The universe of guitar knows no boundaries for The California Guitar Trio. Since 1991, the group has enthralled listeners with a singular sound that fearlessly crisscrosses genres. The trios questing spirit drives it to explore the intersections between rock, jazz, classical, and world music. It even throws in the occasional surf or spaghetti Western tune for good measure.Comprised of Bert Lams, Tom Griesgraber and Paul Richards, the group has established a unique, personal connection with audiences. In addition to dazzling musicianship and interplay, The California Guitar Trios (CGT) shows are full of captivating stories and humor that enable concertgoers to feel like theyre part of the music, not just spectators...
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The universe of guitar knows no boundaries for The California Guitar Trio. Since 1991, the group has enthralled listeners with a singular sound that fearlessly crisscrosses genres. The trios questing spirit drives it to explore the intersections between rock, jazz, classical, and world music. It even throws in the occasional surf or spaghetti Western tune for good measure.Comprised of Bert Lams, Tom Griesgraber and Paul Richards, the group has established a unique, personal connection with audiences. In addition to dazzling musicianship and interplay, The California Guitar Trios (CGT) shows are full of captivating stories and humor that enable concertgoers to feel like theyre part of the music, not just spectators. CGTs 21 albums, streamed over 115 million times on Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, offer diverse snapshots of the groups mercurial muse. The trios latest album Live In Scottsdale On Tour With King Crimson is a recording of the final opening set from the 2021 tour with the legendary King Crimson and features the new CGT 2.0 line up with Tom Griesgraber on Chapman Stick. CGT most recent studio release Elegy showcases its acoustic side, with beautiful lush originals and innovative cover arrangements of Beatles, Radiohead and more. Other highlights include Masterworks, an album of classical works, with expansive takes on Bach, Beethoven, Arvo Prt, and Schubert. Andromeda, which combines their many influences into a visionary album of original material; CG3+2, an exploration of kinetic rock territory in collaboration with bassist Tony Levin and drummer Pat Mastelotto; and Echoes, which re-imagines timeless material by artists such as Mike Oldfield, Penguin Caf Orchestra, Pink Floyd, and Queen.The trios output has made a major global impact, having served as the soundtrack for Olympics coverage, and programs on CNN, CBS, NBC, and ESPN. They have fans in high places too: NASA used their music to wake the crew aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor.CGTs lineup is truly the sum of its distinct parts: A Utah native now residing in Los Angeles, Paul Richards immersed himself in rock, blues, and jazz during his early days and while attending The University of Utahs jazz guitar program. While on and off the road, Paul enjoys doing landscape photography. Prints of his work, including photos from Robert Fripp and Toyah Wilcoxs English garden are available here. Pauls Landscape Photography.32 years and 2000+ gigs later, the CGT remains intensely committed to explore, evolve and communicate a wide-ranging musical worldview. Anil Prasad
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