“Homage” is a collection of pieces I have studied, arranged and performed over the past four decades.  Along with Bach, Vila Lobos and other standards of the classical guitar, I perform my arrangements of ‘Little Wing’ by Jimi Hendrix and the Jagger-Richards song ‘Paint it Black’ as well as three original compositions.

The guitar for me has a duality of style and emotion.  The instrument is in some ways an infant to classical music.  Fernando Sor, being one of the first composers for the guitar, only began performing concerts in the early 1800’s.  Repertoire such as Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and the Prelude from Lute Suite No. 2 by Bach had to be transcribed from other instruments.  Heitor Villa Lobos was one of the most notable composers for the guitar in the last century.  His compositions, played by Segovia, convinced other prominent composers of the 20th century to write for the guitar, creating the bulk of the repertoire guitarists enjoy presently.

Compared to violin or piano, the notion of a guitar recital is very young.  At the same time, the guitar is a patriarch for rock and roll.  The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and finally, the raw passion portrayed by Jimi Hendrix on his guitar turned the experience of a concert into a spectacle.  The guitar has, through the past decades, become not only a sonic powerhouse but also a lightning rod of rebellion.

The selections on ‘Homage’ represent my memories as a child sitting in the back seat of my parent’s car, hearing for the first time on the radio the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix, and on the other extreme, hearing Glenn Gould and Andres Segovia.  On TV, I saw and heard both the power of the Beatles and the virtuosity of Andres Segovia.  Their contrasting experiences began, at an early age to form my view of the guitar’s dual nature and its endless possibilities.

I hope the selections I chose to perform will give you as an insight into the experience of coming of age with one foot in nineteenth-century Spain and the other in 1960’s Laguna Beach, CA.

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Recorded by Shayne Fair
Mastered by Randy Rusk
Published by EHG, LLC, and ASCAP, all rights reserved