Performing to a full house at Spaulding Auditorium last night, four guitar greats showed Dartmouth the way the guitar should be played.
Featuring Kenny Burrell, Jorma Kaukonen, Steve Morse and Manuel Barrueco, "Guitar Summit" was a celebration of four distinct styles of guitar playing. Burrell started off the program with a set of jazz standards and one original, followed by Kaukonen, who played interpretations of original compositions.
Next on the program was classical guitarist Barrueco, who played a few South American folk tunes as well as some Bach selections. Morse, presently Deep Purple's guitarist, wrapped things up with an eclectic set, featuring a collection of Bach's melodies, and two long originals. Following Morse's performance, all four guitarists took the stage and performed a piece which featured a Bach melody, a jazz waltz and a samba, all molded into one.
Though each artist played music unique to his personality, the appreciation from the audience was unequivocal throughout the evening.
Burrell's performance was an exploration of atypical interpretations of jazz standards and ballads. The songs he played included Cy Coleman's "For Once in My Life," "Lotus Blossom" (Billy Strayhorn), "Moon and Sand" (Alec Wilder), "Black and Tan Fantasy" (Duke Ellington) and the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, "My Favorite Things."
Though Burrell was extraordinarily subdued on most of the ballads, his solo style was sensitive, subtle and exceptionally lyrical on all the selections. "My Favorite Things," adapted to jazz primarily by tenorman John Coltrane (whom Burrell has joined in a quintet setting), was given a fine treatment by Burrell. He employed his trademark rich harmonies and singing melodic lines, and managed to stray away from the song's 5/4 meter without sounding out of step.
His ability to play ballads with exactly the right tempo and feeling has established him as one of the best, if not the best, jazz guitarists alive today.
Following Burrell, Kaukonen treated the Spaulding crowd to a program of original compositions. His technique is beyond technical reproach and he brings a slightly harsher, more involved style to the guitar than Burrell. The former Jefferson Airplane guitarist has evolved primarily into a bluegrass/folksy type guitarist with strong overtones of the blues and 1960s rock.
He was greatly influenced by the musicians he performed with in the 1960s, including Janis Joplin, Paul Kanter and Marty Balin. With more than 27 albums to his name since then, he has consistently looked to his roots for musical guidance, something which shows clearly in his playing today.
Barrueco, on the other hand, has not had the formal training at a young age that all the other guitarists did. He began playing guitar by ear at the age of eight, and obtained his formal training at the Esteban Conservatory in Santiago. Playing primarily Latin American popular music in his youth, Barrueco showed a keen interest in classical music when he began studying at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore.
He has not, however, abandoned his Latin American musical roots. In last night's program, he played several traditional folk songs with as much concentration and care as he did Bach pieces. He brings a style of playing similar to Burrell's with a well-polished, practiced technique. His Bach interpretations had the audience on its feet and formidable command over the acoustic guitar was evident from the very first note he played.
Morse staged perhaps the most electryifying performance of the evening. Literally. The Dixie Dregs veteran turned the amplifier up loud for an original composition called "Picture This," written for electric guitar. With a tremendous range and nimble hands, he thrilled listeners with quick runs up and down the scales and even introduced a strong element of improvisation into his playing. He is also extremely expressive and though some critics debate his use of gadgets such as synthesizer pedals, his sound has only become more precise and well-rounded over the years.
