INTERNATIONAL GUITAR NIGHT
Cowichan Theatre - Feb 14/99
- by Ron Forbes-Roberts -
This past Valentine's Day, while many
consenting adults stayed home to celebrate the
pleasures associated with the celebration of Eros
in their own chosen fashion, over three hundred
lovers of the guitar placed music before libidinous
self-indulgence (the thing was over at 10:30 so
actually there was time for that stuff later) and
turned out at the Cowichan Theatre in Duncan to
hear four of the world's greatest guitarists/
composers - Peppino D'agostino, Don Ross,
Antonio Calogero and Brian Gore - perform as
International Guitar Night.
Now before I go further, the question must be
addressed. No offense to the fine citizens of
Duncan but what were these four cutting edge
musicians from around the world doing
performing together in the Home of the World's
Largest Hockey Stick, a humble village that is...
well, slightly off the beaten track?
The short answer is that Brent Hutchison,
artistic coordinator of the Cowichan Folk Guild
and musician, had the wherewithal and foresight
to give International Guitar Night its first major
booking outside of the San Francisco area when
he brought IGN in to play at the same venue in
1998 (with a slightly different line-up) after
receiving their promo package the summer
before.
Since the success of this first show IGN has
been booked all over North America with gigs
scheduled into 2001. Upcoming members of the
show include Gerardo Nunez, Ralph Towner
and Andrew York. Hutchison and the Cowichan
Folk Guild deserve great credit for recognizing
the quality of this show early on and bringing it to
the people of Vancouver Island.
IGN began in 1995 in a small, Berkley, CA club
where guitarist/impresario Brian Gore was
hosting an all guitar night that included people
like Alex Degrassi and Peter Finger as well as
lesser-known performers. He knew he was onto
something when the club began selling out on
these nights strictly through word of mouth
advertising. It wasn't long before the production
was appearing in larger Bay Area venues using
the same format; four guitarists given equal time
who would often duet with each other in the
second half of the show. Players included Mike
Marshall, Adrian Legg and Paulo Bellenati,
among others.
Gore began looking for venues further afield
and sent a promo package to the Island Folk
Festival where it fell into Hutchison's hands. "I
thought it was an intriguing way to display the
acoustic guitar", he says. "I felt it would make a
great show especially if we had a Canadian on
the bill so I suggested Don Ross [Ross performs
regularly with IGN now] and we did the show."
The initial show, with Gore, Ross, Calogero
and Paulo Bellenati did very well, and IGN and
Hutchison decided a reprise was in order.
Local World Beat musicians Sunyata
opened the show with two hypnotic, flamenco
tinged pieces that were well received by the
crowd despite not really fitting into the solo
fingerpicking context of the show. Brian Gore,
guitarist, composer and self-described
extroverted introvert then bounced on stage to do
a few numbers in his laid-back rambling style.
Gore doesn't have the chops of the others but the
gentle, melodic tunes he writes and plays come
from the heart and his wacky stage demeanor
won over the audience.
Antonio Calogero then took the stage. A fiery
guitarist with great compositional and playing
skills, the classically-trained, Italian-born
Calogero played tunes on both steel and nylon
string guitars. Initially he seemed tense and this
was reflected in both his stage manner and
playing which hampered the musical flow of his
set. However, a few tunes into his set , there was
some brilliant playing, particularly in his rhythmic
piece 'Multi Ethnic Dance', an involved and
beautifully constructed tune. It may be that
Calogero needs a little more time to warm up on
stage.
Next up was Canuck guitar hero Don Ross.
With chops and stage presence to burn, Ross'
set was full of astonishing music and hilarious
tales of his travels. He opened with Klimbim, a
funky, danceable tune that starts off his new
album 'Passion Sessions'. Even seeing the guy
close up does not reveal how he is able to get so
much from his instrument. His set was marred by
annoying sound problems which sabotaged
'Sweet Sister of Mine', a very moving song written
in memory of his sister who died in infancy.
(Throughout the evening the soundman did an
excellent job but for some reason, lost it
momentarily during Ross' set). Still, the power
and glory of that 'Heavy Wood' sound had jaws
dropping and feet tapping throughout his set.
Ross is a big man with a big heart and big talent,
and the audience loved him, rightfully so.
So Italian guitarist Peppino D'agostino had a
hard act to follow but took the stage undaunted
and delivered what was possibly the best set of
the night. D'agostino is a self-possessed and
quietly charismatic player with superb phrasing
and beautiful tone. He played a few blazing flag
wavers, the kind that likely made a few guitarists
in the audience want to sell their instruments and
go to Undertakers College. But he wasn't afraid
to play pieces that were remarkable for their
expressive simplicity and these are the tunes that
really stuck in my mind although his more
pyrotechnical offerings were full of the same
deep musical sensibility. A very great musician.
Following an intermission the players returned
to do short solo sets and duets with one another.
The night was capped by D'agostino and Ross
doing a wild version of Jerry Reed's 'Bluefinger'
with the other musicians joining in spontaneously
on percussion. It was fitting end to a Valentine's
Day feast of great music. As the late, great
Vancouver talk show host Pat Burns used to say,
paraphrasing Shakespeare's immortal line - "If
music be the food of love, hey, play on, doll !"
