(1st annual) Brooklyn Guitar Festival Recap

From the left: Nate Smith, Adam Rogers, John Scofield, Eric Gales, Vernon Reid, me, Rodney Hyder (drummer for Jackie Venson), Henry Hey

Last week’s first annual Brooklyn Guitar Festival was an epic event that included 14 hours of guitar music and around 22 guitar players. The road getting there had detours. The producer, Erik Eckstein, refused to give up and he bulldogged his way to a successful event. A quote of his is telling:

“I build skyscrapers in New York City. Putting on this event was more challenging than that.”

The truth is until you do it you have no idea what it’s like is to put on a large event like this. Two dozen musicians, contracts and riders, sound checks, back line, musicians, missing flights, writing checks, musicians getting lost, Publicity, getting all the gear working, staffing, food… it’s a big lift.

Amongst other roadblocks was the fact that the whole event was supposed to take place in Prospect Park. However, the mayor in his wisdom decided that Saturday should be taken away from us and given over to a Knick’s viewing party. Guess what? The viewing party never happened. Friday night was taken away from us because the New York Philharmonic was playing at the bandshell over a mile away. This was after the spot had been reserved for 8 months. Nonetheless two new venues were found, Friday at Warsaw in Greenpoint and Sat. at the Arlo Hotel in Williamsburg.

I had never worked at Warsaw before; it’s a fine, well-run venue. The unlikely choice for Saturday was a huge event room downstairs in this boutique hotel, which surprisingly made for an excellent site. Granted, we had to build a large stage, literally overnight, in the space, and take it down the next day. We had to move from two stages to one and perform near miraculous set change overs. But things never ran late.

There were a few unforgettable moments—top of my list was the Jeff Beck tribute with Eric Gales’, a blues rocker originally from Memphis, who I had never seen live before. Eric’s sound is like a hurricane, it knocks you sideways with authority and power. He plays left-handed, the guitar is upside down, and he seems to be completely connected to it, body and soul. The great Greg Koch was supposed to perform with him, but his flight got canceled. This allowed me the opportunity to insinuate myself into Eric’s set. I suppose you could call this a fringe benefit of being an organizer in the event. We played one of the most iconic pieces of guitar music of all time, Jeff Beck’s “’Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers.” This piece had a huge effect on me when it came out. So to play that with Eric, the incredible Nate Smith on drums… well, it was intense.

Lest you think I’ve lost control of my senses you’ll understand that I did not solo. This would’ve been a catastrophic mistake after what I heard coming out of Eric’s amplifier! However, I played rhythm which was more than enough.

Everyone who played on this tribute was great, Adam Rogers, Alex Skolnick, Vernon Reid. Special mention must be made of Henry Hey, whose keyboard playing was perfection, and some of the Jeff Beck songs can be challenging. Adam played his own set before with, “Dice,” which included Nate Smith and Fima Ephron. It’s amazing to me that more people don’t know about Adam. This trio is amongst the most powerful one could ever see. He’s got these incredible jazz chops that he employs in the service of a Hendrix -style power trio. Great composing, virtuosic and soulful playing. It takes what all other blues rockers are are doing beyond the beyond into the stratosphere.

The venerable John Scofield played a set before Adam. At age 74 he is as good as ever. John stands atop the food chain, every phrase that comes out of this man is like a powerful pitch coming from a guy with a great arm. There’s a knuckle ball, a curve, a fastball, and no matter what tune or tempo he is playing it’s always interesting, organic, and dramatic.

Saturday began with a solo set by acoustic magician, Andy McKee. If you haven’t heard this guy, go on YouTube right away. He’s in the Michael Hedges domain, that space where it sounds like at least two people are playing the guitar. It’s really lovely.

At some point, the whole day was a blur: I did my own set fronted by three amazing singers with the group I call the Stardust Reunion Band. Before that I was a bit stunned by Texas-born, Ally Venable. This petite, young woman has true star power. She’s taking the legacy of Stevie Ray Vaughan and building on it.

It was nonstop great playing all day long. Skolnick played a powerful trio set, Mike Stern blazed, Bill Frisell soothed, there was a tribute to John Scofield which I organized where five different players all took a different spin on his music. Vernon Reid shredded and then came our august headliner, Al Dimeola. Al’s nylon string duo with a flamenco artist from Spain was striking, rendered to perfection. And here’s the legendary ‘71 Les Paul from Return to Forever!

Here are some behind the scene videos and more photos— Frisell (playing Falling Grace), Rogers, Gales, Ally, McKee and more behind the paywall. See you next year, and in the mean time we are doing a jazz festival in Prospect Park Aug. 8, mark your calendars.

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