from around the world. I invite you to explore my gallery of musical essays, outlined below.
GLOBAL GUITAR PORTRAITS
The Greatest Guitarist in the World steps you right up to three bouts of the hottest pickers on earth going neck and neck.
Django’s Caravan & Castle * Chet’s Changes * Lenny vs Jimi * Beatific Vision1 & 2 * Led Clapton * Stairway + * Watchtower *
In Ring #1 Chet‘s Changes challenge Django‘s Dream, in Ring #2 Hendrix‘s Chord confronts Breau‘s Bells, and in Ring #3
Clapton‘s Crossroads encounter Page‘s Stairway. “Chet Atkins told me Django was the greatest guitarist.” Hank Garland
“My fans insist that I’m the greatest guitar player.” Atkins “You’re the greatest guitar player.” “I know.” Valerie & Lenny Breau
“Lenny’s going to turn out to be the #1 guitar player.” Atkins, 1968 The Greatest Love: 1a, 1b, 2, 3, 4, 5 *
Johnny Carson: “Who is the best guitarist in the world?” Hendrix: “Phil Keaggy.” Apocryphal 1969 Interview
“Hendrix turned the guitar into the ultimate phallic symbol.” Danko Jones “Hendrix revolutionized music.” Molly Johnson
“Hendrix’s legacy is assured as the greatest guitarist of all time.” Tom Morello “Hendrix is like the great boxers.” Buddy Guy
“Hendrix‘s music tells a tale of the ’60’s and also of the future…about Cherokees or black Americans or the blues...He came out
like Mike Tyson, when Tyson would knock guys [out] in 3 seconds.” Santana 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 * Guitar S.E.X. & G.O.D.S.
“Every time I talk about jazz I think of prizefighters.” Coltrane Ali * Jack * Pac * Hope * Ray * Guy * Duel 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6–6–6.
“[Lenny] got into his Hendrix mode, tied a bandana around his head and was doing this anguished stuff.” Dan Hall, 1978
“My dad and I were listening to a Hendrix LP and [his 2nd wife] threw it on the ground saying, ‘this is evil!‘” Chet Breau, 1983
“Chet Atkins says that I’m the best goddamn guitarist in the world.” “It’s weird…like being a gunslinger.” Lenny Breau, 1980
“Tommy Emmanuel is about the only guitarist I’ve heard who can come close to what Lenny Breau did…he’s probably the
greatest finger-picker in the world today.” Atkins, 1997 Emmanuel: philanthropist, missionary, and greatest? Dixie1 & 2 *
Gypsy King 1 & 2 * Django 1, 2, 3, 4 * Dazed 1, 2, 3, 4 * Stairway 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 * Purple Haze 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6–6–6 *
Groupies 1, 5, 10 * Crossroads: 1, 2, 3 * Tears * Dad‘s Eyes & Mom’s Arms * Change * Presence 1, 2, 3 * Heaven 1 & 2 *
Greats, Guitars, & Muses ~ Django: King, Cathedral, & Saint * Chet: Gent, Gun, & Land1, 2, 3 * Breau: Painter, Brush,
& Queen * Page: Hermit, Staff, & Groupie or Jesus * Clapton: Pilgrim, Cross, & Pieta * Hendrix: Child, Phallus, & Lady *
“Godbout is a six-string wizard and can coax any style out of his acoustic. It’s fingerpickin’ good.” Winnipeg Free Press
“An insane range and flawless transitions mark this intense musical essay….A must see.” Edmonton Vue Weekly
Hapi Hendrix Experience: This link seems to be working now.
Guitar Hero: a 6-String Odyssey relates Northrop Frye’s history of the literary hero to that of the guitar hero.
Diabolus in Musica: Metalhead & Sirens, High Hipster & Lotus Eaters; Dominus in Musica: Blind Bluesman as Cyclops;
Deus in Musica: Blind Psalmist as Tiresias, Hymnist as Athena, Finger , Sail1 & 2.
Stations of the Axe compares six guitarists’ representations of Jesus: Green’s Charitable Christ, Santana’s Rainbow
Warrior, Lennon’s Latin Lord, Dylan’s Soulful Señor & Hero, Clapton’s Pieta, and Buchanan’s Blues Messiah – The Seeker.
The Last Gig of Lenny Breau dramatizes the Canadian guitar legend’s final performance. Bells: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 * Modes *
Overture * Vincent / Reverie * Jazzraga * NYC * That’s All * Moonlight * 5:00 Bells * Satie Sunrise * Last Will * WFP Interview *
“Godbout does a terrific job bringing Lenny Breau to life. A wonderful way to honor a music legend.” Winnipeg Theatre
“Godbout blew me away. He is an immense talent…One of the best guitarists I’ve ever seen.” Winnipeg Review
“Godbout gets as close to Breau’s mystical relationship to his instrument as anyone I’ve ever heard…The evening may be
dramatically erratic but there was no doubt, that haunted night, the spirit of Lenny Breau was very near.” Edmonton Sun
Canuck Quixote conjures quixotic musical portraits of Aboriginal and African people in songs by Lightfoot, Cohen, Mitchell,
Cockburn, Young, Boyd, and Breau. Man of la Mancha * Dulcinea1 & 2 * What Does He Want * The Impossible Dream1 & 2 *
“Through the woodland, through the valley, comes a horseman wild and free; tilting at the windmills passing.” Gordon Lightfoot
“Lenny stayed up into the early morning hours reading and rereading his favorite novel, Don Quixote, until ‘his eyes were
spinning in his head.’” Denny Breau “It’s about visions; whatever you see in your head you try to play.” Lenny Breau
“Catherine Tekakwitha, can I love you in my own way?” “I have come to rescue you from the Jesuits.“ Leonard Cohen
“I wanted to be a role model to say, ‘You can do your impossible dream and don’t give up, just change.'” Liona Boyd
The ABC’s of CanGit relates six Canadian guitarists to the four types of Atwood’s victim and of Frye’s hero.
