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Woodstock Times - Features | 10/23/2009 |
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Grace in the wood
Guitar show includes the finest of luthiers |
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by Brian Hollander
An archtop called Grace. Its sculpted face is made from Sitka Spruce, back and sides are figured maple, so it's blonde all around. The fingerboard, head veneers and other bits are ebony. The sound hole isn't round, nor in the traditional f-hole shape. Rather it's a sort of opening along the top curve as you'd hold the guitar, partly facing up, partly out. You pick it up and it weighs an amazing three and a half pounds, pick a few notes and they ring out with authority and color.
The builder of Grace is Ken Parker, who was one of the prime influences for last year's Woodstock Invitiational Luthier's Showcase, and will again be showing his wares at the second annual two day guitar builder's extravaganza, Saturday, October 24 and Sunday October 25 at the Bearsville Theater.
Now, you may not be as infatuated with guitars as me, but this show, which features 30 of the finest builders of these acoustic stringed beauties will be an artistic, enriching feast for anyone's sensibilities.
"When you get guitar builders together, they don't talk about guitars, they talk about woods, tools, jigs...they're all mad geniuses, artisans," says Baker Rorick, the freelance journalist/guitar historian who's last ten months have been wrapped up in making this show. "All these builders, for the most part, work in solitude. The best guitars they make are made to a performer's vision and they don't build guitars to a schedule. On this level it isn't about marketing, they just want to build the best guitar they can. This whole thing is about networks and community. So, shows like this are a chance for them to meet their peers."
But it's not just an inside thing. It's a chance for the public in general, and guitar lovers in particular, to take a glance at the cutting edge of instrument makers.
"The Hudson Valley, upstate New York, Southern New England and up through Vermont have been the center for the last 20 years - the center for the American steel string renaissance. This is the new golden age of acoustic guitars..."
As with film festivals, fashion design, even political conventions, there is a hierarchy, a jostling for position. And on the east coast, Rorick believes this gathering will fill a gap.
"People are calling it a mini-Healdsburg, a festival in Sonoma County that's been going on for 15 years, the grand-daddy of luthier shows," says Rorick. "They have over 100 builders, four days of exhibits, workshops and concerts. There's the Montreal Guitar fest, part of Montreal's June Fest. There used to be the Newport Guitar Fest, but that moved and now it's Newport-in-Miami. Those are the only three in North America. Since Newport moved to Miami, there's nothing on the Northeast coast anymore. Last year, as a private party, there were eight builders. This year, I thought maybe 20...I had space for 30 and have been sold out for months. I'm still getting calls. You can't see this stuff in stores...that we're getting them to gather stuff together to bring here is major."
If Parker was the inspiration for last year's edition, this year one of the prime features will be Canadian luthier Linda Manzer, who has made guitars for Pat Metheny, Carlos Santana and Bruce Cockburn. "This year she's doing a 30 piece limited edition Metheny-Manzer Signature 6 model, a design of his flattop, all made in 2009 and they cost $32,000. Paul Simon's got one...she's got a few leftovers," says Rorick.
Parker will be back, along with John Monteleone, both of whom assume the mantle passed down from John D'Angelico and James D'Aquisto, ranking among the top archtop guitar makers in the world.
There'll be an international flavor to it, as two builders, including Farouk Turunz - "the master," says Rorick - who'll be bringing an Oud Arabian fretless, the Middle Eastern lute that is the prototype of all stringed instruments.
The local contingent of luthiers will be well represented, with Bruce Ackerman's beautiful flattops and archtops, William Kramer Harrison, and Joe Veillette.
"Joe has become an international guitar building star the last couple of years," says Rorick, "since Dave Matthews has been playing his guitars."
Rorick ticks off more. "Jeff Doctorow is lending a dozen of his significant pieces as an eye candy exhibit, including the other Pikasso (a Linda Manzer creation that has four necks, two sound holes and 42 strings); Harp guitars by Joseph Bowman, Chicago, late-1800s; Knutsen; Maurer; Selmer-Maccaferri; Fred Carlson's "New Dream"; A 1937 Willi Wilkanowski archtop..."
The guitar exhibits will be in the theater portion of the building, with the bar/lounge featuring performances arranged by, and sometimes performed by the luthiers themselves. These will include David Temple, playing a William Kramer Harrison guitar; Elly Wininger for Ivon Schmuckler; Larry Campbell will play to show Linda Manzer's finery and later, at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday will so a special show with Teresa Williams and friends. The legendary Eddie Diehl and Ilya Lushtak will perform an hour show at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Fred Hand will be demonstrating his brand new Spider capo at noon on Sunday and playing a new composition called "Artie's Song" in tribute to Artie Traum. Mark Dziuba will perform on Frank Montuoro's guitars. There'll be all styles, flamenco, jazz, folk, fingerstyle. Suleyman Aslan will perform on baglama at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
Those are not the only elements, though. With guitarist Sharon Klein picking up the promotional work, two concerts will be presented - a kickoff show at 8 p.m. Friday, October 23 at the Colony Caf￩ with Ara Dinkjian presenting an evening of Middle Eastern Oud and World Folk Music (admission $20, call 679-5342 for more info); and a 9 p.m. Saturday, October 24 show at the Bearsville Theater featuring guitarist Vicki Genfan, plus KJ Denhert.
And more: a series of instructional clinics and workshops will take place at Alchemy, the club on the same property as the Bearsville Theater, including a Middle Eastern Oud Workshop with Ara Dinkjian at 10 a.m. Saturday; a jazz workshop with John Hart at noon Saturday; Vicki Genfan will discuss her so called "slap-tap" technique at 2 p.m. Saturday; Kinloch Nelson will give a clinic on "Crossover Guitars, Crossover Music" at 10 a.m. Sunday, and Paul Asbell will conduct a fingerstyle country blues workshop at 2 p.m. Sunday.
"Everyone harks back to the pre-war Gibsons and Martins, the Lloyd Loars, as being the standard. Today, the modern builder has surpassed that. The best acoustic guitars are being built today by these people," says Rorick, who himself owns several old mahagony Gibsons. "If people are still playing guitars 200 years from now, these instruments will be the Stradivarius, Guarneri, the Amati's of them. Steel string acoustic guitars are still a relatively new instrument, still in its evolutionary development."
He says support from the industry for the show has been good.
"Originally I thought I'd be able to break even or make a little, and I thought that the proceeds could go to the John Herald Fund, Family of Woodstock, or DirectGrace.org project that combats human slave trafficking...but because of expenses, there's no way there'll be any proceeds. But D'Addario strings has donated some packages with strings, picks and tuners, things that will be raffled off and the money from that will go to the John Herald Fund and Family. I don't have a budget...but advertising alone tripled it.
"It's a labour of love now."++
Admission to the Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase, to be held Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25 at the Bearsville Theater is $10 a day for the 11 a.m.-6 p.m. proceedings, with continuous live music on stage. Clinics and workshops will be $35. For the full schedule of clinics and workshops, and for any other information, see www.woodstockinvitational.com.
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