Concert Review from the 2017 Edinburgh, Scotland “Festival Fringe” – Three Colours Guitar

Three Colours Guitar In Concert, 18 August 2017, St. Columba’s By The Castle 7.30 pm

“Three Colours Guitar’s exciting new music show blends jazz, classical and Celtic fingerstyle. Edinburgh Fringe veteran classical/percussive guitarist Declan Zapala joins forces this year with fellow guitarists John Wheatcroft (Gypsy jazz), and Matt Buchanan (Celtic fingerstyle) to bring you an exciting music show journeying through an eclectic range of styles and musical epochs. With music by Pat Metheny and Django Reinhardt, as well as original music by members of TGC, this is a show for all music lovers. ***** (ThreeWeeks). ***** (EdinburghGuide.com). ***** (Guitar Techniques) – Festival Fringe Promotion

Review *****Stars

From the very start of this concert it was apparent that some intriguing musical episodes were going to take place. The concert promoted as Three Colours Guitar did not disappoint featured a good sized audience, some of whom were returning fans of the artists. The three musically distinctively performers whose flair for the instrument shined handsomely during a night of original compositions, blended and ‘bended’ genres and several tributes to composers and practitioners of works for the western guitar.

Zapala, Wheatcroft and Buchanan are to be commended for their mastery of their instruments not to mention their gift of showcasing the ‘face’ of the guitar in just three of the many, many styles the guitar has been adapted to around the world.

This was a program that danced on the edges of traditionalism, futurism, and traditionalism as well as modernity’s growing fascination with experimentalism in instrumental music.

Rather than offering citations on each artist’s solo segments during the concert, let me simple affirm that this was a fascinating hour of music that illumined just a few of the moods and timbre the guitar might be employed at in the art of music-making. This concert was filled with sounds that moved between varied musical worlds where pastoral, inventive and adaptive musical textures found common ground.

As with many of the concert, distributed program notes would have benefitted a most attentive audience. Unique among my Festival Fringe performances, I spent several hours after the concert relieving what I had experienced. Of course I can’t wait to air their individual CD recordings on Higher Ground.