ACOUSTIC GUITAR GOES GLOBAL JOIN AFICIONADOS FOR A NIGHT MINUS THE AMPLIFIERS
Lineup features a who’s who of expert acoustic axe-men
In 1995, guitarist Brian Gore conceived of an annual event for the most innovative acoustic guitar players in the world. After all, more acoustic instruments are sold than electric ones, yet the “amps go to 11” crowd seemed to be the only ones getting their own showcase tours.
Gore’s International Guitar Night subsequently developed into a yearly tour where master musicians could come together to discuss their individual styles, play solo pieces and collaborate with one another in duets, trios and quartets, demonstrating how music is made.
As it kicks off its Winter 2019 Tour — it’s 19th — the event shows no sign of running out of talent to tour the world.
This year’s cast features Italy’s Luca Stricagnoli, France’s Antoine Boyer and Samuelito and Turkish innovator Cenk Erdogan.
Stricagnoli is an internet phenomenon (14 million views on Facebook, 7 million on YouTube) known for multi-hand tapping and chording cover versions of hits such as U2’s With Or Without You on his custom triple neck guitar.
Boyer is a swing jazz prodigy with lightning fingers and Samuelito a rising star of the Flamenco tradition.
Erdogan is one of the few to master the impossibly complex Perdesiz guitar, a fretless version of the instrument first popularized in Turkey by fretless guitar pioneer and fretless classical guitar inventor Erkan Ogur and musician Al Canor. Other musicians who have tackled the fretless guitar include jazz legend Pat Metheny and folk ace Pierre Bensusan.
Each has developed a personal style which has elevated them into the upper echelon of acoustic stylists. Three of the four were child prodigies and have won multiple awards and honours.
Erdogan spoke to Postmedia from his studio in Istanbul where he was putting finishing touches on one of the many scores he composes for television, film and as arranger and music director for some of Turkey’s biggest stars.
Making a living playing solo acoustic guitar is almost unheard of, and Erdogan has developed his career into many avenues — as have most of his peers. Along with all the paying gigs, he is preparing a new solo album that he expects to put finishing touches on when the guitar tour is over.
Among the instruments fans can expect to hear is a custom designed baritone fretless guitar that he has developed unique tunings for. Q Is there a long tradition of fretless guitar in Turkish traditional music, or is it a relatively new invention?
A
The Perdesiz guitar, or a version of it, existed before, maybe 1,000 years ago or so, but we lost the sound and the style. Then in 1974, musician Al Canor took out the frets again and started to play in the Turkish music style, so it’s modern context is relatively new with a very small repertoire. He made an album in 1980 and I made the second one in 2008.
Q
That must mean you spend a lot of time composing and arranging other music to the instrument?
A
There are two dominant styles. The first is the more traditional Al Canor style and the other is mine, which is to approach the instrument as a guitar so I can use all of the standard techniques on it. The fretless aspect means I can add that Anatolian soul and soil to my pieces.
Q
There is a massive body of work for guitar, but next to none for the fretless. Are there other traditions you look toward for inspiration in your playing?
A
I always wanted to be a Flamenco guitarist, but growing up there was no YouTube, no access to learn the style available and I didn’t, but it still gave me best practices. I took the right hand technique from Flamenco, combined it with the traditional Baglama and Tambur style of playing in Turkish music and studied jazz composition to arrive at my style. Q Great explanation, but — dude — no frets! Isn’t that an enormous challenge to your playing?
A
Absolutely, the hardest part of this instrument is learning to play around with the microtones that you get all along the neck. That changes scales and chording, too, as it don’t sound the same at all. You have to find your own voicing and learn to balance the colours of the instrument. It’s profoundly challenging, but also liberating as you can slide, slur and work with finger pressure in ways you can’t with a regular guitar.