Classical Guitar

[rollhead]

Any fans of solo classical guitar?

I am not well informed about this, other than I am learning how to play a piece by Mauro Giuliani, a 19th century guitarist and composer who wrote a famous book of studies for the right hand.

[Gentle Giant]

Yes and no. In my prog days, I was introduced to John Williams through his work with a really shitty band called Sky. I kind of lost respect for him after that. For a long time, Steve Howe's "Mood For a Day" was pretty much it for me.

I like the tone and dexterity of classical guitar, but don't know the repertoire. I have a recording Segovia doing Leyenda on a compilation; my only other classical guitar disc is this, which I quite like, and which I bought because I was obsessed with Bach at the time and curious what an 8-string guitar sounded like.

[rollhead]

Other than Segovia and John Williams, the few other classical guitar players I am aware of are Chrisopher Parkening, Julian Bream and Romero family (father and sons) and the members of the L.A. Guitar Quartet.

[rollhead]

Another thing that I am curious about is which jazz guitarists have used the nylon string, classical guitar, rather than the standard jazz box, the steel-string archtop.

The only ones I know of are Charlie Byrd and Gene Bertoncini, not counting Brazilian players like Luiz Bonfa, Jobim, etc.

[rollhead]

David Russell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1akRj3CTMck

Here he is playing a Villa-Lobos choro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAg8V...eature=related

[rollhead]

Enjoying this now:

[vibes]

His style is apparently very polarizing, but Eliot Fisk is my favorite classical guitarist. I've always been attracted to music played very fast, and Fisk's playing definitely fits the bill. I first became acquainted with him via his recording of Paganini's 24 Caprices, which I happen to like but some people find dreadful. Here's a video of him playing the 24th caprice:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WbeAbllBpGo

[rollhead]

Thanks for the link to Fisk, Vibes.

Here is another version of the same piece, played by Li Jie
http://youtube.com/watch?v=H36vL3MzQDU

[Lenny D.Guitarist]

Rolls,
I jump in and out of the classical guitar waters. You have my admiration for attempting any classical music piece(s); hours and hours of practice are required. I've seen Parkening in concert a few times and always leave feeling in awe of a master like this. I'd highly recommend any Parkening recordings you can get your nylon-tinged hands on. Best wishes in your classical forays.

[vibes]

Originally Posted by rollhead

Thanks for the link to Fisk, Vibes.

Here is another version of the same piece, played by Li Jie
http://youtube.com/watch?v=H36vL3MzQDU

Thanks for that link. Very interesting to compare the two performances. Fisk definitely takes it on speed, and I prefer his version since that's the one I know the best, and I love the fireworks. Li's performance is very good, but strikes me as mechanical--little or no feeling. It's not just the lack of expression on her face, either. I'll have to watch it again when I have more time.

[Dr Dave]

I never knew there was anything controversial about Eliot Fisk. I just listen to his "Guitar Fantasies" a lot, and admire his work as a teacher at the Mozart University in Salzburg and at the Boston Conservatory. Fun fact: He was Segovia's last pupil.

[Gary Sisco]

I have that one, too, and like it, Dave. I also have and like his "Baroque Transcriptions For Guitar." Just listened to the latter yesterday.

[rollhead]

Originally Posted by Lenny D.Guitarist

Rolls,
I jump in and out of the classical guitar waters. You have my admiration for attempting any classical music piece(s); hours and hours of practice are required. I've seen Parkening in concert a few times and always leave feeling in awe of a master like this. I'd highly recommend any Parkening recordings you can get your nylon-tinged hands on. Best wishes in your classical forays.

Lenny,

Thanks for the recommendation for Parkening, who I've known about for years but haven't investigated very closely.

In terms of the difficulty of classical guitar, fortunately there are lots of excellent student etudes out there that make it a lot easier for a hack like me to get started on. Compared to many of the exercises that I have done on other instruments, like sax, the guitar etudes are a lot more fun to play, too.

Ferdinando Carulli wrote a lot of simple etudes -- one of which my teacher gave me Monday night.

Make no mistake -- I am no guitarist. But just trying out this simple stuff does make me appreciate guys like David Russell and Christopher Parkening even more than I already did..

[rollhead]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

Fun fact: He was Segovia's last pupil.

Another fun fact, one of Segovia's "goals" was "to extract the guitar from the noisy and disreputable folkloric amusements ..." which apparently meant flamenco.

[vibes]

Another great Fisk recording is "Bell'Italia", which introduced me to new pieces and composers I'd never heard of before, including Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Petrassi. Fisk's performance of Castelnuovo-Tedesco's "Capriccio Diabolico" is probably my favorite classical guitar piece.

[Dr Dave]

Originally Posted by rollhead

Another fun fact, one of Segovia's "goals" was "to extract the guitar from the noisy and disreputable folkloric amusements ..." which apparently meant flamenco.

Segovia wasn't the first and surely won't be the last musical genius who didn't get the blues. I find it remarkable that a Spaniard like Segovia would not be affected by a Portuguese style like fado. I'm sure somebody here will enlighten me.

[Bill Barton]

Originally Posted by rollhead

Another thing that I am curious about is which jazz guitarists have used the nylon string, classical guitar, rather than the standard jazz box, the steel-string archtop.

The only ones I know of are Charlie Byrd and Gene Bertoncini, not counting Brazilian players like Luiz Bonfa, Jobim, etc.

There's a remarkable nylon-string jazz guitarist in northeastern New York State named Jerry Lavene. He sticks pretty close to home (in Plattsburgh, last I knew) but is well worth checking out if you're ever in that area.

http://www.7nvt.com/7n/spot03.htm
The last time I heard him play was at this restaurant in St. Albans, Vermont.

http://www.ellenpowell.net/cds.htm
Here are a couple of samples of Jerry in duo with bassist Ellen Powell.

https://www.bzjewelry.com/
And his website.

[ormsbop]

He didn't always play the nylon string guitar but this is a good album of straight ahead jazz on the instrument (modified with a high A string)






For classical, I like what I've heard of Jason Vieaux.

[rollhead]

Sharon Isbin

[Runawayjazz]

Originally Posted by rollhead

Sharon Isbin

I saw her in concert a few years ago. It was breathtaking!