CONCERT
Shane Parish: Guitar Solo
WED JULY 1
7:30 PM | recommended time of arrival
8:00 PM | concert + webcast begin
FREE (donations accepted)
liquid concessions available
Shane Parish is one of today’s most inventive and eclectic guitarists. He is most widely known as the founder and creative force behind the critically acclaimed avant-rock band Ahleuchatistas, which has built a cult following through several US and European tours, and has released albums on labels such as John Zorn’s Tzadik Records.
Parish’s solo acoustic guitar work is inspired by West African kora music, the prepared piano works of American composer John Cage, American country blues guitarists John Hurt and Elizabeth Cotten, Chinese pipa music, jazz guitarist Joe Pass, Brazilian guitarist Luiz Bonfa, classical guitar maestro Andres Segovia, Flamenco and non-idiomatic improvisation.
“The work of guitarist Shane Parish is expansive enough to be studied. Yes, there are key themes to his general playing – the intricate rhythmic latticework of Ahleuchatistas, or the tension-building severity of Blind Thorns, for example. Yet, it’s his solo work which helps to develop the “raw materials” that contextualize his many collaborative projects. With his Odei EP, we see the guitarist hard at work in advancing his playing into a zen-like, Cagean interpretation of stormy, introverted vistas. The album abstracts the Basqueian mythical concept of “Odei” (storm cloud) by evoking a sense of wandering though the contrasting compositional roles of hyper-intentionality and elements of chance. As a whole, the EP is a beautiful, solitary narrative – a reflexive exercise in describing the process of solo music-making that’s just as romantic as it is abstract.” — Tiny Mix Tapes
“There’s something almost spiritual in the execution that aligns Parish with the likes of Robbie Basho. Unlike Basho, though, Parish carves out spaces, defines the quiet around him rather than filling it up.” — PopMatters