Bryan Adams * Joni Anderson–Mitchell * Liona Boyd * Lenny Breau * Bruce Cockburn * Leonard Cohen *
Multiculturalism: the Musical justifies a complementarian collage of East Indian and Western classical,
blues, heavy metal, reggae, hip hop, and jazz music. “In a lot of ways, hip-hop is the Five Percent.” RZA
“Hip hop is in many ways the same as Bebop.” Quincy Jones “Bebop is the foundation of modern jazz.” J.E. Berendt
“My music is the spiritual expression of what I am – my faith, my knowledge, my being.” John Coltrane
“One should begin a piece of music and wake up at the end, having become that music.” Manuel Barrueco
“Unless I become the raga itself, I cannot feel the soul of the raga.” Ravi Shankar
“All races, nations, classes and people are like a strain of music based upon one chord.” Inayat Khan
2 to Django is a gypsy jazz journey into the life of guitarist Django Reinhardt, from the caravan fire that burned
his fingers to occupied Paris, where he fell in love and rose to stardom. DjangoClip * Django’s Mass1 & 2 * Gypsy Pilgrims *
Caravan * Nuages * Castle * 2 to Django * I Love Paris * Sentimood * Django * World on a String * Gutstring *
“Godbout’s playing is blazing good, shot through with passion and very brave.” Plank Magazine, Victoria
“An amazing guitarist…Godbout picks beautifully for the full hour of the concert and makes great music.” Calgary Musicals
Beethoven Rolls Over while swapping 88 keys for a 6-string after failing to woo his beloved with a Faust Symphony.
Schroeder * Roll Over * Soleá * B’s Blues * Mignon * 7th, #2 * Ludwig’s * 9th? * Bettina the Beloved? *
“Transforming Beethoven to blues is no mean feat, and Godbout’s skill as a musician can easily rivet you for an hour.” Avenue
Magazine, Calgary “Be spellbound by a man who makes one guitar sound as rich as an orchestra.” Vue Weekly, Edmonton
“Imagine Muddy Waters doing Beethoven and that’s Godbout at his guitar: an intense musician with sophisticated taste
and original sense of dynamics…no doubt the most talented musician I’ve seen in Victoria.” Culture Vulture, Victoria
The Last Gig of J.C. interprets Coltrane‘s final concert, at the Olatunji Center of African Culture, as a musical prayer for Africa.
“They mocked him….Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?‘” Mt. 27:29, 46
“John Coltrane used to play so much that…his lips were bleeding and…there’d be blood running down.” Lenny Breau
“You just keep going all the way, as deep as you can. You keep trying to get right down to the crux.” John Coltrane
St. John Coltrane Church traces its roots to African Orthodox Church, which deified Jesus as “the Black Man of Sorrows.”
Follow the bloodied frets of my ebony fingerboard on a musical journey from the heart of Africa to the gates of Harlem.
Minor: Meditations * Tunji1 & 2 & 3 * Jingo1 & 2 & 3 * Ascens * Afro * Afri * Things * Light * Mau Mau * Supreme * Psalm *
Major: Rain * Welcome1 & 2 * Love * Amen * Trinity * Lord * Abide * Funeral * Betehelemu * St. Peter’s1 & 2 *
Is there an exception to Coltrane’s aversion to the major keynote and affinity for the minor keynote in the above songs?
“Malcolm X and Coltrane represented the combination of a blues-people sensibility with an anti-western / pro-Africa stance…
in their aesthetics.” Kalamu Ya Salaam “When a person wants to become an American citizen, he or she has to say
the pledge of allegiance in front of God. A Love Supreme is John’s pledge of allegiance.” Elvin Jones
“You know Whole Lotta Love or 7th Son? That’s the bass line in A Love Supreme – it’s just a blues lick.” Branford Marsalis
“If you’ve ever seen anybody run scared, this is the picture [Coltrane] gave me, musically.” Jimmy Oliver
“Coltrane ran as far as he could in one direction, then started running quickly in another.” Ben Ratliff
“I want to produce beautiful music…in communion with the natural laws.” [Nature produces a major chord.]
“If you wanted to name [my music] anything you could name it a classical music.” John Coltrane, 1966
Apart from a brief invocation, A Love Supreme and Coltrane’s final concert are all blues and pantonality.
“I hated it….So, I played it again. I played it again and I played it again, and I just couldn’t stop playing it.” Mr. Holland’s Opus
Deus in Musica extolls music basking in the supernatural glory of nature’s perfect chord.
