By Bob McKillop

These days, great music is all around us and available to us instantly; all we need to do is click a link on a webpage, and we can listen to virtuosity on demand – it’s easy to get a little blasé about it.  That’s why it’s so important to experience live music first hand.  Only in a live setting can one fully appreciate the incredible accomplishment of a musician in the middle of an inspired performance.

The Ameranouche Trio provided just such an inspired performance on January 24th, in Bucksport, Maine, at the Apollo Theatre.  To have been a part of that audience was to have witnessed incredible musicianship and passion for craft.  It’s not often that I find myself in a state of disbelief regarding what my ears, and my eyes, are presenting to my mind.

Below, the Ameranouche Trio at the Apollo Theatre (Over the Bridge Productions) in Bucksport

Photo by Tom Prescott

This trio consists of Richard Sheppard on lead acoustic guitar, Ryan Flaherty on (mainly) rhythm acoustic guitar, and Xar Adelberg on bass.  They perform a well-proportioned mix of standard covers and great original tunes in the gypsy jazz guitar tradition made famous by Django Reinhardt.  The fire and sparks come from Sheppard, whose fingers move with blinding speed across the fret board and the sound board of his guitar, producing perfectly-pitched, rapid-fire licks and runs up and down the neck.

The band kicked off the show with “Just One of Those Things” by Cole Porter, and the riffs and melodies coming off Sheppard’s guitar entertained the ear, through their brightness and joy; but also, Sheppard’s hands entertain the eye and the mind.  Watching him execute these notes on his instrument is truly a wonder to behold.

Ryan Flaherty is a great example a “supporting performer”.  In this sense, I don’t mean to suggest that his contribution is secondary to Sheppard’s;  Sheppard creates his amazing lead parts by riffing off the expertly maintained rhythms and changes in tempo that Flaherty lays down like a machine.  But Flaherty is a machine with a soul that is filled with romance and high spirits.   I watched his supple wrist drive his right hand into a blur, as he strummed the complex backing guitar part, and changed tempo mid-bar, and he did it as easily as if he were merely breathing.

Xar Adelberg is a young woman with a double bass who stands in the background between these two firebrand guitarists, out of the limelight. The primary role that the lead and rhythm guitar parts play in this type of gypsy jazz music leads one to assume that a supporting instrumentalist such as a bassist would be merely trying to keep up.  This is not the role that Xar has taken on in this trio.  Her lyrical bass lines appear assertively in the mix, as they should, and stitch the lead and rhythm guitar parts together into whole cloth.  To watch her hands move expertly and nimbly across her instrument’s four large strings at such a rapid pace, is also to suspend belief in what a person can do with their body if they are driven to it by a passion for art.

These three astounding musicians are constantly watching each other as they play, but they do not focus on each other’s hands.  Instead, they are constantly locking onto each other’s eyes, for insight into plans for the next passage, the next riff.  It’s like a high-stakes game of poker, and each player has a royal straight flush.  They challenge each other and cajole each other, but ultimately, they support each other in creating amazing music.

Ameranouche continued their set with a Django Reinhardt tune, the title of which translates to “Song at Sunset”. This song was much less frantic, more romantic, and showcased more subtlety and finesse on the part of both guitarists.  There was lots of interplay between the two guitar lines, a conversation between two old friends as they watch the sun sink below the horizon at the end of a long, satisfying summer day.

They also played their original tune, “Redwing Tango”, which, Sheppard explained, is titled in honor of the red winged blackbird, which is his favorite harbinger of springtime.  The traditional tango beat and harmonies emerged only occasionally from the intricate lead lines and the backing rhythm beat, but the tune is an emotional and vibrant contribution to the dance genre.

The crowd was nicely primed for the Ameranouche Trio by Jay Peterson and his son Bjorn, who opened the show.  The Petersons are local musicians who are well known for their fun and well-performed shows in the area, and also on WERU radio.  Jay is an experienced and accomplished guitarist who injects a lot of humor and wit into his playing; Bjorn plays a mean fiddle, especially considering his tender age, and his body language and enthusiasm on stage reveal a real depth of feeling for the music. 

Below, Jay and Bjorn Peterson and the Ameranouche Trio

onstage at the Apollo, for the evening finale!

Photo by Tom Prescott

Jay and Bjorn joined Ameranouche for a finale encore;   Richard Sheppard was playing his guitar alongside young Bjorn, and he was using eye contact and small verbal encouragements to try and get the young fiddler to really cut loose and play with abandon.  Bjorn was holding back; it was obvious that he didn’t’ want to upstage the more accomplished Sheppard, but in the last thirty seconds of the piece, Sheppard triumphed.  Bjorn took the bait and laid out a string of fiddle phrasing that he stole from somewhere in the ether.  It was thrilling to watch that small piece of the young man’s musical education unfold before our eyes!

Over The Bridge Productions (in the persons of Shawn and Molly Mercer) presents acoustic, roots, and folk music once each month or so at the Alamo Theater in Bucksport.   The events have a family and community feeling to them, with young children present, music in the lobby, friendly patrons, and a relaxed atmosphere. John Dillendock of WERU radio is the Master of Ceremonies, and makes everyone welcome.  The Alamo is an intimate, comfortable, well-maintained facility that is a pleasure to visit.

Watch for the Ameranouche Trio when they play in your area, they are definitely worth catching.  Their CD may be purchased at their website at:

http://www.ameranouche.com/