Provenance
Odyssey was my intimate companion from age twelve through my early thirties. Then years later, this guitar was lost to me, believed to have vanished forever. Twenty years after its disappearance, Odyssey miraculously emerged again like a Phoenix, and I was able to re-acquire it for a happy and unlooked-for reunion.
Our history together creating my best-known early compositions is remarkable. It was with Odyssey in a small village in France that I first improvised "Andecy". Later I recorded Andecy on this same instrument in San Francisco for Windham Hill's iconic Guitar Sampler album. Odyssey also journeyed with me to Spain in 1986, where I played "Sunburst" for John Williams — an encounter that became a pivotal moment in my life as a composer. Two years later Williams recorded “Sunburst” for his Sony recording “Spirit of the Guitar, Music of the Americas”. And while writing "Evening Dance" for Christopher Parkening, Odyssey would accompany me to Chris's home so we could play through the compositional sketches together . . . And when I recorded my first album Perfect Sky, this is the guitar whose voice is captured.
This instrument is more than wood and strings; with it, I composed all my early works, and it carries within it the resonance of all the music and remarkable encounters we shared. Odyssey was my companion and witness to music that has since traveled the world.
Recordings
- Perfect Sky (1986) - solo album
- Andecy (1988) - Windham Hill Guitar Sampler
Compositions (partial list)
- Sunshine Rag (for solo guitar) Harrisonburg, Virginia 1979
- Sunshine Rag (for guitar trio) Harrisonburg, Virginia 1979
- Lullaby (for solo guitar) Harrisonburg, Virginia 1982
- Sunburst (for solo guitar) Los Angeles 1986
- Andecy (for solo guitar) France 1986
- Evening Dance (for two guitars) France 1986
- Sunday Morning Overcast (for solo guitar) Los Angeles 1985
- Emergence (for solo guitar) Los Angeles 1986
- Muir Woods (for solo guitar) London 1986
- Reflections (for solo guitar) Dayton, Ohio 1986
- Sunshine Rag (for solo guitar) Los Angeles 1986
- Waiting for Dawn (for solo guitar) Los Angeles 1986
- Bantu (for guitar quartet) Idyllwild 1993
- Quiccan (for guitar quartet) Idyllwild 1993
Video
Performance and Masterclass
- Festival de la Guitarra de Córdoba 1986 - played Sunburst in afternoon concert (where John Williams heard Sunburst)
- Festival de la Guitarra de Córdoba 1986 - Masterclass with John Williams, playing my arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite” for two guitars.
This guitar has lived a rich and intense musical life, and shows natural wear from international travel and countless concerts and recording sessions. It remains in excellent playing condition, and has not been refinished to preserve its original condition and provenance.
Read “Odyssey’s Odyssey” - the extended autobiographical story of my adventures with this guitar.
