Imagine Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page in the same band, at the same time. How many minutes might it last before it all disintegrated in a monumental clash of egos?
That’s basically what we’ve got on our hands with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. One of the “must-see” attractions at the forthcoming Waltons Guitar Festival will be the Irish debut of the quartet, a group of extraordinarily-talented musicians who've been together for nearly three decades.
We’re used to string quartets in the classical field, but four guitarists and four egos – how different is that? Bill, an acclaimed soloist and recording artist himself insists warring egos aren’t a problem.
“With the LAGQ, it’s more democratic. In a classical string quartet you literally have somebody playing second fiddle. One of our strengths is that any one of us can be the lead melody player and we exploit that strength. We can pass melodies around from player to player, and that creates a musical fluidity that is not only very stimulating for us musicians, but we hope it’s also stimulating for the audience as well.”
The LAGQ have so far resisted the temptation to either use electric instruments or to augment the line-up with a rhythm section.
“In the quartet we only use standard classical style nylon guitars,” says Bill. “That deliberate restriction can be a challenge to us to see how far we can push the format. We have used the guitar body to add a percussive effect, and one of us might use a plectrum for effect too, but those instances are rare. Also, I’m not an electric guitar player. But we have on special occasions augmented our line-up with a Brazilian percussion, a flute player and we’ve even had singers with us.”
The quartet’s performance at Dublin's National Concert Hall will have a Celtic element to add to its regular blend of classical, flamenco and Brazilian guitar styles.
“The first half will consist of classical pieces. Then we’ll have a Brazilian section and we’ll end with some Celtic pieces, including a reel. They’ve been either written or arranged by our member Scott Tennant who’s of Scottish descent.”
And we have member Bill Kanengiser’s 11-year-old daughter to thank for them coming to Ireland at all. As he explains, “She has an avid interest in just about everything to do with Ireland, so we thought we’d plan a family holiday there for her. Then we thought we could work a tour around the visit.”
As a college professor, Bill has views about the most common mistakes made by young guitarists.
“Musicians sometimes forget the reason they took up the instrument in the first place. It can get lost in the struggle for technical excellence and the player can become too mechanical and all the life goes out of the actual music. A musician has to remain aware of the desire to express something and that love of the actual music and what it communicates.”
I ask Bill for his reflections on the fact that while the guitar is the dominant instrument in rock, folk, pop and blues, it generally takes a back seat in classical music.
“I don’t think it matters. You can’t knock the rock guitar off its supreme pedestal. For me, I believe it’s better as a classical guitarist to embrace all the possibilities of the acoustic instrument. But then the guitar is universal, and arguably the best crossover instrument of them all.”