Saturday 16 February
7.45pm
Gulbenkian Theatre,
“Widely thought
of as the world’s most gifted guitarist” Total
Guitar
Drawing
on blues, rock, funk and jazz influences among others, award winning musician
Preston Reed brings his startlingly innovative style to the Gulbenkian
Theatre.
Reed
weaves and melds genres, rhythms and textures to produce a signature sound that
has earned him world renown for its emotional power and stylistic creativity.
His vast range of explosively original music will forever change your
expectation of a guitarist as he engages the entire instrument, creating a
rock/jazz rhythm section, melody line and chordal accompaniment
simultaneously.
Seeing
him live, he attacks the guitar with such fervour, such spooky synergy, that all
the bodyslaps, polyrhythms, harmonic tickles and his two handed percussive
fretboard maul, astonishingly haul out an orchestra you never knew was hidden
inside. The word virtuoso doesn't even come close.
Playing
an array of guitars from acoustic to electric to classical, there are no fancy
gadgets or gimmicky FX - just 6 strings (or occasionally 12), two hands and a
daring and innovative musical imagination that crosses all boundaries.
"….
a major musical talent"
"Will
drop your jaw"
Playboy
Tickets £12 Concs
£10
Booking Office 01227
769075
On line bookings www.gulbenkiantheatre.co.uk
Ends.
For images contact Frances Moran,
Marketing Manager, F_dot_Moran_at_kent_dot_ac_dot_uk
Press Contact: Cath Maguire; scarycath_at_aol_dot_com
Editor’s
notes
Biography
Preston Reed has virtually reinvented how the
acoustic guitar is played. Reed practices a flamboyant "self-invented" style,
characterized by percussive techniques and simultaneous rhythm and melody lines
that dance and ricochet around each other, giving his music a level of
excitement that is unparalleled among today's guitarists.
Playing an
array of guitars from acoustic to electric to classical Reeds vast range of
explosively original music will forever change your expectation of a
guitarist.
First-time listeners find it impossible to believe that
they're hearing just the one musician, in real time. Reed attacks the entire
instrument in a never-ending search for the orchestra he knows is lurking
inside. At full tilt, his fingers, thumbs, fists and hands at once suggest a
drummer, keyboardist, bassist and several guitarists at work.
The most
impressive thing about Reed's technique, though, is that it doesn't draw
attention to itself. His compositions are far from abstract virtuosic displays;
even without lyrics he creates vivid, engrossing scenes. Sometimes the effect is
almost onomatopoetic. Reed generates visual stimuli with every tweak of his
instrument, thus augmenting his wordless compositions with an aura of the
poetic. Each tune is a story in itself with a potent, cinematic atmosphere and
an almost tangible thread of communication between Preston Reed and the
listener.
Reed's entry into this guitar odyssey was
inauspicious enough, his path thereafter largely self-discovered. A few chords
learned from his guitar playing father, a brief, very brief, flirtation with the
ukulele, clandestine practice sessions of his favourite Beatles and Stones songs
on dad's guitar and then a too-strict classical guitar teacher led to premature
retirement.
At 16, however, Reed heard Jefferson Airplane's rootsy blues
offshoot, Hot Tuna. His interest was rekindled big time. Acoustic guitar heroes
John Fahey and Leo Kottke were studied, their styles absorbed but not imitated,
and at this point things really begin to get interesting because, at 17, Reed,
by now precociously proficient, played his first live gig, supporting beat poet
Allen Ginsberg at the Smithsonian Institute.
Just getting on a train from
his native Armonk in
Determined to make the most of this opportunity, Reed pushed
himself to go beyond the standard fingerpicking styles he'd perfected. The
result was the beginnings of Reeds startlingly innovative style, with its
percussive, two-handed fretboard attack, that you hear today and which has
caused guitar luminaries such as Al DiMeola and the late Michael Hedges to
describe Reed as "phenomenal" and "inspiring". His playing has spawned a
generation of imitators, yet Reed remains one of a kind.
Reed's compositional talents extend to film
soundtracks and prestigious commissions for the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, and
as well as appearances alongside Bonnie Raitt and Linda Ronstadt his major
performances include an historic live satellite broadcast on Turkish National
Television in 1997 with renowned sax player and composer Arif Sag which reached
an audience of 120 million in 17 countries, prompting a flood of international
telephone calls to the station from stunned viewers.
Since 1979, he has
recorded thirteen albums and three videos and charmed audiences on three
continents. He continues to tour with the same hunger and relish that informs
his guitar playing. The secret, he says, is to relax and let the guitar patterns
run by themselves. Which explains how, at full tilt, he may sound like a full-on
heavy metal band but he still won't have broken
sweat.