Schedule / Past Festivals

Bill Frisell (guitar), Kenny Wollesen (drums) & Tony Scher (bass)

The world premiere of new Bill Frisell film scores commissioned by the New York Guitar Festival®. The scores will accompany five early films by Georges Méliès, including "A Trip to the Moon" (1902) and "The Impossible Voyage" (1904).

Featured in the acclaimed “Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony”, Vusi
Mahlasela is South Africa's leading political songwriter. At a young age
Vusi was exposed to the music of local legends Miriam Makeba and Hugh
Masekela. Vusi participated in ANC rallies where he would recite poetry,
sing and perform with the guitar South African writer and Nobel-prize winner

Featuring Vernon Reid, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Steve Bernstein's Sex Mob with Dave Tronzo, and the Joel Harrison Ensemble (including acclaimed saxophonist Dave Liebman, accordionist Tony Cedras, bassist Stephan Crump,percussionist Jamey Haddad, and vocalist Raz Kennedy

With Leo Kottke, Cindy Cashdollar, Artie Traum and Elliott Sharp.

John Fahey (1939-2001), was one of acoustic music's influential innovators and eccentrics, and as host John Schaefer notes, Fahey "was an icon to many American guitarists--he put the sound of roots-based American music on the map 25 years before the 'O Brother Where Art Thou' soundtrack became a surprise hit."

featuring Andy Summers, Victor Biglione and Benjamin Verdery.

Featuring Jorma Kaukonen, The Persuasions and Tony Trischka.

The Long Strange Wide World of Jerry Garcia:  Though he was quite possibly the brightest and most philosophically articulate interviewee of his era in popular music, Jerry Garcia was not the guru that the media canonized in his name.

A tribute to the man who almost single-handedly defined the classical guitar in the 20th Century, Andres Segovia.  The California Guitar Trio extend the role and the repertoire of the acoustic guitar by mixing Bach and Beethoven with the Ventures and their own original music.

featuring John Renbourn, Toshi Reagon and Gary Lucas

Hardly a guitarist alive is not indebted in some way to Robert Johnson, the most important and influential Delta blues guitarist in history.

Hedges, an extraordinary musician named by Guitar Player magazine as one of the "25 Guitarists Who Shook the World" blended elements of jazz, folk, classical and other styles into a hybrid he applied such tongue-in-cheek labels as "violent acoustic," "heavy mental," and "acoustic thrash."  Paying tribute to the genius of this American original, who died in an car crash in 1997, are three former

This program explores the legacy of legendary rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix, featuring a trio of progressive guitarists: jazz/experimental guitarist David Torn, classical guitarist/composer Benjamin Verdery and rock guitarist Vernon Reid (of Living Colour, and the Black Rock Coalition).

Pages