Trinity1 & 2 * Maria1 & 2 * Grace * Happy * Freedom * Betel * Oboe * Chimes * Jesu1 & 2 * God1 & 2 * Welcome * Amen *
Canada * Echoes * Banner * Teach * Sing * Fanfare * Encounters * Do * Dominique1 & 2 * Frere * Chord * 2001 *
“Whereas Melody is the cry of Man to God, Harmony is the answer of God to Man.” Anonymous
The major chord “is the image of the divine Unitrinity” and “of an antecedent Creator.” Johannes Lippius and J.P. Rameau
“Tonality took the form of a harmonic system providing order, direction, and the resolution of tension into the ‘perfect chord,’
the major triad (C, E, G), which is a reflection of the divine Trinity, Father, Holy Spirit, and Son.” Dane Rudhyar
“Consciousness of the [major] chord of nature is a distinguishing feature of the people of the West.” Felix-Eberhard von Cube
“Your [Afro-American] birthright is to inherit the mind, the will, the Spirit of God.” Louis Farrakhan (51:16)
“I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. I’d like to hold it in my arms and keep it company.” Billy Davis
Dominus in Musica exumes music based on a cadence from the dominant seventh chord to nature’s indigenous chord.
Hallelujah1 & 2 * Vivaldi1 & 2 * Surprise * Nachtmusik * Peace * Bride * Midlight * KJV * DMX * JR * Francis * Hands *
“In music the leading tone is the Gospel, which dominates the other tones.” Martin Luther “All musical works are
nothing other than a combat between the consonant commom chord and the seventh chord.” Louis Claude de Saint-Martin
“As the chord that dominates the access to I as I, V seems quite appropriately called the dominant chord.” Victor Zuckerkandl
“The polarity of original sin and Grace is the final meaning of music from Bach to Beethoven.” Oswald Spengler
“The flat seventh leads all tones, which pray to it for delivery, to their source – divine spirit.” Bettina Brentano
“Included in the elevation of the spirit to the fundamental structure is an uplifting to God.” Heinrich Schenker
Diabolus in Musica exorcises music flaunting flatted fifths by means of resolution to nature’s original chord.
Classical: Dante Sonata * Malediction * Undine * Der Freischütz * Tristan & Isolde * Gnossienne * Mars * Raga Marwa * Vexations *
Folk: Dust 2 Dust *
Blues: The Majesty of the Blues * Devil1 & 2 * Prayer1 & 2 & 3 * Now’s * Boom * Fever * 7 * Midnight * Onions * Slinky *
Outside * Shepherd * Boogie Stop Shuffle * Reason * Blues Symphony * Sho Nuff Da Blues * Sack Full of Soul * Devil * Dracula *
Jazz: Go Down Moses * Mooche * Swing * Futur Primitive * Bolero * Man With the Jive * Waiting for Benny * Ool-ya-koo *
Rebel Set * Cannibals * Peter Gunn * Tampico Twist * Curried Soul * Vipers * Jive * Minnie * Dope Head * Sing *
Flatted Fifth * Musis Sacrum * Backlash * Straight Ice * Jelly Roll * Jes Swingin’ * Spirits * Spirits2 * Nuit * Ascenseur * Mr. Bean * Voodoo Suite * Vibrations * Haitian Fight Song * Fingertips * Afro-Eurasian Eclipse * 3 for the Festival * Sack Full of Soul * Money Jungle * Koolbonga *
All Africa * A Drum is a Woman & 2 * Fables * Moanin’ * Pork Pie Hat * Pedal Point * Dancer * Ain’t Necessarily So *
Take 5 * Unsquare * Larceny * Doodlin’ * Boplicity * Sid’s Ahead * They Say I Look Like God * Raes * Liberia * Resolution * Ju-Ju * Nommo1 & 2 *
Inner Urge * Shades of Blue * Nellie * Hit by a Brick * Body & Soul * Miles * Ron Burgundy * Bilbao * Ossanha * Lamento * Bells * Ye Hypocrite, Ye Beelzebub * Listen to the Silence * Black Messiah * Hummin’ * Far Side * Shofukan * Death of Jazz * History Repeating *
Fusion: Pass * Dancing * Rockit * Tutu * Jojo * Splatch * Flute * Rouge * Deep * Thing * Operator * Hang * Taboo * Never *
Reggae: Zion Train * Rebel * Legalize * Macka Spliff * Darker1 & 2 * Dinner * Garvey * Jah * Satta1 & 2 * Strain * Power *
Film: Streetcar * Dragnet * Peter Gunn * Pink Panther * Batman * Man from Uncle * Streets of S.F. * Aging Children * Webster TV *
J.C. Overture * Phantom * Simpsons1 & 2 & 3 * Mission Impossible * Doom * Cape Town Affair * Get Smart * Apache * Never Let Go * Bad Lieutenant * Piracy It’s a Crime * Our Man in Jamaica * Tiffany * Tower Heist * Under Fire * Topsy Turvy (1:20 & 3:52) * Psych-Out * Ambassador * Moron 5.2 *
Rock: Magnet * Circumstances * Spotlight Kid * Click * Blue Jay Way * Bulldog * Purple Haze * Banner * Fire * D.O.A. *
Smoke * Aqualung * My God * Sunshine * Machine Gun * Oh Well * Hooray * Inagaddadavida * Devil * Hoochie Koo *
SpaceTruckin’ * Lazy * Superstition * Liberation * Pudding * Spider * Heartbreaker * Ragdoll * Weather * Bad * Michelle *
Immigrant * Dancing Days * Trouble Man * Move * Cities * Fast Lane * Frankenstein * Lady * Outshined * Sex Type *
Jungle * Old Man * Yyz * Lark’s Tongues * Schizoid * RnR Creation * Rich * Mission * Walk * Animal * Wake Up *
