Friday, September 20, 2013

Another concert, Oregon Guitar Quartet


                                          All photos courtesy William H. White

Another extraordinarily wonderful concert on the water – where everything seems to sound more resonant. This time neighbors Diana and Tim Larson hosted the Oregon Guitar Quartet, made up of David Franzen, John Mery, Jesse McCann (their son-in-law) and Bryan Johnson. All four are classical guitarists who teach at Portland State University and they performed nine songs from an imaginary world tour. Bryan arranged these traditional pieces from Japan, Java, China, Russia, Greece, Catalonia, Zimbabwe, Argentina and Mexico. The music and the musicians all were fabulous. For one piece, Bryan played his own unique instrument, a neck-less guitar outfitted with an egg-slicer. If I recall, it was to give the Java piece the sound of the gamelan, an instument which I heard and loved in Bali. They will be releasing a new CD in October and will perform October 25th at 7:30 at Lincoln Hall at PSU. Check them out at www.oregonguitarquartet.com