Riff-erberate with the sound of these string wizards

After a pandemic-induced hiatus, Global Guitar Gita returns to the Garden City on December 2,3 and 4, featuring the who's who of the strumming worldConcert series Global Guitar Gita’s legacy of 22 years gets a fillip as it returns with renowned masters of guitar from around the world. Touted to be among the world's largest platforms celebrating the stringed instrument, it is hosted by legendary Bengaluru guitarist, Konarak Reddy, and supported by the Goethe-Institut (Max Mueller Bhavan) for the past 10 years. This year’s festival line-up has impressive names - Antoine Boyer, Julia Lange, Samuelito, and Yeore Kim.

Through the years, the concert series has brought down legends like Peter Finger from Germany, Don Ross from Canada, Adam Tvrdy from the Czech Republic, and Claus Boesser-Ferrari from Germany. Now back after a two-year lull, music lovers can revel in the riffs by these leading guitarists.

Host, and music maestro Konarak is not new to acclaim, be it in India or Europe. The legend is known for his eclectic blend of Hindustani and Carnatic musical genres, and his famed finger-style guitar.
His knowledge of the sarod allows him to play the guitar using the contentious pulling method, and produce stunning alaaps. For more than 25 years, Reddy has shared the stage alongside famous European fingerstyle guitarists such as Peter Finger, Claus Boesser-Ferrari, Bob Bonastre, Sandor Szabo, Jacques Stotzem, and Dylan Fowler.

"My family is a big fan of Indian culture,"
Antoine Boyer

Antoine Boyer and Samuelito

Jazz guitarist Antoine Boyer started learning the guitar with his father at just six years of age. “He put the idea forward, and I said yes. We started playing together as a duet soon," says Boyer from his home in France, a day ahead of his flight to India. Since then, his journey with the strings has taken admirable turns, even learning from masters like Mandino Reinhardt and Francis Alfred Moerman. After he launched his third CD, Sita, Boyer was chosen as Révélation 2012 by Guitarist Acoustic, inadvertently becoming the first gypsy jazz guitarist to receive the coveted award. Excited about playing in India, as the country and culture is often a big topic of discussion at home, he pipes, “My father loves Indian culture. He has read the Mahabharata and Ramayana at least thrice." Intrigued by how Indian guitarists have managed to blend western fingerstyle playing with desi music, he says, “I am looking forward to exploring it all.”

At Guitar Gita, he will play alongside his long-term associate Samuelito, a master of flamenco, and his wife Yeore Kim, a harmonica player, who has been touring since her teenage years in the Korean jazz scene. Samuelito, who started learning guitar at six, is an alumnus of the Caen Conservatory. He has been playing flamenco guitar since he was eight, studying under great maestros like Paco de Lucia and Sabicas.
Yeore and Antoine met at a music festival in Taiwan. A multi-instrumentalist, who also plays the trumpet, drums, cello, and piano, Yeore has a master's from the Seoul Music University, and has won competitions like the Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival, the Seoul Harmonica Festival, and the World Harmonica Festival.

"I am just following my instincts when it comes to music," Julia LangeThe 24-year-old Julia Lange is a guitar prodigy whose versatility amazes. She started guitar at eight, and it was quite a serendipitous initiation, “My older brother was playing guitar, so there was already an instrument at home. Incidentally, he had no interest in it. One day, I asked him if I could have it, and he was more than happy to give it away." Till she was 16, she trained and perfected classical guitar.

Then destiny came calling. “More like YouTube changed,” she adds. Listening to artists like Tommy Emmanuel and Andy McKee, was a paradigm shift for her. "I saw their kind of percussive playing, which was different from what I was used to, and so interesting. They were writing their own tunes, making their own music. I was hooked,” she says. Fortuitously, Julia quit classical guitar and started experimenting. “Many people told me it was a bad idea as I was so good at classical guitar. But I thought if I don’t try, I’ll never know," she says.
Now, as part of the Funky Times, with Julius Imhäuser and Leo Imhäuser, the trio makes quite a team. “We met at a concert, and the host put an idea in our heads to form a band,” she says. Unafraid to experiment and expand, every arena is a new opportunity for Julia. It is what she expects from Guitar Gita too. “Anything can happen,” she says, glad the festival is happening after two long arduous years.