SCHENECTADY -- On a frosty Tuesday night, a trio of serious acoustic guitarists brought some fancy fingering and some fun to a full house of guitar fans at the Van Dyck.Guitarists Hideyo Moriya, Bert Lams and Paul Richards met while attending King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp's guitar seminars in England in 1987.
They then toured as part of Fripp's League of Crafty Guitarists, until deciding in 1990 to form their own unit, and you can often find them touring with Fripp colleagues Tony Levin on bass and Pat Mastelotto on drums. At the Van Dyck, the three members of the California Guitar Trio were dressed in black, wearing matching Martin guitars and, without a word, they opened with the sparkling "Skyline." With instrumental guitar music, there is a great risk of redundancy, as there is at this time little new ground to break or genres to invade. Hard to actually pin down to one specific genre, CGT manages to transcend category and moves forward into uncharted lands merely by way of their free-form approach to traditionally restrictive music. In fact, you could say their frequent improvisational excursions were their calling card. None of the three emerged as a leader, all contributing equally -- that in itself was quite an accomplishment.
They all had various guitar effects on hand -- Richards used an Ebow more than once to great effect -- but all were used in an unobtrusive manner. "Zundoko-Bushi" was a 100-year-old Japanese folk song injected with quotes from King Crimson, while "Whitewater" had a turbulent theme and wacky harmonies. But beyond the brilliant musicianship, the best part was that you just never knew what was next. In what may be the ultimate segue, a serious but not stuffy reading of Beethoven's "Ninth" fell right into lighthearted surf music gem "Pipeline."And you never knew who would be next.
Frequent collaborator Tony Levin just happened to drop by, following his own stunning performance of two weeks ago, to lend a hand for five pieces. His fretless bass spiced up an anxious "Melrose Ave.," an ominous "Punti Patri" and the complex "Blockhead." Soon, the surf was up again with "Miserlou," followed by "Train to Lamy."The crowd was simply enraptured by the three stringsmiths, and with the encores of the wicked "Walk Don't Run" and the gorgeous "Eve" echoing around the wooden beams of the Van Dyck, the generous 80 minute set had the crowd feeling satiated with six-string music while at the same time wanting more.