Herschel Freeman Agency

January/February 2013 U.S. Tour

 

IGN

For the January/February 2013 U.S. tour, IGN founder Brian Gore will be joined by Scotland's Martin Taylor, Solorazaf from Madagascar, and Celso Machado from Canada via Brazil. Martin is revered in jazz circles for his smooth chord-melody style and walking bass lines. Solorazaf has a unique Malagasy style, mixing vocalizations with rhythmic guitar patterns and foot percussion. Celso is an internationally acclaimed guitarist, singer and composer known for his dynamic "one man band" performances. We are looking forward to a particularly lyrical version of International Guitar Night, with a nice mix of playing and singing.

WE ARE SORRY TO ANNOUNCE THAT DUE TO HEALTH ISSUES GUINGA, ORIGINALLY A MEMBER OF THIS TROUPE, WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PERFORM ON THE 2013 IGN U.S. TOUR. HE WILL BE REPLACED BY CELSO MACHADO.

Martin Taylor


Described as "THE acoustic guitarist of his generation" by America's Acoustic Guitar Magazine, Martin Taylor has established a unique career as an internationally acclaimed guitarist, and his inimitable style has seen him recognised as the world's foremost exponent of solo jazz guitar playing. Although completely self taught, he has enjoyed a musical career spanning over 30 years, dazzling audiences with his solo shows, which combine virtuosity, emotion and humour, with a strong stage presence.

Martin TaylorHe spends much of the year travelling the world, playing in concert halls in Europe, North America, Japan, Asia, and Australasia. As well as his solo concerts and recordings, he has also collaborated with musicians from many different musical genres including, Stephane Grappelli, Chet Atkins, Bill Wyman, Dionne Warwick, Sacha Distel, and Bryn Terfel.

In 2002, he was appointed MBE "For Services To Music", in The Queen's Birthday Honours List, which he received personally from Her Majesty The Queen at an investiture at Buckingham Palace. When not touring he divides his time between his homes in France and Scotland where he writes music for TV and film. His autobiography MARTIN TAYLOR - AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A TRAVELLING MUSICIAN and his latest album DOUBLE SOLO are available worldwide.

Martin Taylor is one of the most awesome solo guitar players in the history of the instrument. He's unbelievable.
Pat Metheny

No matter how complex or daring, Taylor's interpretations never short change the melodies; indeed, his remarkable fluid touch embues a seamless beauty. Martin Taylor is something to behold
The Washington Post

Solorazaf


Solo Razafindrakoto ("Solorazaf") is an amazing guitarist and singer from Madagascar currently residing in Paris. He mixes complex guitar patterns with his singing to produce a sound that is at once highly rhythmic and smoothly flowing. He also adds foot percussion, using home made “stompboxes.” The left foot plays a kind of bass drum & the right foot a kind of shaker.

His latest CD "Andreasong" is dedicated to his son Andrea. This album is the result of a journey with many stopovers from Europe to Africa, between Paris and Antananarivo. It was recorded both in France (his birthplace) and in Madagascar (where he grew up).

SolorazafIn Solorazaf's words: “In this musical project, there is a union of SALEG and SéGA ,"6/8" rhythms coming from the southern Indian Ocean region (Madagascar, Comoros, the Réunion and Mauritius islands). Think about waves of ternary rhythms, and we also can feel binary beats inside, combined with guitar compositions shaped like songs with or without lyrics (lyrics are mostly in French & Malagasy, with some written in English).

You can hear me humming, talking, and singing the songs with a "Brazilian flavor" (as a journalist said) and sometimes the voice embodies an imaginary seventh string of a guitar, or also uses "throat clearing" and "tongue clicking" (from my 15 year South African musical experience as a lead guitarist of Miriam Makeba's band). As a self taught musician, I learned guitar inspired by traditional world musics that I mixed with some jazz -blues chords, plus a combination of a fingerstyle guitar picking that is similar to the way the African string instruments Valiha and Kora are played.

On stage, the guitar, the voice and the different "foot percussion" form a "one man band," performing without any loop pedal, or sequencers. It's live only. I am simply narrating with music that I belong to many different cultures, either rich or poor. My personal goal is to communicate the need for sharing what I have experienced, trying to express this "potpourri" of all those many influences in a way to avoid contradictions.

