Guitars are bygone relics with no place at the cutting edge of 21st century music. The specious theory draws me like a moth to a flame. It serves me right, consequently, that the sounds of guitars constitute a big chunk of the music I’ve most loved during the past six months.
The jazz guitarists Steve Cardenas and Rod Fleeman released two of my favorite albums by Kansas City artists this year. Performances by regional post-jazz guitarists Shante Clair, Seth Davis and David Lord delighted me in recent months.
I’m still surprised by my decision to catch Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett’s impressive concert in April. And two nights ago I was awed by the skronky shredding of a young guitarist with the Chicago trio Galaxxu at Charlotte Street Foundation.
As rendered by guitarists Daniel Lippel and Mak Grgic, the title suite and “Pacific Coast Highway” on Point/Cloud, the latest album by the New York composer David Crowell, contain elements of each of the styles employed by the musicians mentioned above.
Crowell’s use of jazz intonations, intimations of prog-rock and abrasive repetition verify the pertinence of guitars in 2024. Even so, the guitar-free tracks featuring Sandbox Percussion and Iva Casian-Lakos are even more interesting. On second thought, maybe guitars are, in fact, of no account.