Rock Bottom * Teacher * Back in Black * Dream * Floods * Even Flow * Revolution * Girl * Animal * Rumour * Crash *
Like the Devil * Heart is Black * Hangover * Bachelor * Blackened Bones * Down to Georgia * Wonderwall *
Just For You * Naked Eye * Black Horse & Cherry Tree * Do You Feel Like We Do * 14th & Jefferson * Funknroll *
Sharp Dressed Man * Commotion * The Carny * Station to Station * Celestial Blues * Gel * Hurt * In the Garden * Hot Suff * Killing Strangers *
Heavy Metal: Black Sabbath * Void * God is Dead * Lightning * Am I Evil * As I Am * Bell Tolls * Sanity * Sandman *
Raining Blood * People * Ace * Cowboys * Thunderstruck * Insane * 3rd Reich * Abyss * Vampire * Spell * Intervention *
Head * Grave * Evil Dick * Neighborhood * Born Dead * Bowels * Voodoo * Neighborhood * Dragula * Superbeast * Girl *
Hot Rod * Hero * 69 * Burning * Lies * Summer * Sad but True * South of Heaven * Still of the Night * Death Magnetic *
Diabolus in Musica * Death to All But Metal * King Antichrist * In the Sign of the Horns * On Deaf Ears * Fish Out of Water * Beautiful People * Evilution * Sex Farm * Prince of Darkness * Ithyphallic * Stand Up & Shout * Livin’ the Life *
Hip Hop: Fear * Hype * Can’t Truss It * Be Black * Proud * Black Steel * I’m Bad * Allah * Miss Ghetto * Invasion *
Bitches * Problems * Shabazz * Equation * No Mystery * Culture * Swordsman * Devil * Walk * Hustler * Colors *
Bebop 2 Hip Hop1 & 2 * Black Enough * Kill ‘Em All *
Midnight * Deep Cover * Danger * Back * Niggaz * Nigga * Wickedest * Roach * Rollers * Gangsta * Appetite * Woo Hah *
Let U Know * Wut * Boogie * Monster * Pump * Crime Story * Louie * Dumpin’ Em * Gravel Pit * Squeeze * Suicidal *
“The tritone was identified as the music of the devil, because it apparently was the sound used to call up the beast.”
“Most of the pracitioners [of heavy metal] were fans of dark classical music, like Wagner.” Bob Ezrin
“Heavy metal, like all forms of rock and soul, owes its biggest debt to African-American blues.” Robert Walser
“The blues scale has the flat fifth, the tritone. That’s the devil’s note.” Alex Webster “Rock is blues-based.” Jimi Hendrix
“The flatted fifth became the most important interval of bebop.” “Bebop is the foundation of modern jazz.” J.E. Berendt
“Hip hop is in many ways the same as Bebop, because it was renegade-type music.” Quincy Jones
“We can call notes by many names, but in the end they are all Sounds, and they are messengers of the Holy.” Stephen Rush
Must God Be a Boogie Man? compares leitmotifs of a black male deity in modern jazz, reggae, and hip hop music.
God Must Be a Boogie Man * I Look Like God * Bells * Black Messiah * Black Beauty * Black Dignity * Be Black *
Allah * Miss Ghetto * Back on the Block * Black God * Dial 7 * Shabazz * Ain’t No Mystery * Culture * Yellow Brick Road *
“If Negroes are created in God’s image, and Negroes are black, then God must in some sense be black.” Marcus Garvey
“Many English believed God was English and that the same ‘English God’ watched over America.” Lynn Dorland Trost
“Love him and live. Hate him and die….Live black, love black, think black – our God is black.” Peter Tosh
“Wha’ dem want, a white God? Well, God come black. True, true.” Bob Marley
“The black man is god.” Wise Intelligent “Everybody knows the man [Jesus] was original [black].” Brand Nubian
“God had become white, and Allah, out of power and on the dark side of Heaven, had become black.” James Baldwin
“The last time the messiah showed up he was cool, but he wasn’t black. Some folks have been waiting
thousands of years for any kind of messiah to show up that they can deal with, you know.” Cannonball Adderley
“In the sixties and seventies…Black Nationalism was the language of the young and hip.” Wynton Marsalis
“[In] the late seventies, early eighties….Malcolm X’s ghost was riding the wind.” Wynton Marsalis
Crossroad Blues blends songs of Johnson, Dylan, Buchanan, Clapton, Page, Beck, and Green to portray an ex-con’s
encounter with a mysterious man who offers him supernatural skill in exchange for his soul. Xroads1, 2 , 3, 4 *
Prison * Midnight * Farm * Man * X * Train * Fault * Soul * Move * Grace * Serve * Baloney *
Shadows1 & 2 * Apostle * Spirit * Harmony * 7 * Skies * Alba * Evil * Bluz * Pilgrim * Messiah * Ready * Grace *
“I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees; asked the Lord above for mercy, ‘save me if you please.‘” Robert Johnson
“This [blues] chord of the seventh…demands (in aesthetic terms) to be saved.” Louis Claude de Saint-Martin
“You just a white boy lost in the blues.” Sonny Terry “Whitey playing the blues now – got you in his grip.” Louis Farrakhan
“White folks need a closer acquaintance with the blues. Then they will be ready to join the human race.” Robert Bone
The Greatest Unknown Guitarist in the World dramatizes the PBS documentary of Roy Buchanan.