PRESS QUOTES

Awarded the Prix OPUS 2010-11 for the Best Canadian Jazz & World Music show "Dans les cordes", a SmallWorld project with Solorazaf and the Montreal Guitar Trio

"A highly recommended concert" ( New York Times, for performance at Joe's Pub)
"Solorazaf is simply superb & magnificent" (Afropop Worldwide, New York City)
"New guitar textures" (Froots, UK)
"A master of & 12/8 saleg rhythm" (Acoustic Guitar Magazine)
"Solo Razafindrakoto (Solorazaf) is an exceptional musician! He appears to play with absolute freedom & choice, his mastery of his instrument is always perfect whether it is in his groove or his execution, and while the Madagascar's rhythms are often complex he toys with them with complete freedom. (Adlg, France)

DISCOGRAPHY

Solo CD's: "Guitares à Balanciers" 1993; "9 Pieces of Bizarre " 2001; "3
Rayons de Pluie" 2004 (compilation), and "Andreasong" 2010

DVD: "Rendezvous à Melting Point" 2006

Celso Machado

Celso Machado is a Brazilian guitarist living near Vancouver, British Columbia. He has toured internationally for over 30 years both solo and with some of the world’s great guitarists: Sergio and Odair Assad, Badi Assad, Romero Lubambo, Yamandu Costa, Cristina Azuma, Peter Finger, and Solorazaf.

CelsoBrazilian music has arisen out of various blends of Classical European, African, Portuguese, and Indigenous influences. There is less division in Brazilian music between classical and jazz, jazz and folk. While Celso's music is rooted in Brazilian rhythmic and melodic styles, it also reflects his incurable fascination with other world music traditions. He finds similarities between the music of southern Italy and northeast Brazil, the Egyptian Maqsoum and the Brazilian Baião rhythm, the Moroccan Gnawa rhythm and Afoxé and Samba. Celso incorporates these influences into his own sound; his own unique contribution to the ongoing evolution of Brazilian music.

Drawing on his thorough study of classical guitar, Celso composes for guitar and ensemble. His remarkably innovative compositions are infused with a rich knowledge of the traditional music of Brazil: samba, chôro, baião, frêvo etc. Published by Editions Henry Lemoine in Paris, his compositions are performed and recorded worldwide.

WORLD MUSIC AWARDS: 2008 Canadian Folk Music Award for World Solo artist of the year and A Radio-Canada Galaxie Award.
WORLD MUSIC NOMINATIONS: Four JUNO Award nominations, A Western Canadian Music Award, and Pacific Music Industry Award.
ORIGINAL MUSIC FOR FILM AWARDS: Leo Award for Best Score for Documentary for In The Company of Fear and a Leo Award nomination for A Place Called Chiapas, which Celso co-composed with Salvador Ferreras and Joseph Pepe Danza.
DISCOGRAPHY: Celso has 12 recordings performing his own compositions, numerous collaborative recordings, five film scores, and many more recordings of Celso’s compositions performed and recorded by other musicians internationally. For Celso’s full discography please visit his website www.celsomachado.com.

"A one man compendium of Brazilian diversity who doubles as a guitarist and percussionist par excellence. Reminiscent of Bobby McFerrin, the multi-talented Machado finds an orchestra-full of ways to use his voice and makes percussion instruments of his entire body: cheeks, mouth, chest, hands and legs - not to mention the various parts of the microphone stand. Yet Machado also showed serious chops as a guitar player with an intricate, high speed solo in which he constantly altered the instruments tuning in mid-flight" ... Lawrence B. Johnson in a special to The Detroit News

Up close, Celso Machado is probably the most musical person I know. He performs, composes, publishes, records, teaches, and makes music out of literally everything he touches. In his magical hands bottles of water, rocks he finds on the beach, his own body and, of course, almost any musical instrument I could name--plus some I couldn't-- sing beautiful songs. You'll hear echoes of Celso's serious study of European Classical music, Italian folk music and several African musical traditions mixed into the whole bursting sonic universe he absorbed growing up in Brazil. For me, Celso Machado is the truest of musical Renaissance men and the ultimate one-man band." Malcolm Gould, producer of Jogo da Vida and the program OnStage at Glenn Gould Theatre, CBC Records


