If you are of a certain age, you learned to play the guitar or the drums.  Because we all wanted to be RockNRoll entertainers.  Ok.  Not really.

I wanted to play jazz and the blues.  Really wanted to play those tunes.  But, my first guitar teacher had no clue how that music really sounded.  And, was bound and determined to teach me to play Spanish guitar and RockNRoll.  At least the Spanish guitar techniques came in handy later.

By the time I was 11 years old, I had purchased (yes, with my own earnings) an Epiphone (a sister company- then- for Gibson) hollow body electric guitar.   $ 312.30 was all it took.  No, I had not yet earned enough for an amplifier.  But, being a hollow body guitar, it meant I could play and enjoy the sounds without amplification.

I played that guitar for years.  I even made some reasonable cash playing in a band.  Until one day when we played in this church that was in about the same shape as the DC Metro system.  (You did hear that they had to shut Metro down to find the multiple places of imminent failure about the ides of March. And, now may shut down lines for months at a clip.)   And, you guessed it.  The floor collapsed, with only my guitar bridging the newly formed gap.  (If you know about guitars, you understand the pun – and scariness- involved in this “save”.)  That kind of ended my musical career.

But, I’ve always loved string instruments.  Violin, cello, and the guitar.  And, a few weeks ago, I had a most unique experience.   Four world reknowned guitarists played separately and together in one concert.

Brian Gore was the American of the bunch.   Clearly trained in classical (Spanish) guitar.  Who also used his playing to serve as the bass or rhythm section, when joining others.   He also is the master of the capo- a device used on the frets of the guitar to alter the pitch, without changing the finger positions needed to play different notes.

Andre Krengel hails from Germany.  A self-taught guitarist, he inherited a love of classical music from his parents- but was also influenced by Marc Knopfler (Dire Straits).  He was awarded the Culture Award for music  and composing (in 2007).   Andre was also influenced by one of the greatest gypsy musicians alive today, Lulo Reinhardt.

Lulo is also a member of this quartet.  His ancestry – his uncles Django Reinhardt (the  jazz guitarist) and Shnuckenack Reinhardt- only got him started.  But, it’s not just gypsy music (even though that alone would be glorious)- he has fused the styles of flamenco, Latin, and Brazillian jazz into his playing.  You only have to hear four bars to recognize the talent that splays forth from his fingers.   Lulo continues to explore and perform a fusion of styles, including flamenco, Latin, and Brazilian jazz.

The youngest one of the bunch is Mike Dawes from the UK.  A fingerstyle guitarist par excellence, you are never sure if he is playing two guitars at once- or the drums.  (Fingerstyle guitarist hammer the strings, use the body of the guitar, employ artificial harmonics, thereby playing chords and melodies simultaneously.)

Each of these amazingly accomplished artists would have delivered a fantastic concert.  But, the four together?  Wow.

Here’s a chance for you to enjoy their offerings.  (By the way, it’s Brian, Andre, Mike, and Lulo from left to right in the video.)

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