The Del Norte Association for Cultural Awareness (DNACA), a nonprofit local arts agency, presents its third performance of the season -- California Guitar Trio (CGT) -- in a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, January 24 in Crescent Elk Auditorium, 994 G Street in Crescent City.
DNACA's 27th season is made possible by underwriters Caldwell & Sund Family Trust, Bill & Kathy Maffett, Physicians of Sutter Coast Hospital Fund, Gene & Carol Schach, Smith River Rancheria/Lucky 7 Casino, Sutter Coast Hospital, Wild Rivers Community Foundation and Bicoastal Media.
Not your usual guitar trio -- and not originally from California -- these three gentlemen play steel string guitars, and hail from Belgium (Bert Lams), Japan (Hideo Moriya) and Utah (Paul Richards). Their instrumental whirlwind of musical genres ranges from jazz, originals and classical to cowboy classics and California-style surf rock.
California Guitar Trio's virtuosity and sly sense of humor have earned them wide notoriety and a rabid following, with significant crossover in the progressive, acoustic and classical music scenes.
Richards, Lams and Moriya met in 1987 in England, at one of Robert Fripp's Guitar Craft courses. After completing several of these intensive courses, the three traveled around the world for a few years, touring with Fripp's "League of Crafty Guitarists." Wishing to continue working together after the League had run its course, they convened in Los Angeles and founded the California Guitar Trio in 1991.
Since then, CGT has released more than 14 CDs, some studio and some live, which include originals as well as a wide variety of classics, such as Bach's "Toccata and Fugue," a clever hybrid of "Riders in the Storm" and "Ghost Riders in the Sky," "Bohemian Rhapsody," and Pipeline." Over the past 19 years of incessant touring, they have shared the stage with many superb musician and performers such as: John McLaughlin, Titi Puente, Taj Mahal, Peter Rowan and Tony Rice, Dark Star Orchestra, Adrian Legg and Kaki King.
In 1995, the trio toured worldwide with King Crimson. In 2004, collaborations with bassist Tony Levin (of King Crimson/Peter Gabriel) and drummer Paul Mastelotto widened the scope of the band's extensive repertoire and touring activity.
Notably, CGT music was featured on the television covergae of the 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004 Olympics, and on CBS, NBC, CNN and ESPN programs. The CGT performed on the 2003 Grammy-nominated track "Apollo" on Tony Levin's CD "Pieces of the Sun," and their music was sent into outer space as wake up music for the crew aboard NASA's Space Shuttle Endeavor.
"A California Guitar Trio performance is like a night at the theater: Drama, passion, humor, joy, pathos, it's all there," wrote Acoustic Musician Magazine. "Energetic. Eclectic. Frenetic. Dynamic. Guitar music has never sounded quite like this before," noted the Desert News.
Tickets for California Guitar trio cost $18 for general admission and $12 for students/seniors, and are available at Del Norte Office Supply in Crescent City, Mory's in Brookings and at the door beginning at p.m. the afternoon of the show. For more information, contact DNACA at (707) 464-1336.
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