Secrets of master guitarists revealed in conversation. Guitar Talk is a collection of
interviews with twenty-three of the most creative guitarists of our time. The book celebrates
the enormous range of approaches and sounds that exist in the modern guitar. The instrument can
howl scrape scratch scream sing pluck and soothe. What stands out in this book is not so
much the instrument itself rather the wonderful and idiosyncratic personalities of these bold
souls their sometimes wild often zigzagging and ultimately profound journeys toward beauty
meaning and excellence in their work. We find out that jazz icon Bill Frisell won a high
school band contest playing R&B tunes beating out future members of Earth Wind and Fire. We
learn which of Nels Cline's compositions he wishes to have played at his funeral. Michael
Gregory Jackson recounts painful episodes of racism as he stretched between the chasm of avant
jazz rock and R&B in the 1980s. Many more revelations amusements and philosophies abound
from maestros like Pat Metheny Fred Frith Ralph Towner Bill Frisell Mary Halvorson Henry
Kaiser Ava Mendoza and many more of the most interesting guitarists working today.
