Roaring Fork Valley residents are in for a treat on Friday, March 7, as International Guitar Night (IGN) plays at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen as part of its 25th anniversary North American tour.
The IGN is the brainchild of guitarist and poet Brian Gore. A longtime performer in the San Francisco Bay area (now living in Portland, OR), he came to notice what he told The Sopris Sun was a “desert of interest” on the part of music presenters, who tended to book only one genre of musician. He wanted to stage concerts with musicians who were “a little different,” on the assumption that this would attract a larger audience.
Gore had been influenced by the instrumental music being offered by artists like William Ackerman and Michael Hedges at Windham Hill Records and decided to put together programs that featured himself and other acoustic guitarists with varying styles. The first years were challenging, but interest in and the popularity of IGN has been “steadfastly growing … [we’re] keeping our audiences and venues,” adding, “Most dates on the tour are sold out or mostly so.”
Noted guitarists like Windham Hill’s Alex De Grasse have participated in IGN tours, but Gore has also focused on finding upcoming and lesser-known but highly regarded artists from throughout the world to showcase their talent. “We’re actually working with the most respected players in their subgenres,” he said. While musicians have participated in more than one IGN, Gore pointed out that, “There are always new people on every tour.”
Indeed, three of the four musicians this year are new: classical guitarist Alexandra Whittingham from Great Britain; guitar virtuoso and singer Niwel Tsumbu from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and guitarist and storyteller Sönke Meinen from Germany.
A notable exception is the fourth artist, tour leader Lulo Reinhardt, also from Germany. This is his eighth North American IGN – always as leader – and he has also led some ten of the European counterpart Nacht der Guitarren (“Night of the Guitars”) tours in the fall. Gore said that when Reinhardt did his first IGN, in 2010, that he “really got it and changed the way IGN operated.”
He is a member of the renowned Reinhardt musical family – his great uncle was Django Reinhardt – who are of Sinti origins. The Sinti are part of the Roma (pejoratively, “Gypsy”) tradition, who originated in India and have lived in Germany for hundreds of years. Roma peoples were among those severely persecuted during the Holocaust. Reinhardt told The Sun that his father, then a child, “survived five concentration camps,” the last being Auschwitz, where, “The Russians opened the gates just before he was to be shot.”
That legacy has informed and shaped Reinhardt’s life. Throughout his career, his music has been dominated by the Sinti musical traditions of Django and the rest of the family, popularly known as “Latin swing.” He played in bands with his uncles and father for years before forming his own group in 2002. Reinhardt seeks to give “Sinti and Roma influence and exposure to a wider audience,” with his performances under the label “freedom and peace.” He continued, “I always have a Gypsy flag onstage,” intending to promote “positive provocation.”
Gore stepped back from performing on IGN several years ago. However, he still curates and oversees each tour except booking, which is handled by a talent agency. This year, being the 25th anniversary, he admitted that the agency “pulled out all the stops,” scheduling 42 performances between January 18 and March 23, ranging from Alaska to Massachusetts.
Most of the time, the artists drive themselves from venue to venue. Reinhardt shared that the pace can be “challenging,” where you start to feel “half human, half robot.” However, Gore pointed to IGN’s “overall team spirit,” adding, “Everybody helps each other out.”
Asked how long he would like to continue IGN, Gore responded that he is “hoping to be doing it for 40 years,” noting the “huge backlog of performers” he would like to get on the tour.
The tour is relatively new to Aspen. Gore said, “I have always had reverence for the Wheeler and wanted to get IGN in there,” adding, “It’s a place the IGN should be going.”
To purchase tickets for International Guitar Night, visit www.wheeleroperahouse.com
For more information on International Guitar Night, visit www.internationalguitarnight.com/north-america-tour/