SECOND SHOW ADDED, STARTING AT 9pm (goes until 10:00 p.m.)
The Red Guitar, draws on Bruce Forman’s decades of experience as a leading jazz guitarist, and demonstrates his skill as a storyteller and teacher. The result is a work that is even greater than the considerable sum of its parts.
A story in jazz, and about jazz, it is built upon the armature of a classical tale that is often seen as a metaphor for how artists become possessed by their art. The story has deep roots in European and American mythos. From the red slippers that were a literal symbol of imperial authority in the Roman Empire, through Hans Christian Andersen’s nineteenth-century retelling of The Red Shoes, and more recently, in several distinguished film adaptations of this powerful theme, the underlying tale has resonated with audiences for centuries.
Bruce Forman took on a classic quest as a young man–to grow beyond his roots in Texas, acquire artistic mastery, conquer the urban world, and achieve knowledge and sophistication. His reputation and circle of collaborators grew, and his horizons expanded: leader on 16 albums; sideman on numerous others; composer; arranger; artist in residence; university educator; philanthropist; composer-performer on a jazz libretto, The Red Guitar, and three Clint Eastwood soundtracks: Flags of Our Fathers; Million Dollar Baby; and Hereafter.