Son of a Preacher Man * In the Beginning * Country Preacher1 & 2 * The Story of Isaac * Wayfaring Pilgrim *
Country Boy * Roy’s Bluz * If 6 Was 9 * Black Messiah1 & 2 * Messiah Will Come Again * Thank You Lord *
“I get goose bumps and feel like there’s a spiritual presence there. Then I know I’ve done the right thing.” Roy Buchanan
“Roy was a God-given talent and God had to give it to him, because nobody could be that good.” Danny Denver
The 27 Club offers intercessory musical prayers for 9 musicians who died in their 27th year. Xroads1 & 2 & 3 * Riders * Break * Country * Harvest * Prayer1 & 2 * Shine1 & 2 * Fire1 & 2 & 3 & 4 * Haze & Hooray *
School & Church & House1 & 2 * Lady1 & 2 * Child1 & 2 * Depress1 & 2 & Rise * Rehab & Live / s * Spirit1 & 2 & 2b & 3 *
Come–as–UR * Rape1 & 2 & Batter * Sun–Beam * Lithium1 & 2 & All1 & 2 * Great or Love * Heaven1 & 2 *
“The modern artist, crucified between [degradation and spirituality], in turn is the prototype of modern Man.” Jocelyn Godwin
David Soothes Saul dramatizes a ghastly gig at the haunted house of a possessed politician. Sirens * Smith * Troubled *
“Christ’s cross was mystically exhibited in the wood and stretched strings of [David’s] harp, and thereby it was the very Passion
that was hymned and that overcame the spirit of [Saul].” Niceta of Remesiana “By playing his lyre David reestablishes
God’s presence, which means that he restores in Saul the state of inspired prophet.” Gilbert Rouget
“God…put [evil spirit] to flight from King Saul by the spiritual songs of his faithful servant David.” The Roman Ritual Of Exorcism
“About the mystical meaning of the harp, gut is stretched on a harp. On this instrument the flesh is crucified.” St. Augustine
“The cross taught all wood to resound His name. His stretched sinews taught all strings what key is best.…Since all music is
but three parts [a major chord]…let thy blessed Spirit play a part and make up our defects with his sweet art.” George Herbert
“In French manuscripts the harp took on the symbol of the Crucifixion. The double-edged symbolic nature of the harp –
lust and enlightenment – also extends to other instruments.” Robert Quist
“I heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord…the minor fall, the major lift.” Leonard Cohen
The Musical Exorcist modulates discordant melodies and jarring harmonies in accordance with laws of musical structure, conventions of tonal decorum, and principles of improvisational propriety.
Global Replay: From Blues to Bliss conjures and transfigures musical portraits. World1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 * New * Alabama *
Pa Ti * Bird * Vision1, 2, 3 * Queen1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6a , 6b, 6c, 7a , 7b, 7c * Dulcinea1 & 2 & 3 & 4 * Aldonza * Rox *
Madonna & Magdalene: a Musical Portrait of Two Marys
Leda * Ave * Mother1 & 2 * Child * Boy * Nativity * Hymn * Kissed * Mary * Tirzah * Strange * Alright * Don’t * 2nd *
6 Guitarristas surveys the lives and repertoires of Gaspar Sanz, Fernando Sor, Francisco Tarrega, and a few other Spaniards.
Sanz * Torija * Aranjuez * Spain *
Unplugged Zep is a global guitar trek from Frisco, California to the Black Mountainside of Kashmir
and the Atlas Mountains of Morrocco, from Iceland and Nunavut to the Gates of Heaven.
From California sunlight to sweet Calcutta rain and Honolulu starbright the song remains the same.
Viva Tarrega is a journey into the life and music of revolutionary guitarist Francisco Tarrega. Through his compositions, transcriptions, and performances Tarrega brought the guitar from cafes to concert halls.
Nokia Tune * Music Box * Lagrima * Marietta * Prelude in E * Sueno * Alhambra * Capricho Arabe *
Bardic Blake: a Romantic Rhapsode Like ancient bards and rhapsodes English poet William Blake sang his visionary verses.
Though his melodies were lost to posterity I recreate the bardic Blake with musical settings of his lyrics.
Golden Cage * Jerusalem * World in a Grain of Sand *
Romantic Muse explores inspiration in musical settings of poems of Wordsworth and Coleridge.
Leaping Heart * Dancing Heart * Singer * Lucy Gray * Gymnopedie * Lucy’s Grave * Corals *
Baroque Muse explores inspiration in musical settings of Baroque poems. Diapason * Nativity * Hymn * Troubled *
Seasons in Song is a musical celebration of the seasonal cycle as an analogy of the rhythms of human life.
