Show Reviews

The Bunker

15 September 2002

What an awesomely pleasant surprise! I haven't seen this level of expert musicianship in New Zealand since Tommy Emmanuel played at Sky City over a year ago. To be able to enjoy it in an intimate setting like The Bunker is one of those rare transcendant treats. I can't recommend Richard's show to you enough. If he is going to be anywhere near where you could possibly see him I guarantee you won't regret spending whatever effort it takes you to get there. Not only is his music extraordinary but his personable style and laid back sense of humor provide an intimate and personal context in which to appreciate it. Several of us didn't get our fill on Sunday and went to Richard's workshop at Tabac on Monday. It 'twas a guitar players dream. DON'T MISS this opportunity to see a world class musician in the intimate setting of your club.

MichealYoung.com - © T. Micheal Young, 2001-2002

Digital City - Nashville

Nationally acclaimed acoustic guitarist Richard Gilewitz defies easy categorization: one minute he'll be picking sophisticated Bach-like melodies, and the next minute he'll be getting down in a raw Delta blues song. His repertoire covers everything from the afore-mentioned classical and blues to folk, jazz and rock. He even stretches out and delves into near-avant-garde territory, recalling initial inspirations like John Fahey and Leo Kottke.

Besides aweing listeners with his technical virtuosity, Gilewitz's lyrical tales prove quite literary and moving, indeed. On his debut album, Voluntary Solitary, he immediately revealed himself as a wholly idiosyncratic voice, one that took each and every influence and created something singular. Gilewitz's social observations rank high amongst contemporary folkies.

His newest release, Synapse Collapse, shows Gilewitz expanding his palette into fresh territory. Similar to like-minded souls Jorma Kaukonen, John Fahey and Sandy Bull, Gilewitz's acoustic magic works best in a live setting.

-- Scott Verrastro

Blues On Stage

Live Review
John Hammond, Jr.
The BamBoo Room - Lake Worth, FL
December 16, 2000
by Dave "Doc" Piltz

Since the release of his debut recording for Vanguard Records back in 1963, John Hammond, Jr. has played the blues, carrying on the tradition of his famous father, A+R man/historian/talent scout, John Hammond, Sr. The younger Hammond's work has encompassed a variety of blues styles, although he has always maintained his general focus on his distinctive interpretation of acoustic blues styles. During his career he has performed solo and has also worked with a veritable "Who's Who" in the music business including Mike Bloomfield, Dr. John, Charlie Musselwhite, Bob Dylan, John Lee Hooker and Southern blues rocker, Duane Allman. Hammond's shows are doubly entertaining because of his command of the music combined with his in depth knowledge of blues history.

Opening for John Hammond on Saturday night at The BamBoo Room in Lake Worth, Florida was Richard Gilewitz, an exceptional guitarist who demonstrated some incredible skills playing 6- and 12-string finger style guitar. Gilewitz 60+ minute set featured some of the finest live guitar that I have heard in a long time. Gilewitz performed a combination of original and cover material including songs by Jorma Kaukonen ("Embryonic Journey"), Duane Allman ("Little Martha"), John Fahey, Leo Kottke ("Sailor's Grave On The Prairie") and Michael Hedges ("Layover").

After Gilewitz groomed the gathering crowd with his remarkable set, it was time for the "Big Man," John Hammond, to take the stage. In front of a packed and extremely appreciative audience, Hammond opened with "I'm Just Your Fool" followed by a fine version of Robert Johnson's "Kind Hearted Woman." Throughout the evening, on songs like Billy Boy Arnold's "I Wish You Would," "John Lee Hooker's "Father Was A Jockey" and Willie Dixon's "Spoonful," Hammond proved himself to be a great interpreter of classic blues songs. His version of "Spoonful" was wonderfully "rough" sounding, played in a style that recalled the early sounds of rural acoustic blues. The show also included a number of songs by the great Muddy Waters. Among these were classics like "Sail On," "I Can't Be Satisfied," King Bee" and "She's Alright."

Hammond was in rare form on Saturday evening, indicating to the everyone early in his set that this would be his last show of the year and that he was going to give it up for the crowd one last time before the start of the new millennium. Every single song performed during the evening was a gem and everyone received the same enthusiastic reception from the sizable audience. The reaction of the crowd during the evening was the clear signal of an incredibly successful performance.

Residents of, and visitors to, South Florida who enjoy excellent blues would be advised to take in a show at The BamBoo Room in Lake Worth whenever possible. The fact that regular visitors, and all of the performers, rave about the club and their treatment by the courteous and professional staff seems to always result in memorable performances. To find out about upcoming shows at The BamBoo Room, check Pollstar (www.pollstar.com) or visit The BamBoo Room's website at www.bamboorm.com. In addition to the performance schedule, you can check out the virtual lounge tour and some nice performance photos from previous BamBoo Room shows.

This review is copyright © 2001 by Dave "Doc" Piltz, and Blues On Stage, all rights reserved. Copy, duplication or download prohibited without written permission. For permission to use this review please send an E-mail to Ray Stiles.

Copyright © 1999-2000 Ray M. Stiles
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. Blues On Stage is a ® Trademark of Ray Stiles.

Gable End Theater

The Orcadian

Gable End Theatre
Hoy
October 3, 2003

Unassuming guitarist provides a night to remember at Gable End

I have to confess at the outset of writing this of a profound feeling of sorrow for those people on Hoy, in fact in Orkney per se, who sat beside their warm hearths dozing away the rigours of the week instead of being treated to one of the finest guitar performances to grace this county, well, forever.

