Schedule

The New York Guitar Festival’s 25th Anniversary begins with a typically eclectic event.  The duo of Marc Ribot, the New York guitarist, and Leyla McCalla, the New Orleans cellist and banjo player, may seem unlikely at first.  Ribot is known for his work with Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, his own avant-noise trio Ceramic Dog, and much more; McCalla writes songs that draw on the African-American string band tradition, Cajun music, and her own Haitian heritage.  But Ribot was also a student of the Haitian classical guitarist/composer Frantz Casseus, and the two musicians share a strong genre-agnostic streak.  Joining them on this first of two nights celebrating a quarter century of the NYGF is Yasmin Williams.  She has extended the “tapping” technique into a whole new way of approaching the guitar, and occasionally adds tap shoes and kalimba to the sound, becoming a literal one-woman band.  And the NYGF has long presented related instruments from around the world; for this event, it’s sitarist Neel Murgai, co-director of the globally-inspired Brooklyn Raga Massive, accompanied by Jeff The Brotherhood guitarist Kunal Prakash.

Hosted by WNYC's  John Schaefer, and co-presented with World Music Institute.

Marc Ribot has released over two dozen records on his own, ranging from Cuban dance music to free jazz, Haitian classical guitar to political avant-folk.  His playing – elegant, edgy, and sometimes, somehow, both at once – has made him the go-to guitarist for artists like Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Tom Waits, Laurie Anderson, McCoy Tyner, and so many others.  He has been a regular part of the NYGF over the years. 

Leyla McCalla was the cellist in the Grammy-winning string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, before moving on to writing her own songs.  She is a member of Our Native Daughters, a quartet of Black women who all play the banjo (and other instruments), and has recorded four albums on which she also plays guitar.  Her new record, Sun Without The Heat, came out in April. 

Yasmin Williams has floored audiences wherever she’s gone – and at this point, the NYGF and New Sounds Live fixture has gone all over.  It isn’t just the way she plays – often laying the instrument in her lap and raining fingers down on the strings from above; it’s the rhythmic intricacy and strong melodic sense in her instrumental works that win over listeners.  

Neel Murgai was a guitarist; now, he is the sitarist, co-founder, and Artistic Director of Brooklyn Raga Massive.  He has studied that classical Indian lute with Krishna Bhatt, and like his mentor (who worked with Minimalist composer Terry Riley), Murgai has taken the instrument into unexpected sonic worlds.  With BRM and his own Neel Murgai Quartet, he creates music drawing on a wide variety of Western and South Asian styles. 

Kunal Prakash is the guitarist in the New Orleans rock band Silver Synthetic, a group signed to Jack White’s Third Man Records that honors the classic sounds of vintage rock: Lou Reed, Keith Richards, Jerry Garcia.  He has also played guitar for the alt-rock duo Jeff the Brotherhood.