Human Seasons * Rain Music * Autumn * Do Not Go Gentle * World, Life, & Time *
GLOBAL GUITAR TREKS
Around the World in 40 Songs crosses six continents on as many strings.
One Hand Tapping * Dark Eyes * Land * Kashmir * Czardas * Hava * Polskie * Rhap * Lomond * Londonderry * Paris *
Wimoweh * Condor * Barrios Vals * Maya Danza * CubaDia * Peanut Vendor * Scherzo * Freedom * Wonder * Teach *
“Godbout takes you on a tour of world songs from fluttering Japanese ballads, East Indian airs (he modifies his guitar
with tin foil to simulate a sitar buzz), Russian gypsy songs, and Scottish folk tunes. Settle down for some captivatingly skilled
acoustic guitar work [as] he scrapes, slaps, and flicks the strings with dizzying speed, and the styles blend together seamlessly.
Godbout sees the wonder and harmony in the world and he plays guitar like a Buddhist god.” Fast Forward Weekly, Calgary
TransCanada ‘69: a Musical Trip to a Magical Time
TransCanada ’69 * Suzanne * God is Alive * Freedom * Lightfoot * North * Woodstock * Mile Zero * Love *
“It’s easy to get lost in the beauty of Godbout’s virtuosic classical / jazz guitar playing, as he reinterprets
songs by Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Oscar Peterson, Lenny Breau, and Neil Young.
A loving homage to homegrown talent and a way to hear the past with fresh ears.” Georgia Straight, Vancouver
“Sink into the spell woven by Godbout’s technical prowess and emotional intensity.
Relish the songs of hope and change that still echo so poignantly today.” Vue Weekly, Edmonton
“Godbout produces an entire rhythm section from a single six-stringed instrument. You’ll spend the hour
listening to gorgeous, jazz-infused renderings of Canada’s musical landscape.” Winnipeg Free Press
“Godbout is a brilliant guitarist and musical interpreter. In his hands the guitar becomes a whole
rhythm section. His interpretation of works by Leonard Cohen, Sylvia Tyson and Neil Young
were nuanced and beautiful.” The Gate, Toronto
Route 66: a Musical Quest for the American Dream winds from Chicago beyond Pat Metheny’s Missouri sky
to Bruce Springsteen’s ode to migrant Okies, Ottmar Liebert’s New Mexican nuevo flamenco, and a California surfari.
66 * Metheny’s Missouri * Travelin’ * Land * Joad * Dust * Liebert’s Santa Fe * Me & B / Hotel * Surfari *
“A pleasing hour spent with virtuoso Colin Godbout on a musical tour across the U.S. heartland.” Winnipeg Free Press
“Godbout is a stellar guitarist and the show is a pleasant, laid-back musical journey.” Uptown Magazine, Winnipeg
“Godbout leads listeners to another world with his music. Audiences have only to sit back and relax alongside him,
as he does all the driving with his guitar. Godbout’s fingers make the guitar sparkle with emotion. He mixes jazz, country, surf,
and blues with a unique flair that not many can do, or even much less imitate.” Nexus Newspaper, Victoria
Highway 61: the Place the Music Died
Blue 61 * 6 Strings * Pie * Map * Quay * Levee * Graceland * Elvis * Hank * Baloney * MLK * Pride * Southern *
Fruit * KKK * Faubus * Xroads * Cut * Move * Serve * Sun * Ding * B. Goode * Mary * Home * Freebird * Rider * 61 *
Gotta cruise the blue highway 61 to meet the blues martyrs in a song:
Six Strings Down to the House of the Rising Sun, gonna cruise the blue highway 61.
Amid Wisconsin’s valley where Stevie Ray did ride and Iowa’s field where the music died,
By the Mississippi where Buckley’s time had come, gonna cruise the blue highway 61.
Down to Clarksdale crossroads where Johnson sold his soul near the rocky road where Bessie lost control,
To the blue bayou of Skynyrd’s setting sun, gonna cruise the blue highway 61.
Global Visions conjures paradisal portraits expressed with various musical genres.
Hillbilly * Canaan * Honky Tonk * Rock ‘n’ Roll * 6 Strings Down * Somewhere * Vision * Saints *
Global Psalms explores various forms of musical prayers. “He who sings prays twice.” Augustine of Hippo
“He prayeth best, who loveth best, all things great and small; for the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all.” Coleridge
Afro-American: Father * Still * DMX * Lord * Pray * FofF * Sun * Sin * Need * Help * Cry * ThankU * Talk *
Anglo-American: OMG * Oh * Watcher * Dying * Mom * E&I * MB * Graca * Praise * Spirit * Light * Great * Thank * Prayer *
All-American: Follow * Joy * Asian: U * Devotion * Canadian: Rich * Scared * Maker * Sire * Will * Jah * Fire * Bell1 & 2 * Pray *
European: Oboe * Culpa * Mass1 & 2 * Meditato * Latin American: Dawn * Gloria * Cry * Anew * Middle Eastern: Shalom *
“I close my eyes and pray.” Justin Bieber “All we can do is play and pray.” “I pray in my way.” Miles Davis
“Good blues stringing, heaven-fine singing, Jesus, Mary and Joseph been listening to your playing.” Jimmy Vaughn
“An attempt to say ‘thank you God’ through our work, even as we do in our hearts and with our tongues.” John Coltrane
“Before each and every concert I pray, minimum half an hour, that the concert would be good.” U Srinivas
“It may not be the right way to pray, but I want to thank you anyway. Thank you Lord.” Roy Buchanan
“When I play I’m playing for the people, but I’m really playing for God, because he gave me this gift.” Lenny Breau
“As the sayings used in a nation mark its character,” (William Blake) so its sacred songs show the nature of its faith.
