Gualala Arts is proud to present an evening of acoustic brilliance with guitar duo Jack West & Walter Strauss, celebrating the release of their new LP, Guitars On Life. The concert takes place Saturday, March 7 at 7:30 PM, offering audiences a rare chance to experience two masterful musicians in an intimate musical dialogue that spans genres, continents, and decades of innovation.
Tickets are $25 in advance and +$5 on the day of the show, available at the Dolphin Gallery, Gualala Arts Center, and online at GualalaArts.org. $100 Sponsor tickets available online only.
“The new Guitars On Life LP finds West simultaneously playing bass, chords, and percussion lines — he’s a one-man rhythm section with a preternatural gift for making the most intricate passages tumble and flow with graceful precision. And Strauss weaves expertly filigreed melodies that alternately careen around and caress West’s buoyant foundation. It’s a captivating joyride, from the ecstatic take on Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Wish’ to the impetuous innocence of ‘Youth.’ Like many of the pieces, the aptly titled ‘Double Bounce’ opens with West laying down a supple groove (his bass notes pop due to a thumb pick of his own invention). Strauss’ lightning triplet runs provide their own fuel, while West’s legato slide work foregrounds the boogie roots that nourish both guitarists. Not that it’s all dance music. Side A concludes with the tautly dramatic ‘Across the Bardo’ and Side B wraps up with an oasis of calm, the introspective ‘Follow the Water Down.’
Guitars On Life doesn’t explicitly provide a narrative arc, but the music’s brimming emotion, the intense pleasure that emanates from the duo’s interactions, tells a vivid tale about two insistently idiosyncratic artists coming together to forge an intimately conversational sound. It is as if the two guitars were querying each other on the topic of life.”
Andrew Gilbert is a Berkeley music writer who contributes to the San Francisco Chronicle, KQED Arts, and San Jose Mercury News, among many other publications.
Don’t miss this electrifying celebration of musical reunion, innovation, and connection.
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