# Photos: The ELLNORA Guitar Festival 2017: Array of genres: folk, flamenco, classical, jazz, blues, alternative rock and experimental music: Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2017/09/23/photos-ellnora-guitar-festival-2017-array-genres-folk-flamenco-classical-jazz-blues-alternative-rock-experimental-music-video/
- Published: 2017-09-23T10:18:02+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**The ELLNORA Guitar Festival, held Sept. 14–16, is a mecca for all manner of string
players as well as voracious music fans who enjoy a wide array of genres, including
bluegrass, folk, flamenco, classical, jazz, blues, alternative rock, pop and experimental
music.**

The event takes place every other year on the campus of the University of Illinois
at Champaign-Urbana in its Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, which is named
after the art patrons Ellnora and Herman Krannert.

As is typical for this fest, the roster included an intelligent mix of crossover
artists and string players coming from various traditions. The programming also 
included an instrument “petting zoo” and a guitar-pick jewelry-making session with
a screen-printing demonstration that resulted in free posters for anyone attending.

The festival layout featured six indoor stages, as well as a large lobby area that
held two of those stages (and was the site of many free concerts).

![Image result for Eric Krasno](https://i0.wp.com/www.jambase.com/wp-content/uploads/
2016/06/Eric-Krasno-Kleiber-Crop-3-1480x832.jpg?resize=640%2C360&ssl=1)

Opening night featured a concert by jazz/funk trio Soulive on lobby Stage 6. Soulive—
Eric Krasno (guitars), Neal Evans (Hammond B-3 organ) and his brother Alan Evans(
drums)—released a series of albums on Blue Note in the early 2000s and has retained
a devoted fan base, as evidenced by the enormous crowd at this show.

Soulive delivered unconventional interpretations as well as songs from its own catalog,
which includes more than a dozen albums. The trio managed to lace its blues-based
funk with a version of The Beatles’ “Revolution,” clearly identifying it as the 
blues song it was and is.

![Image result for Soulive](https://i0.wp.com/houselist.bowerypresents.com/files/
2010/03/soulive-030210-131-v2.jpg?w=640)

Soon after, fans were shaking their booties to a rendition of the Allman Brothers
Band’s “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed,” a Dickey Betts composition famous for its 
lengthy, complex arrangement. (The classic version on the Allmans’ _At Fillmore 
Eas_t is 13 minutes long.) Krasno, flanked by his cohorts and sporting a snazzy 
short-brimmed hat, was more than capable of taking a song that originally included
two guitarists (Betts and the late Duane Allman) and getting anyone with a long 
memory to forget the original, his Gibson ES filling in all the melodic blanks while
the rest of the band provided a typical, magnetic Soulive groove.

This all-ages crowd (which seemed to rove the whole night long) knew how to dance
to this particular hippie-era vibe.

![Image result for Allman Brothers Band](https://i0.wp.com/ultimateclassicrock.com/
files/2016/07/Allman-Brothers-Band.jpg?w=640)

Jimi Hendrix’s “Third Stone From The Sun” came shining through (something of an 
echo of the James Jones Trio’s earlier visit to Hendrix on that same stage with “
The Wind Cries Mary”). Indeed, Soulive was very much alive, and the standing-room-
only crowd let them know it, begging for—but not getting—an encore.

Preceding Soulive was Kansas City native and guitar phenom Samantha Fish, who offered
songs from her latest album, _Chills & Fever_ (Ruf). Her vocals were subordinate
to some meaty guitar solos and an ensemble that included a hearty horn section. 
Her set went long, and as her band ended on lobby Stage 5, astute listeners could
hear Soulive helping Fish and company on one of her many blues numbers.

The following day, guitar fans were treated to the memorable lecture/demo “An Illinois
Legend: Letritia Kandle and Her Grand Letar.” University of Illinois archivist Scott
Schwartz and collector/historian Paul Warnik discussed the life and impact of Kandle,
while T.C. Furlong provided a demonstration of her incredible, one-of-a-kind instrument.

Held in the Foellinger Great Hall, this free event was a celebration of Chicagoan
Kandle’s creation in 1937 of the Grand Letar, a 26-string, five-necked instrument
weighing 400 pounds. It has a one-piece fretboard with three six-string and two 
four-string necks.

Appearing twice, once for a brief set and lecture about its ongoing Pat Metheny 
project in the club-style Studio Theatre on Friday, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
played in the Foellinger on Saturday, performing not only the 27-minute Metheny 
composition _On The Road To The Sun_, but also a delicious medley of music by Brazilian
icons Hermeto Pascoal, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Baden Powell.

![Image result for Hermeto Pascoal](https://i0.wp.com/www.mis.rj.gov.br/wp-content/
uploads/2016/08/hermeto.jpg?w=640)

The quartet’s set was preceded by a stunning piece performed by classical guitarist
Alberta Khoury (who also appeared later that night in her own complete performance).

Other highlights included performances by mandolin wiz and former child prodigy 
Sierra Hull (now 25), dazzling flamenco guitarist Vicente Amigo, roots-music duo
Shovels & Rope and Ronnie Baker Brooks’ blues band.

![Image result for Lulo Reinhardt](https://i0.wp.com/www.herschelfreemanagency.com/
lulo_reinhardt/DSC_5798.JPG?w=640)

Also impressive were the shows by Reinhardt family member/guitarist Lulo Reinhardt,
the amazing duo of Julian Lage and Chris Eldridge, and jazz guitarist Rez Abassi’s“
cine-concert,” in which he led a quartet through a performance of his new score 
for Franz Osten’s 1929 silent film _A Throw of Dice_, which depicts the love-triangle
saga of India’s epic _The Mahabharata_.

Another standout at this year’s ELLNORA (in two appearances) was folk musician Janis
Ian, who rose to fame as a teenager, thanks to her 1967 hit “Society’s Child,” and
who later reached an even wider audience with the Grammy-winning 1975 hit “At Seventeen.”

![Image result for Janis Ian](https://i0.wp.com/www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/6c478f8709738f157460851bc3bebd0aa67374f4.
jpg?w=640)

In a free talk on Sept. 15, followed by a concert the next day (both in the Colwell
Playhouse), Ian spoke candidly and movingly about her life and career as a artist
growing up in and around New York City. She also answered questions, always with
one of her guitars in her lap. Her stories were riveting, filled with sad and humorous
anecdotes, her comments about the music business full of insight, and her devotion
to social causes inspiring.

Ian’s heartfelt performance was a sold-out lovefest, as the legend mixed banter 
and storytelling with fine renditions of many of her compositions, including “Society’s
Child.” Ian’s voice and guitar playing were perfectly suited for Colwell’s mid-sized
auditorium acoustics. A tip of the hat to the ELLNORA organizers for inviting her.

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