“I was beside God. I was his delight day by day, playing before him every moment.” Wisdom, Prov. 8:30
“Be filled with the Spirit, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” St. Paul, Eph. 5:18-19
Racial Harmony contrasts negative musical stereotypes with the harmonic norm of the major chord, a birthright of all races.
Minor: Back * Paint * Crow * Ma * Ebony * Vision * Afr1 * Afr2 * Afr3 * Afro * Orfeo * Narci * Apache * Cheroki * Indian *
Metis1 & 2 * Under * Ice * Nerd * Proud * KJV * Save * Rally * Darker * Star * Space * Liberia * Beauty * Sakura *
7th (Blues): Dignity * Proud2 * Respect * Funky * Lost * Blue * Kill * Helter * Revo * Hendrix Chord: Mort * 4 * Train * Hold *
Testify * Foxy * Free * Vudu * Tax * Break * Lady Day * Time * Bells * Birdland * Time * Boogy * Kid * Funk * Cold * Leader *
Major / Minor: Zara * B&T * Ebony2 * Revision * Changes * Chet (15:00) * Pain *
Major: Cheroki2 * Young * Bird * Buffalo * Angel * Blanc * Pale * Teach * Sing * Betel * Afir * Banner * Echoes * Oh C *
Black & White: Ali1 & 2 & 3 & 4 * Malcolm X * Farrakhan * Burdens: White * Black1 & 2 & 3 & 4 * Brown * Eric * Rosetta *
“Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain, May be refin’d, and join th’angelic train.” Phillis Wheatley
“I am black, but oh, my soul is white.” William Blake “I’m white inside.…my only sin is in my skin.” Fats Waller
“[Is] the color of his skin the color of his soul?” Yardbirds “I’m not black, but…I wish I could say I’m not white.” Frank Zappa
“I’m black and beautiful.” Martin Luther King “In [the U.S.A.] you were to think white people were gods.” Stokely Carmichael
“They’ve pushed the white race up…at the expense of black, brown, red, and yellow.” Louis Farrakhan
“I’m a white girl. I’m just the surface of our dark deep well.” Sinead O’Connor “I and I are the roots.” Bob Marley
“They said I tried to bleach my skin….I know my race; I just look in the mirror – I know I’m black.” Michael Jackson (5:30)
“John liked to draw an analogy between mankind and his horn, explaining that one group might represent the upper
register, another the midrange, and yet another the deeper notes, but that it took all to make the whole.” Alice Coltrane
“Everywhere in the universe you see hierarchy.” “The Bible says the disciples turned the world upside-down.” Sun Ra
“White is a liability, since the culture of white precludes the possession of the Negro ‘soul.‘” LeRoi Jones
“There’s a little black spot on the sun today; that’s my soul up there.” Sting “My heart is black.” Crucified Barbara
“Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony on my piano keyboard…oh Lord, why don’t we?” Paul McCartney
“The entrance of a minor third instead of a major at once and inevitably forces upon us an anxious painful feeling.” Rameau
“When the minor third is played one feels pain in the soul, but the major third announces the soul’s victory.” Rudolph Steiner
“Perhaps my main fault is that I have a natural feeling for the minor. I’d like to do more things in the major.” John Coltrane
“The white’s mind seeks to castrate the black’s music and write it off in the form of European-based criticism and control
– white control…And for that, along with your ideals and artifacts from ancient history, you must die.” Charles Moore to Don Ellis
“I have met black guys…who thought all whites were devils, and I have met people trained to hate blacks, people who turned
away from their hatred by my ministry from Jesus….God told me to teach that all the races are His bouquet.” Little Richard
“I saw an innumerable crowd from every nation…wearing white robes and holding palm branches.” St. John, Rev. 7:9
Judge no one by the color of their skin, but by the brightness of the soul within; its tripartite harmony reflects the Holy Trinity.
Gypsy Diaspora traces the music of Roma migrations westward from India.
Roma Raga * Dark Eyes * Czardas * #5 * Zamfir * Zawinul * Django: Improv * Echo * Parfum * New Man *
Reyes * Bulerias * Rumba * Gypsy Church * Anglo-American Gypsies: Lane * Taylor * Jones * Bunyan * Presley *
Music on the Orient Express: a Melodic Whodunit ventures from Paris to Istanbul in search of the greatest melody.
Pink * Clair * Flaxen * Pavane & Bolero * 5th * Brahms * Chopin * Wolfy * Danube1 * Danube2 * la Turca *
“Godbout plays astoundingly adept arrangements of European composers’ works on guitar.” Avenue Magazine, Calgary
“Godbout plays the coolest version of Strauss’ Blue Danube that I’ve ever heard.” Fast Forward Weekly, Calgary
“When the melodies flow into the aether even the angels in heaven may take notice.” B Channel News, Victoria
Islam
This performance is void of music; it’s haram/forbidden by allah/the god. What god? You know, the god.
