Fans of the guitar and a fretful feast at the Valley Performing Arts Center at CSUN. Three diverse artists ranging from the classical Sharon Isbin to the string tapping jazzer Stanley Jordan with Brazilian Romero Lubambo rounding out the sounds delivered over 2 hours of wondrous wizardry, taking the audience to various sounds from all over the globe.
While the guitarists opened and closed as a trio, the three mixed and matched and soloed to sound like seven different shows. Isbin played the straight man on the set, delivering eloquent and elegant classical and folk pieces from Paraguay, The British Isles and Colombia on her own while laying the foundation on wondrous triangulations as on “Miller’s Dance” . Her dialogue with Lubambo on “Double Rainbow” was dainty and delicate. Lubambo’s sensuous South American technique was like a warm breeze with his graceful solo on “Luisa” while creating a wondrous duet with Isbin on the samba “Insensatez”. For his part, Jordan tapped the strings in various improvisations on his own, delivered a sumptuous solo on a Mozart Concerto, and brought the house down as he played both the piano and guitar simultaneously, switching hands back and forth during a jaw dropping take of a Bartok concerto, causing Isbin to search the piano for the extra musician. His bop chops were on full display as he and Lubambo attacked “All The Things You Are” with verve before the three joined together for a climactically romantic mix of samba, Spain and free improve on Rodrigo’s “Adagio.” Inspiring sounds from strings ranging from multiple continents made this a concert that delivered universal impressions.
Upcoming shows include JALC w/ Wynton Marsalis March 16 and Doc Sererinson w/ Mary Wilson Mar 28