Brian Gore


San Francisco guitar poet Brian Gore is gaining a reputation as one of the most interesting and influential performers of "the next generation" in fingerstyle guitar. A musical romantic, his compositions draw inspiration from myth and modern literature. Hailed as having "...one of the most unique new acoustic guitar styles on the scene today (News and Review)," his lyrical, understated compositions integrate classical and percussive techniques that display what the Los Angeles Times calls "a characterful bounce and spaciousness all his own."

Gore’s style of playing offers strikingly beautiful tone and dynamics-- qualities that are often hard to find in steel string players. His melodic, evocative songs rely heavily on the use of open tunings, extending the “stream of consciousness” style of guitar composing he grew up with in Northern California. “Music started out as a kind of therapy for me,” says Gore. “Consequently, I am a very emotional player. Now, my style of playing has also become a well honed craft. I am very grateful I can share this with people.”

Brian GoreHis buoyant personality and odd sense of humor help add lightness to his shows. “By the time I’m done with a performance,” explains Gore, “people really know the meaning of the term ‘extroverted introvert’.” While Gore integrates some of the flashier percussive techniques into his pieces, the poetic quality of his music is preserved. “Because my music is simple and somewhat rootsy, it’s easy to relate to, which is something I’m thankful for. Also, it helps keep me grounded.”

Gore's first CD, produced by Peppino D’Agostino, is called The Path of Least Resistance. His second CD, Legacy: Solo Guitar and Duets, is available on Germany’s Acoustic Music Records Label. His music has been featured on NPR’s nationally syndicated Echoes Radio, and many other local public radio programs.

Brian founded The International Guitar Night in 1995 as a forum for the world's finest guitarists/composers to play their latest original songs and share musical ideas with their peers in public concert. This has evolved into critically acclaimed annual tours in the US (starting in 2000), Canada (starting in 2006) and the UK (starting in 2007), a CD on Favored Nations Records released in 2004, a guitar instruction book published in 2005, and IGN releases on Warner Music Canada (the 6th annual CD will be released in 2011).

"Brian Gore's strong, well developed melodies and intriguing chord sequences set him apart from the myriad of steel-string fingerstylists who compose in open tunings. His finely crafted poetic "songs without words" take the listener on a spellbinding emotional ride.”
--Ron Forbes Roberts, Acoustic Guitar Magazine

“An artist of the highest caliber.”
--Ray Toumey, the Boulder Chautauqua

 

Press Photos

Solorazaf Martin Taylor Celso Brian Gore

 

Tour Schedule


2013

January 12 Natick Arts Center, Natick MA
January 13 Infinity Hall, Norfolk CT
January 14 The Blue Note, New York NY
January 17 Wolf Trap Barns, Vienna VA
January 19 Gordon Center, Owings Mills MD
January 20 Calvary Center, Philadelphia PA
January 22 Museum of Making Music, Carlsbad CA
January 23 Livermore Performing Arts Center, Livermore CA
January 24 Napa Valley Opera House, Napa CA
January 25 3 Stages at Folsom Lakes College, Folsom CA
January 26 Brava Theater, San Francisco CA
January 27 Musical Instrument Museum, Phoeniz AZ
February 3 Lincoln Theater, Mt. Vernon WA
February 6 Edmonds Performing Arts Center, Edmonds WA
February 7 Panida Tehatre, Sandpoint ID
February 8 Whitefish Theatre, Whitefish MT
February 9 Hamilton Performing Arts Center, Hamilton MT
February 10 Ellen Theater, Bozeman MT
February 13 The Ark, Ann Arbor MI
February 15 Manchester Craftsmen Guild, Pittsburgh PA
February 17  St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, Buffalo NY
February 20 Dakota Jazz Club, Minneapolis MN
February 22 Dana Center, Saint Anselm College, Manchester NH
February 23 Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield MA

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