On Tuesday, January 13, 2004, at 8:00 p.m., classical guitarst Brad Richter (http://www.bradrichter-guitar.com) played an excellent concert at the Unitarian Center in Ashland's railroad district. The sanctuary in the Unitarian Center has wonderful acoustics and a very open environment. About 50 people attended, and at least half were members of the guitar society or attendees of past meetings.

After some cursory comments about the society and the guitarist, I brought Brad out. Because of the large size of the venue and the relatively low stage, Brad sat on a special seat of Joe Thompson's design and fabrication, which set him up another foot off the ground. Brad commented that he felt like he was about to get a haircut in the chair.

At the beginning and throughout the concert, Brad was very good at connecting with the audience through anecdotes and background stories about his pieces. For the most part, he performed his own compositions from his latest CD "A Whisper in the Desert", and they were very well received by the audience.

The first piece was "Dance of the Harvest Fires." It was inspired by moments as a youth in Oklahoma watching the controlled crop fires. Brad told the story of when he introduced the song to an audience in Germany last summer. (Brad is conversant in German.) He got a lot of puzzled looks. It turns out that the German word for harvest (Ernte) is very similar to the word for duck (Ente), and many audience members were curious why he would write a song about a dancing, flaming duck.

As soon as Brad starting playing, it was obvious that he is a composer and guitarist of great skill. The first piece was simultaneously nostalgic and ominous. In it and throughout the rest of the evening, Brad made use of his considerable control of tone color and sense of rhythm. As a matter of fact, he characterizes himself as more of a rhythmic composer, and his pieces were richly layered in different rhythms. His pieces are simultaneously modern and accessible. Being highly musically educated, he shows a strong understanding of musical structure, yet he is also very good at writing memorable themes.

The next group of pieces was the "Whisper in the Desert" suite, including "Jumping Cholla" about the desert cactus found around Tucson, one that attaches itself onto passersby and then burrows in painfully; "Something Softly Out of the Silence", inspired by the sound the wind made through the string segments above the nut of the guitar when Brad was composing outdoors, where he draws much inspiration; "Gila Monster", imitating the push-up motion of the large desert lizard; and "Starry Night on the Beach with Federales", an account of an evening spent near the Sea of Cortes in which he was rousted out of his tent by a group of young Federal soldiers with machine guns. Each song was very evocative of the subject. For example, in "Something Softly", Brad often caressed the aforementioned string segments to get the desired effect.

The next group of songs was very strong and engrossing, under the collective title "Three Little Nightmares." The first, "Clock Strikes Midnight" was prepared with matchsticks, the first interlaced between the 4th through 6th strings about a palm's width from the bridge, and the second interlaced between the 1st and 3rd strings around the third fret. This was intended to give the sound of an old grandfather clock striking midnight, and the piece represented the "thoughts" of the clock as it chimed on Halloween. The second nightmare was "Stepping on a Spider", inspired by a near-miss with and subsequent chasing of a black spider, leading to its ultimate and abrupt fate. You could just hear the little beastie scurrying across the floor. The third nightmare was "I Felt a Funeral in My Brain", inspired by a line by Emily Dickenson. For this piece the guitar was prepared with a clothespin, I believe hanging from the 6th string between the right hand and the bridge. Brad started by bouncing it off the strings initially, and then let it bounce naturally off the strings when the lower ones were struck, producing an eerie, echoing gong-like sound. Very effective, especially set against some of the higher, rolled chords he was playing, producing a mysterious sound.

Brad ended the first set with his setting of "Hard Times Come No More" by the Civil War-era composer Stephen Foster. The arrangement was lilting and sad but still uplifting at times. Brad told Joe and me later that he became less interested in Foster when he found out that many of his songs were very racist, such as "Camptown Ladies."

After intermission, Brad broke from his original compositions and played an arrangement of Asturias by Albeniz. (Brad stayed at my house the day before and told me that he learned it a long time ago, then it was modified by one of his teachers, and he's been modifying it over time as well.) After a false start due to being distracted by the mint he still had in his mouth, Brad began again, and played a lovely rendition of the old favorite. He later thanked the audience for being so accepting of his mistake.

After that, he played two pieces by the contemporary Cuban composer, Leo Brouwer: "Lullaby" and "Danza Característica" (subtitled "Quitate de la Acera" or "Get off the Sidewalk", likely from some of the more aggressive-sounding parts.) Brad showed an affinity for Brouwer's style by playing the pieces convincingly and evocatively.

Brad then returned to his own compositions with "Four Native Tales" from the latest CD. Each piece represented stories from various native peoples such as the Cherokee (with whom Brad shares some heritage) and the Comanchee. The pieces were "How the Sun Came", "The Waters Beneath" (using a technique of Brad's invention, a 32nd note rasgueo with the thumb playing on each half note, very tricky), "How Death Came" (very rhythmic with lots of tambora and tapping by both hands), and "The Unpromising Hero" about an ugly boy who redeems himself by frightening a marauding bear.

For his last piece of the set, Brad played "Elation", one of the eight preludes written for his masters dissertation. By his account, all the others are rather sad and depressing. Elation includes a lot of acoustic pyrotechnics, fast playing, simultaneous percussive effects and a very driving tempo. It is the first cut on the CD and makes for an impressive intro or finish.

As Brad left, the audience showed its appreciation by elevating the applause, and Brad graciously returned to the stage. He announced that he would be playing an unusual encore piece, part 1 of a suite he is writing about Chicago, where he used to live and go to music school. The piece is a collaboration with a photographer who in the past shot photos inspired by Brad's music. Brad felt a desire to return the favor by writing music inspired by photos of the city. The two are creating a multi-media presentation of music and images with tight syncronization, which will be very demanding on both the guitarist and the operator of the slide show. The piece was slower but rich, at times moving into jazzier harmonies. And we got to hear it first!

During intermission and after the show, Brad's CDs and sheet music were available for sale. Since many guitarists were present, it turns out that much of his sheet music was purchased, which delighted Brad. Many of his CDs also sold. The back of the CD has a double exposed shot of Brad playing, which shows his hands in different positions. As one attendee commented, "Now I know how he does it ... he has two left hands!"

Brad truly enjoyed the concert and master class he gave the next day, as well as staying in Ashland. (It was his first time in Oregon ever.) He said the audience was very easy to play for. Both he and the people who met him hoped that he would come back some day to play again, hopefully to many more people who will learn of his great talent and skill.

View concert poster

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