of the Guitar,” encompasses some 60 albums, multiple White House invitations, Carnegie Hall concerts, and world premieres by Rodrigo and Moreno Torroba, in addition to receiving a Knighthood by King Juan Carlos I of Spain.
Brookfield Place Winter Garden | Event Details
Friday Jan. 17 2014 8:00 PM | ALT-GUITAR SUMMIT
WILL BERNARD & THE PLEASURE DRONES, MILES OKAZAKI, LIBERTY ELLMAN AND DAVID GILMORE
An evening of trios that explore evolving concepts of rhythm.
• Jazz/funk electronica with Will Bernard and the Pleasure Drones.
• Miles Okazaki with James Hurt (percussion) and Sergio Krakowski, pandeiro (Brazilian frame drum).
• Liberty Ellman, master of contrapuntal rhythms, with Matt Brewer, bass, and Damion Reid, drums.
SubCulture | Event Details
Saturday Jan. 18 2014 1:30 PM | An afternoon masterclass with Nels Cline
Nels Cline will demonstrate how he achieves his unique sound world where all conceivable musical roads converge. This is Cline’s first such class in New York City. All levels invited.
Drama League Theater Center | Event Details
Saturday Jan. 18 2014 7:30 PM | ALT-GUITAR SUMMIT
DAVE TRONZO W/ STOMU TAKEISHI + BEN PEROWSKY, AND FRED FRITH MEETS NELS CLINE
“Feel the Noise!”
•Dave Tronzo with Stomu Takeishi, electric bass, and Ben Perowsky, percussion.
• Fred Frith meets Nels Cline
SubCulture | Event Details
Sunday Jan. 19 2014 1:30 PM | MASTERCLASS: New Approaches to Guitar
BEN MONDER, STEVE CARDENAS,VIC JURIS, LIBERTY ELLMAN + JOEL HARRISON
Five modern masters discuss new approaches to jazz guitar through the lens of Paul Motian’s music. Ben Monder, Steve Cardenas (both Motian alumni), Vic Juris, Liberty Ellman, and Joel Harrison will talk about comping, ensemble playing, linear improvisation, band-leading, electronics, philosophy, and more, using Paul Motian’s singular opus as a starting point. All levels invited.
Drama League Theater Center, | Event Details
Sunday Jan. 19 2014 8:00 PM | ALT-GUITAR SUMMIT
THE MUSIC OF PAUL MOTIAN
When drummer, bandleader, and composer Paul Motian died at age 80 in the autumn of 2011, it was, for jazz critic Steve Futterman writing in The New Yorker, “like waking to find that your favorite neighborhood bookstore—the one that stocked the edgy stuff that no one else would touch—had closed overnight.” Motian’s music lives on in duo performances by Steve Cardenas and Jacob S
SubCulture | Event Details
Monday Jan. 20 2014 2:00 PM | GUITAR MARATHON: LAS AMERICAS
CO-CURATED BY WILLIAM KANENGISER + BADI ASSAD
FREE for the first time in our Festival’s history, this six-hour Marathon (taking place on MLK Day) celebrates the classical guitar in North and South America, contrasting rich traditions with bold experimentation.
Merkin Concert Hall | Event Details
Tuesday Jan. 21 2014 7:30 PM | Silent Films/Live Guitars
MARC RIBOT + CHRIS ELDRIDGE PREMIERE SCORES TO CLASSIC SILENT FILMS
“Marc Ribot did such a fabulous job with Chaplin’s classic The Kid at the 2010 Festival,” NYGF Founder David Spelman remembers, “bringing out not just the humor, but the deep humanity of the film, that I knew we wanted to have him back, but this time with a film that might summon up an even wider emotional palette.” This season, Ribot returns with a new score for Josep
Merkin Concert Hall | Event Details
Thursday Jan. 23 2014 7:30 PM | SILENT Films/Live Guitars
BADI ASSAD + KAKI KING PREMIERE SCORES TO CLASSIC SILENT FILMS
The extraordinary Brazilian guitarist/singer Badi Assad premieres her score for one of the best-known films of China’s cinematic golden age: Wu Yonggang’s 1934 debut The Goddess, the story of a prostitute working the seamy streets of Shanghai to afford an education for her young son.
Merkin Concert Hall | Event Details
Tuesday Jan. 28 2014 7:30 PM | SileNT Films/Live Guitars
LUTHER DICKINSON + ALVIN YOUNGBLOOD HART PREMIERE SCORES TO CLASSIC SILENT FILMS
Formerly lead guitarist with The Black Crowes and current front-man for North Mississippi Allstars, Memphis-born Luther Dickinson deploys his aggressively Southern sensibility to Walter Ruttman’s 1927 documentary portrait of a Berlin long gone by, Berlin: Symphony of a Great City.
Merkin Concert Hall | Event Details
Thursday Jan. 30 2014 7:30 PM | Silent Films/Live Guitars
TOUBAB KREWE + JOSEPH ARTHUR PREMIERE SCORES TO CLASSIC SILENT FILMS
The West African-inspired Asheville, North Carolina-based ensemble Toubab Krewe plays Malian-accented world-pop that’s imbued with laconic, Southeastern minimalism.
Merkin Concert Hall | Event Details
About the festival
Since 1999, the New York Guitar Festival has explored virtually every aspect of the guitar’s musical personality, presenting many of the world’s most distinctive and influential guitarists at venues including Carnegie Hall, The 92nd Street Y, Merkin Concert Hall, Joe’s Pub, Barbes, (le) Poisson Rouge, and The World Financial Center Winter Garden. In addition to producing eclectic, multi-genre concerts and radio broadcasts, commissioning new works, and supporting innovative collaborations among outstanding artists, its Guitar Harvest series of recordings supports innovative outreach programs in our public schools.
