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Quote from a YouTube Fan:
“Unreal !!! The second your feature vid Flame Flower started playing I instantly felt a Nina Simone feel – nothing to do with your appearance which is lovely, perfect for being in the public eye but your voice – love it- your expression, emotion, the way you slide those notes – very, very good – I’ll look forward to listening to all your singing – fantastic guitar and lyrics are deep – keep going no matter what – you both have something really special – Gabrielle”
“Scheherazade Stone is a superb musician and a stunning singer with a magnetic stage presence” – (Robert Hurwitt, SF Examiner)
Scheherazade (pronounced Shuh-herr-uh-zahhd) Stone got her first name from her parents who raised her in a musical way. Her contributions to the music scene have been appropriately eclectic, reflecting the rich diversity of the San Francisco Bay Area, where she was born and bred.
She’s collaborated with players ranging from Don Cherry, Chico Freeman and Omar Sosa to Jai Uttal and Cheb I Sabbah. She even appeared on a Grammy nominated tune from the Hieroglyphics Ensemble. Additionally, she’s received BAMMIE (Bay Area Music Award) nominations for her vocal talents as well as for her work with Hueman Flavor.
“I love Scheherazade Stone and it’s always interesting to hear her sing,” proclaims JH Tompkins of the SF Guardian. Regardless of the project, she’s always met with considerable critical acclaim. Julia Chase of the SF Weekly says, “Vocalist Scheherazade Stone is the scene stealer, a vision of Josephine Baker in vintage gowns, she drifts effortlessly between her character Paulette and her place in the band.”
Known as a “poet of the guitar,” Brian Gore’s emotive, expressive style combines influences from folk, jazz and classical music. Ron Forbes-Roberts of Acoustic Guitar Magazine says, “Gore’s finely crafted poetic ‘songs without words’ take the listener on a spellbinding, emotional ride.
He has great facility as a player, but it’s the depth and range of moods his pieces evoke that makes his music such a pleasure.”
A musical romantic, who draws inspiration from literature and philosophy, he employs his virtuosity in the service of the heart. He is a self-taught guitarist who’s developed “one of the most unique new acoustic guitar styles on the scene today” (News and Review). He has “emerged in the past decade as a leading figure in the new acoustic music movement pioneered by the late Michael Hedges.” (Contra Costa Times).
Gore performs as the founder of International Guitar Night (IGN/USA). He can also be found touring solo, as well as in double bills, in concert halls and festivals around the world. He’s been featured on NPR’s nationally syndicated Echoes Radio and performed live on many NPR affiliate stations in the US.
10th Annual IGN Tour Live Recording in Victoria, BC
Looking back over the past decade of work with International Guitar Night, it’s hard not to feel nostalgic about the different tours and shows, especially with our 10th touring season coming up this fall. IGN players include giants like my friend Pierre Bensusan, the awesome Ralph Towner and Indian slide guitarist Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.
What’s cool, and I think exceptional, about the show is that we’ve also included artists who were completely new to the performance scene in North America, such as players like YouTube whizz-kid Antoine DuFour or flamenco player Gerardo Nunez. Players are accorded the same billing regardless of their “headliner” status in IGN shows.
From a promotional point of view, pulling off IGN has not been an easy feat. It’s been a process of slow, steady, at times anguishing, growth. And I am thankful for loyal friends like Herschel Freeman, our North American agent, Dr. John Barrow of Stoneyport Associates in the UK,Pacific Music’s Mike Peters, and Jane and April at Harbury Publicity for their loyalty and devotion to the cause.
Until now, we’ve never had a harp guitarist; there’s certainly none finer than the pre-eminent Stephen Bennett, who’s as respected by his contemporaries like Tommy Emmanuel as he is with younger players like Andy Mckee.
The Amazing Lulo Reinhardt
We’ve never had a gypsy-jazz player in the show before, and this time we’ve got a great one; Django’s great grand nephew, Lulo Reinhardt, who, to the great benefit of IGN has a penchant for rumba and flamenco as well.
Itamar Erez
Fans of the band Oregon and Vicente Amigo will welcome the composer and guitarist Itamar Erez, who is our first ever Israeli player. This guy is an uncompromisingly meticulous player with a sophisticated sense of harmony and an absolutely awesome tone and stage sound.
Oh Yeah, and, YOURS TRULY!
Anatomy of a Live Recording
Ater the IGN 2009 US tour was completed in Mid-February, I headed to Victoria BC to meet this new line up of players. Here’s a video diary of the first day, meeting Mike Peters and the other guys, then getting right to rehearsing…..
Milke Peters, the dude who makes it possible to record live albums in Victoria!
THANKS BRUHTUH F.O.A.M.
It’s a pretty intense thing, throwing together four people who don’t know each other, with distinct cultures and styles, then asking them to record a live album with a full program of all original collaborative material in 4 days! As you can see, things came together pretty quickly with the program; quite a risk, actually.
Thankfully, we all *really* enjoyed each other’s company. For me, it’s a bit easier than with the other guys. Mike Peters, the producer, and I are old friends. I’ve been working with the Cowichan Theatre, where we’ve been recording our live album, since 1999! A very good group of people there, who’ve been very devoted to IGN for many years. I can’t believe I’ve known the stage crew there so long. It’s like we’re growing old together….
I’ve had the great fortune over the years of being friends and associates with the very talented Grammy winning guitarist Andrew York, who’s been part of International Guitar Night three times and will join us for our 11th season as well. Andrew’s got an knack for channelling technique into a musical sensibility that can impresses the novice while remaining authentically sublime. His groundbreaking compositions range from epic classics like “Sunburst/Jubilation” to profoundly emotive pieces like “By Candelight” and “Letting Go.”
