Guitarbitrations @ Local 269 9/4/11

A 7 guitar septet was just too intriguing to pass up.  Brad Farberman is the leader and conductor.  He was excited about his plan which he was being secretive about.  The musicians and the audience didn't know what style of conduction he would be using with the improvisers.

I like his concept.  He had what looked like the Sunday NY Times in front of him.  On the front and back of many of the sections he taped 8.5 x 11 white sheets of paper with quotes about guitar playing from the NY times over the years.  One side was so the musicians could see, the other side was so the audience could see.  I like that instead of the games where the rules of play are only known by the artists.  The quotes themselves were a lot of fun.

Brad would hold up a quote and point to one or more to prompt them to improvise on the quote.  Often, different players would be playing around different quotes.  Even when some were playing on the same quote, it was completely and totally different.  It was awesome to see all the different guitars and styles each of them had.  It sounded good and I loved the concept.

GUITARBITRATIONS
Cristian Amigo (guitar)
Adam Caine (guitar)
Marco Cappelli (guitar)
Brad Farberman (guitar)
James Keepnews (guitar)
Amanda Monaco (guitar)
Tor Snyder (guitar)

***Guitarbitrations will perform Farberman's "Guitar Like." "Guitar Like" is a new piece for all-guitar ensemble in which participants interpret similes that include the phrase “guitar like.” September 4’s performance will draw its prompts from The New York Times; participants will play works by Ben Ratliff, Jon Pareles, Neil Strauss, Peter Watrous, and others. This is also the debut of the Guitarbitrations ensemble.***