Mediterranean Guitar Trek samples music from North Africa to the Middle East and Southern Europe.
Tunisia * Afro * Africanarios * Arabia * Danzarabia * Danza Mora * Blue Rondo * Zorba * Paradiso * Tango * Sundance *
Brazilian Ecomusical is a musical travelogue of my ecotour of Brazil as well as the first ever ecomusical.
Berimbau * Felicidade * Passarim * Aviao * Aviao2 * Orfeo * Stone * Rainbow * G’s Oboe * Iguazu * Bells * Green *
Fair Trade Tunes? exposes the origins of songs composed unjustly. Is it fair when good bands borrow and great singers steal?
You be the judge! New? * Rutles & Fine Step * Air & Pale * Chopin & Tristeza * Chopin & Jobim * Brahms & Santana *
Beethoven & Bernstein * Sin & Down * Pavan & Lamp * Frere & Mahler * Mbube & Lion * Caballo & Bamboleo * Condor *
Llambada * Five & Alright & Do * Unsquare & Temple * Woodstock & Quarter * Fair & Summer * Stairway & Grow *
Albatross & Let & Sun * Emily & Here * Pipe & Riders & Billie * Yesterday & Arabe * Ida & Maybellene * Monkey & Homesick *
George & Whitey1 & 2 & Moon * Be & Cry * Ex & Ex2 * Sloop & Cowboy * Anji & Day * People & Waiting * Sole & Now * Trill *
Israfel * Khan * Sire & Watcher * Volvere & Europa * Tues@2:00 & B & W * Mau & Love * Tunji & Dream * Taj & Sexy *
Jerusalem & Lamb * Slavery & One * 6 was 9 & Come * Loves & Dancing * Sun & Gun & Gadda * Mind & Love *
Click & Hop * Pedal & Doom * Kiyakiya & Selam Nna Wadada * 3 for the Festival & So Flute * Boogie Stop & Spiderman * Space & Woo Hah * In the Garden & Were You There * Sleepwalk & Albatross & Free * Do You Feel & Telegraph Rd. * Generation & Vibrations * One Note * #1 * Show Me & Phase Dance * Hoochie Koo & Lay it on the Line * Grace & Streets *
Global Rhythms from Raga to Rumba explores dances from around the world.
Sail on the strings of my global guitar move to the rhythm of islands afar over the ocean and under a star
Sail on my strings and go down the Mississippi up the Amazon over the Atlantic to Saharan sand
By the Nile basin where the silk road ran past Pacific water to the land of the rising sun
Taiko * Suki * Sayo * Indian: Lady Raga * Turkish: Dervish * Norveg * Polish: Mazurka * Viennese: Waltz * German: Polka *
French: Tambourin * Pavane & Bolero * Passacaglia * Gavotte * Rumba * Italian: Ballet * Spanish: Espanoleta * Folias * Galliard
Rujero * Tientos * Farruca * Rondenas * Granadinas * Fandango * British: Jig * Reel * African: Canarios * Brazilian: Samba *
Bossa Nova * Choros * Bolivian: Lambada * Argentine: Tango * Martinique: Beguine * Jamaican: Reggae * Reggae2 *
Trinidadian: Calypso * Cuban: Habanera * Son * Salsa * Mambo * Mexican: Hat Dance * American: Boogie * Swing * Disco *
Organic Music cultivates a garden of tonal organisms from a single note.
Raga * Solea * Alegrias * Blues * Rhythm Changes * Prelude * Fantasia * Fantasia2 * Theme & Variations *
T&V2 * T&V3 * T&V4 * Canon * Fugue * Fugue2 * Fugue3 * Sonata * Sonata2 *
Sonic Chakras: 7 Steps 2 Inner Harmony is a musical journey through human energy centers. *
Roots Rock Raga * Sacral Raga * Solar Plexus Soleares * Heartbeatle * Throat * 3rd Eye * Corona *
Elemental Journey is a musical evocation of earth, water, air, and fire.
Earth: Feilds of Gold * Nothing Gold Can Stay * Morning Dew * Paved * Woodstock *
Water: Rain Music * Agua * Double Rainbow * Over * Air: Birds * Clouds * Sky * Wind * Fire: Icarus * Light *
Songs from Poets’ Corner features musical settings of verse by poets commemorated in London’s Westminster Abbey.
Poet’s Eye * Diapason * Bard * Leaping Heart * Dancing Heart * Kubla * Margaret * Ungentle * World, Life, & Time *
Beyond Paris Skies: Songs from the City of Light
Paris * April * Rose * Sea * Castle * Nuages * Swing * Django * Theme * Bleu * Windmills *Rest * Leaves *
Summer / Spring * Between * Vals64 * Vals69 * Nocturne * Etude * Pavan * Gymnopedie * Meditation * Ave * Panis * Bells *
Songs from the Lincoln Highway NYS * Autumn * Dolphin * Lullaby * Scrap * Bird * Valdez * Affirmation * Chelsea *
Woodstock * Amelia * Floe * EC * Simple * New * Jersey * Indiana * Nebraska * Rocky *Aspen * Wyoming * Sunshine *
Flora * Europa * Pa Ti * Rainbow * Vibrations * Bay Bluz * Bay Bluz2 * SF * Cal * Shine *