Andrew and I first met at a double bill series I co-produced in 1994 at the New Conservatory Theatre. We hit it off well and a few years after that I called Andrew to ask if he’d record “Loom of Desire” with me for my solo album, Legacy. We went down to LA and set up shop to record the piece in his living room. I remember his dog Miles lounging there with us, and also remember having to stop recording a few times because a feral parrot in the palm tree across the street was squawking loudly. Here’s a version being performed in one of my favorite places, Quebec:
This was a pretty inspiring time in my life. Music, and especially this piece, was playing a transformative role. The duet had come about by following the musical advice of my friend Pierre Bensusan, to sing the line and have the melody rendered reflect the voice. Employing this process really changes perspective on many aspects of guitar composing– how you finger the melody, for example, is quite different when it’s been touched by a voice.
In the case of this piece, and many pieces thereafter, I took the process a step further, and wrote lyrics as well. I gave these lyrics to Andrew in advance, so he had an idea of what was brewing in my mind along with the melody. The end result has had a lasting impression which results in us never tiring of playing the piece together. Here are the lyrics:
Loom of Desire by Brian Gore
(Vs 1)
Who are we to try and walk before we could crawl from the sea
Only human not immortal but cannot see how the presumption sometimes cripples
You and me who must stand before we fall
(Chorus 1)
Though my father breathes inside me hes salt inside my skin
Hes never been beside me though I love him to the end
And I want so much to hold you but can barely s at all
Through to the strange solace love can heal it all love can heal at all
(Vs 2)
Im ready feel the love I have inside me stand steady though I tremble at your call
Cant believe what you feel is not confusion not deceived the same things shape us all
(Chorus 2)
Though my mother breathes inside me its like salt on broken skin
Like a loom of pain that binds me to the source where tears begin
And I want so much to hold you But can barely s at all
Through to the strange solace love can heal it all
(Instrumental interlude Bridge)
We all come from the water hear echoes of the sea
The salt inside our eyes confounds the view
Freedom looms the shoreline it ebbs and lets us fall
Its the comfort when we falter not the pain that blinds us all
(Vs. 1- End)
It’s very satisfying to have singers performing this with me in double bill shows. Susan Z is performing it here:
Last week, my new friend and producer Wynn Gogol sent the next to final rounds of mixes for our “INTERNATIONAL GUITAR NIGHT LIVE” series recording. I’m going to give a listen to the material this weekend and will probably provide some audio highlights as a preview here at this blog early next week. Stay tuned if you’re interested. This year, we also have a high quality DVD for the tour that’s being produced by Warmland Studios.
It’s a very cool group we have this year; Django Reinhardt’s great grand nephew Lulo Reinhardt, legendary harp guitarist Stephen Bennett, and a very cool pianist/guitarist from Israel, Itamar Erez....
Check it out:
Hard to believe it, but this is our 10th season as a touring act. We started out as a Bay Area thing more than 15 years ago, working in small venues like Strings and the Freight and Salvage, and California World Music Festival. With the help of the Herschel Freeman Agency, Bert Jansch’s booking agent in the UK, John Barrows, and select sponsors like Stonebridge Guitars and Acoustic Guitar Magazine, we’ve grown into a global thing with up 60 shows each season in very classy venues.
After going round and round for years on what kind of releases to produce with IGN, Herschel and I decided that a one of a kind live album series would be best. But, how to do this? We got the live album concept going with the help of Steve Vai and Favored Nations Records. Peppino D’Agostino, whose solo projects are on Steve’s label, put in a good word for IGN with him. Then, friend and Guitar Night alum Pierre Bensusan put together the opportunity for us to record the first album with them. We recorded each show nightly, with the help of our manager Rich Rice, of the California Brazil Camp, We then selected the best pieces for inclusion on the album It featured Pierre and me along with the Brazilian composer-genius Guinga, and three time Grammy winner Andrew York. It was a great album and a dream come true to play with these guys. Check out these cuts from the Favored Nations release, “An Evening with International Guitar Night, Live”:
Pierre Bensusan, Andrew York, Guinga, Brian Gore: “How Should I Know?”
Andrew York: “Moontan”
Pierre Bensusan and Guinga: “Without You”
Andrew York and Brian Gore: “Loom of Desire”
A few years after this album, I called an old friend who worked with Warner, Canada, Mike Peters. Mike and I had known each other for years as friends, but it had never occurred to me to ask him to help with our album series. We had a 25 city tour coming up, and we wanted the album out *before* the tour, so people could buy it at the shows. The line up featured Peppino D’Agostino and Andrew White, and also was the national debut of Antoine DuFour. Antoine was a relatively unknown player at the time who gave me his first CD after a show in Quebec:
We got together in Victoria, rehearsed for two days, and recorded a show which was then released on the second IGN LIVE album. And that process really laid the groundwork for the series. It’s a bit of a trial by fire thing, but never let it be said that solo guitarists aren’t up for a good challenge, right? So far I’d say we’ve all done a pretty good job with it, too. Since then we’ve released two others. IGN LIVE II with Madagascar guitar legend, D’Gary, Miguel de la Bastide, and Clive Carroll;
And also, IGN LIVE III with Cecilia Zabala, Dale Kavanagh and Andy Sheppard.
Paranoid Android (not on the album!)
I get to accompany on all these albums, which is a pretty good gig indeed. Stage right has been my front row seat to some of the best guitar music on the planet, which is a consistently humbling and inspiring thing!
Guitar Poet Brian Gore 