Tom Humphrey Guitar Series at the Ritz

Musicians to honor legendary guitar maker as series continues for fourth year Newburgh — The Ritz Theater and La Bella Strings, in association with the Bardavon, announce the lineup for the fourth season of the Tom Humphrey Guitar Series. John Abercrombie Trio, Saturday, Oct. 15, at 8 p.m. Over a career spanning more than 40 years and nearly 50 albums, John Abercrombie has established himself as one the masters of jazz guitar. Favoring unusual sounds and nontraditional ensembles, Abercrombie is a restless experimenter, working firmly in the jazz tradition while pushing the boundaries of meter and harmony. Mary Gauthier with Tania Elizabeth, Friday, Nov. 11, at 8 p.m. Mary Gauthier (pronounced: go-shay) has released six ground-breaking albums of original songs, in more than a dozen years of recording and touring around the world, has received a harvest of music industry awards, and her songs have been covered by numerous artists including Jimmy Buffett and Tim McGraw. In late 2009, fiddler Tania Elizabeth began to work with songwriter Gauthier on her new concept record, entitled The Foundling. They are now touring the album as a duo all over the world. Frank Vignola’s Hot Club, Saturday, Dec. 10, at 8 p.m. In celebration of Django Reinhardt, guitar virtuoso Frank Vignola, a leading proponent of Reinhardt’s gypsy jazz style of playing, has assembled a top notch trio for a searing tribute to one of his earliest musical influences. Vignola is one of the most accomplished, multi-dimensional players walking the planet today. Player, composer and improviser, Vignola plays proficiently in every genre, from jazz to bluegrass, and has recorded and toured with the liked of Madonna, Leon Redbone and Ringo Starr. After last year’s three encores to his one standing room only performance, the audience demanded the return of Frank Vignola’s Hot Club to the Ritz. Bucky Pizzarelli with Ed Laub, Saturday, March 10, at 8 p.m. A perennial favorite, celebrating 65 years as a performer, Bucky Pizzarelli, will return to the Ritz with seven-string guitar master Ed Laub. For more than half a century, the legendary jazz guitarist, Pizzarelli has been a part of the fraternity of musicians who have kept mainstream and traditional jazz alive. Laub has been playing the guitar for more than 50 years and has performed with such artists as Gene Bertoncini, Martin Pizzarelli, Lenny Argese, Frank Vignola, Bill Wurtzel, Jack Wilkins and Kenny Rankin. According to a reviewer writing in the publication, All About Jazz: “Pizzarelli is the complete jazz musician and Laub complements him perfectly.” Geoff Muldaur, Saturday, April 21, at 8 p.m. Muldaur is one of the great voices and musical forces to emerge from the folk, blues and folk-rock scenes. During the 1960’s and '70’s, Geoff made a series of highly influential recordings as a founding member of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band and the Paul Butterfield’s Better Days group, as well as collaborations with then-wife Maria and other notables like Bonnie Raitt and Jerry Garcia. Geoff may be heard from time to time as a guest on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion and has been featured on a variety of National Public Radio shows, including Weekend Edition, All Things Considered, Fresh Air with Terry Gross and The World with Lisa Mullins. About the series The Tom Humphrey Guitar Series honors the memory of the legendary Hudson Valley-based luthier, who died in 2008. The idea came from Tom Humphrey just two months before his death. In a series of meetings with Chris Silva of the Bardavon, Richard Cocco Jr. of La Bella Strings and Tricia Haggerty Wenz of the Ritz Theater and Safe Harbors of the Hudson, Humphrey laid the groundwork for a guitar series at the Ritz, which so far has featured performances by Odair Assad, Pete Seeger, Cindy Cashdollar, and Larry Coryell, among many others.