Masters of the Guitar at CLC

It would be a great night of entertainment to listen to a guitar virtuoso demonstrate his considerable skills. But to hear two virtuosos in one evening? That’s truly incredible, and what audiences can expect when the Central Lakes Community Performing Arts Center presents Laurence Juber and Martin Taylor under the title ‘Masters of the Guitar.’ The masters hit the Chalberg Theatre stage at 7:30 p.m. on February 1.

Center director Patrick Spradlin says of the two musicians, “They will absolutely astound you. We presented them about four years ago, and all I heard from the audience members there was, ‘How did you ever get these two to come to Brainerd?’”

Individually, the Masters of the Guitar have amazing professional biographies. Laurence Juber is a two-time Grammy Award winning musician who was first internationally recognized as lead guitarist in Beatle Paul McCartney’s band Wings. Juber has since established himself as world-renowned guitar virtuoso, composer and arranger and concert performer. Known to his fans as LJ, Juber has released 22 solo albums. ‘LJ Plays The Beatle’, is one of Acoustic Guitar Magazine’s all-time Top Ten albums. Juber’s solo arrangement of ‘The Pink Panther Theme’ earned him a second Grammy.

As a studio musician, he can be heard on recordings from artists as diverse as Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks, Seal and Barry Manilow, plus he is featured on the soundtracks to hundreds of TV shows such as ‘Home Improvement’ and movies including the academy award-winning ‘Dirty Dancing,’ ‘Good Will Hunting’ and ‘Pocahontas.’

Critical acclaim for Juber is vast. “Juber is a master of acoustic finger style… weaving in and out of musical thoughts faster than a Formula One racer.” – San Diego Reader. “The notes spin out of the songs with such finesse and musical agility, it’s hard to believe he has only 10 fingers and six strings.”-San Francisco Chronicle. “A master!”- Pete Townshend of the Who.

 The other half of the Masters of the Guitar is himself every bit a virtuoso on the instrument as Juber.

Martin Taylor is a multi-award winning guitarist and Acoustic Guitar magazine calls him ‘THE Acoustic Guitarist of his Generation’. He dazzles audiences with his solo shows, which combine virtuosity, emotion, humor, and a strong stage presence while his inimitable style has seen him recognized as the world’s foremost exponent of solo jazz and fingerstyle guitar playing.

Taylor has invented and developed a way of playing the guitar that is admired, and often imitated, by guitarists all over the world. As well as his solo concerts and recordings, he has also collaborated with musicians from many different musical genre including Jeff Beck, Tommy Emmanuel, Bill Wyman, Chet Atkins, Stephane Grappelli, David Grisman, George Harrison, Jamie Cullum, Bryn Terfel, Dianne Schuur and Gary Burton.

Pat Matheny says of him, “Martin Taylor is one of the most awesome solo guitar players in the history of the instrument. He’s unbelievable.“ Jeff Beck proclaims of Taylor, ‘He out-shred’s all of us put together….I’ve never seen anything like it.” The late, great Chet Atkins said of him, “Martin Taylor is one of the greatest and most impressive guitar players in the world.”

Taylor has received a record 14 British Jazz Awards as a guitarist, and as a composer he was nominated for “Best Contemporary Song” in the BBC Folk Awards in 2009. April 2010 saw the launch of the uniquely innovative Martin Taylor Guitar Academy online. At the end of 2010 Martin performed at a special private dinner at Windsor Castle for Prince William on the eve of his engagement to Kate Middleton. With the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics in 2011, the BBC have made a performance of the suite by Martin Taylor and the Britten ‘Symphonia’ part of their 2011 Proms concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Jazz Times has called Taylor “Europe’s finest guitarist,” and the London Times proclaimed him “the finest British guitarist of his generation.”

Tickets for Masters of the Guitar are available from the CLC Theatre box office at (218) 855-8199 or online at www.clcperformingarts.com

The show is made possible in part by a touring artists grant from Arts Midwest, and is sponsored by Prairie Bay Grill and Catering. The season is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board operating grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.