Richard Gilewitz is a gentle unassuming man posessing and using the magical symbiotic relationship forged by well honed talents between hand and strings -- it was almost as one would have been utterly redundant without the other.

Here sounds flourished into blends of colours, there he plucked harmonics and impelled them on a course that gently struggled to unfold a fulsome blossom of musical images. This man walked us through the musical canon of conventions without a sign of brazen egoism. He did it comfortably and with the kind of panache that denotes artistry of a high order.

He is as much a magician as he is a musician. You can understand why he has played alongside such guitar luminaries as Mose Allison, John Renbourne and Bert Jansch.

Richard played a medley of his own compositions, one piece seamlessly blending into another yet retaining its essential clarity and form.

"Morning is the Long Way Home" and "Have You Ever Seen a Rainbow at Night?", another slow walk through rich notes and the ever present echoing nuances of texture and colour. Yet he embraces the musical joys of traditions.

The formality and classical architecture of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" delivered with all the dignity its pedigree deserves sparkled from his arrangement.

In days of yore I can remember seeing Andres Segovia and feeling the great man's gaze on his audience as though, sitting at his feet, we were contracted to recognizing his ultimate authority over us. If one of us had sneezed or coughed I'm sure he would have had us all back in detention after the concert.

But unlike Segovia our maestro was so full of cool and love for his art that his audience was made comfortable in the presence of his talent.

In a week when the Hindustani film The Warrior, a beautiful morality tale of conflict both temporal and spiritual, was shown at the Gable End Theatre through their splendid new DVD projector, it was followed the very next day by Richard Gilewitz.

The warmth of the hearth has taken a poor second place to entertainment many large town couldn't provide.

Aren't we the lucky ones!

Stephen J. Seymour Clancy
Eastbilter, Longhope.
10-16-03

Reviews and Previews

Richard Gilewitz
Gable End Theatre

Audience seduced by the guitarist's delicate playing

After a weekend of blues, and a year of several solo guitarists from different genres performing at the Gable End Theatre, Richard Gilewitz had something new to communicate with his guitars.

The 40 or so people of Hoy and Walls who came out on a blustery evening to hear his music would surely agree with me that once again we were treated to another concert of a heavenly standard.

Richard's relaxed and gentle style was classical overlaid with blues and the influences of Leo Kottke and Ry Cooder at times shone through.

Credit for these influences was provided by Richard as he entertained the audience with snippets and stories from his travels in America and other parts of the globe.

This was both informative and impressive as simultaneously Richard re-tuned his guitars into as many as six different tunings during the evening.

There was something for everyone in Richard's performance: an element of technical proficiency for fellow musicians and a willingness to share information.

Richard joked that in a workshop he could show his techniques in twenty minutes. I'm sure this was true but he didn't mention the years of practice he must have put in to become so accomplished.

We were treated to some insights into how Richard had taught himself to smile and relax his facial expression after seeing himself on video with a contored expression of concentration. This was only one of many times that Richard had the audience in stitches.

Richard' sense of humour and natural down to earth demeanour made the evening memorable for the many non-musicians in the audience.

My favorite joke was the comment from a child in the first grade who during the question and answer part of a school workshop asked Richard "Are most of the people that like to hear the kind of music you play dead?"

Richard was also self effacing in his jokes about becoming dependent on electronic tuners.

He created a wonderful rapport with the sound and lighting technicians and complimented the acoustics in the theatre while demonstrating the resonance he achieved from tuning his bass string to a Bb. Richard started his second set by whipping out a piece of paper to cover the chords he was playing in order to stop the musician in the front row from "stealing his riffs".

Richard summed himself up as a man who could cry during "Babe, Pig in the City" and then go and eat bacon and eggs.

A man infinitely more complex than this who as a musician is more complex than I can give justice to here.

On the classical side and on the six string guitar, Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desire" and "Prelude in D minor" and one of Richard's own compositions "Wazamataz" stood out.

Richard used harmonics to great effect in many of his pieces and they provided subtle light and shade to the performance which added to the evocative and gentle nature of Richard's guitar style.

On the 12 string Richard played a Hawaiian style Ry Cooder tune from the film "Going South" with Jack Nicholson and two lively pieces by his friend Gove Scrivenor, one named "Minuet for the Backroads".

The minor key used for his encore of the original composition" Dirt To Dust" made for a lovely end to the evening during which the audience were delightfully seduced by both the delicacy and passion of this piece of music.

C.G.
The Orcadian
Oct. 9, 2003

The Penguin Club

I looked at the stage with its spare furnishings consisting of a chair and a couple of microphone stands, and wondered where this concert would lead me. I soon discovered Richard was sending us on a journey that was full of his life experiences. Each composition he played he introduced with a story that connected the music to himself and his adventures. These tales were delivered in a deep Alabama drawl that laconically reduced the audience to fits of laughter. We were introduced to his Father, teachers, friends, heroes and pet hermit crabs. And all these tales prepared us for music that had a flavour that tasted of the southern states of the USA.

Richard played the six and twelve string guitar with a skill that made it all look so easy. As he sat there, not really looking at anything, his fingers flew across the strings picking notes clean and sharp. It was a joy to watch the complicated dance his digits wove as he brought life to his Tacoma guitars. Richard composed about a third of the twelve pieces he played with the rest having been written by such musicians as Leo Kottle, John Fahey and Andres Segovia among others.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable concert full of good humour and great musicianship. In one word "Sweet".

And as we were closing up there was a Penguin standing in the alley for Richard to see and this rounded off his visit to Oamaru very nicely.

Reviewed by Rick Barry.