Welcome to the Fourth Biennial
Guitar Festival at Illinois
It is a terrific pleasure to welcome you to Krannert Center and the experiential feast of ELLNORA 2011.
What a pleasure it is also to know that this biennial gathering has become, for so many people, a special form of pure joy—a beautifully intense injection of life-affirming creativity and camaraderie.
It's a celebration of extraordinary artistry, extraordinary diversity, and extraordinary generosity. It stands emblematic of the values that underlie all to which Krannert Center aspires and of the collective energy that flows from the unbounded tradition of exploration and innovation that characterizes the University of Illinois and micro-urban Champaign-Urbana.
For generations upon generations, the guitar has been a powerful and unique source of beauty, hope, defiance, and connectivity around the world. We hope you will feel that rich history as ELLNORA 2011 unfolds and that its power to inspire and unite—in the face of efforts to divide almost everywhere one looks today—will continue to shine through brightly.
So revel in every minute of this ELLNORA and join me in extending deep thanks to its fabulous sponsors and the hundreds of staff and volunteers who have made it happen against all odds.
Cheers!
Mike Ross
Director, Krannert Center
Welcome Back!
It's with great pride that I welcome you to ELLNORA 2011.
The story of the guitar—its origins, travels, and future—has guided our work for this year's festival. In telling this tale, we have handpicked a rich mix of genres both ancient and modern, with eyes open to what's most distinctive and fresh on the guitar scene.
It's a fun, messy, and exciting process to curate this mix of talent, but our goal is simple: to produce the most vivid festival possible.
This year ELLNORA introduces an artist-in-residence—a position with limitless possibilities. Luther Dickinson, a festival alum, will act as spokesperson and musical provocateur, with room for impromptu connections with audience members and other musicians. Luther's 2007 festival performance with the North Mississippi Allstars was unforgettable, and he was a natural choice for this position. We're over the moon that he's on board.
Another new component of ELLNORA 2011 is a keynote address with electric guitar pioneer Adrian Belew. When you've performed and toured and recorded with the likes of David Bowie and Frank Zappa, created a sensation with the formation of King Crimson and The Bears, and produced solo work that takes guitar playing to uncharted, visionary realms, you have stories to tell and inspiration to share. Adrian will offer insight into his musical life and his personal musical evolution.
Our programming philosophy stems from Krannert Center's commitment to embracing the art of the past and fostering the art of the future. We've presented several terrific world premieres since the first festival in 2005, and this year we are privileged to present an extraordinary one. The Great Flood is a film and music project inspired by the 1927 Mississippi River flood—the most destructive in American history. This natural disaster drove a mass exodus of displaced sharecroppers; the Great Migration of rural southern blacks to northern cities saw the Delta blues electrified and reinterpreted as the Chicago blues, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll. Bill Morrison and Bill Frisell have a stirring, contemporary perspective on this natural disaster and the ensuing transformation of American society and music.
I'm also excited to see the pairings of Marc Ribot and Lee Ranaldo with classic films by Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Ribot has lent his guitar sounds to collaborations with Robert Plant, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and John Zorn, and at ELLNORA he will play his score to The Kid. Commissioned by the New York Guitar Festival, his score is an enormously beautiful accompaniment to Chaplin's bittersweet masterpiece. Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo, ranked by Rolling Stone as one of its 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, will premiere his Krannert Center-commissioned score to Buster Keaton's classic comedy Cops.
Among the artists making their first appearance at ELLNORA are two more from that Rolling Stone list—Robert Randolph and Richard Thompson—plus multiple Grammy-winning classical guitarist Sharon Isbin, the Beijing Guitar Duo, Vieux Farka Touré, Toshi Reagon, Sheryl Bailey, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Marija Temo, Adrian Belew, Calexico, Redhooker, and Noveller.
And with delight we welcome back returning artists Shara Worden (aka My Brightest Diamond), Daniel Lanois with his band Black Dub, Dan Zanes, Cindy Cashdollar, Rory Block, Kevin Breit, and blues legend Taj Mahal.
I wish there were words that could express my gratitude for being able to collaborate with the fantastic Krannert Center team. The can-do spirit here is an inspiration.
Will the fourth edition of our biennial guitar summit surpass previous years? We certainly believe so. Come and find out!
David Spelman
Artistic Advisor, ELLNORA | The Guitar Festival
Founder and Artistic Director, New York Guitar Festival