Genre-bending crossovers are all the rage these days. But listeners are simply catching up with what musicians have known for quite some time: An art form as deep, complex and expressive as music knows no bounds once it gets let out of the box.
Bay of Pines provides a case in point this week when they bring two very different – yet similarly difficult-to-classify – players. First up, on Thursday, comes one Claude Bourbon, a European-based, classically trained Gibson J-45 acoustic guitar master who is cut from a different cloth – from a whole other fabric store.
Local listeners have heard Bourbon a number of times, including a memorable performance at Plaza Linda in Carmel Valley. Possessing an unusual and seductive lower register voice, it is nonetheless his guitar which stands out. Local music promoter Kiki Wow holds forth: “Claude is just so unusual and unique,” she says. “I love original music and this is something I hadn’t heard before. He’s amazing.”
The guitar mix is gypsy, Flamenco, modal, Celtic and even Chet Atkins-style Travis fingerpicking, all rolled into one surprisingly cohesive whole.
Next up on Saturday night is Santa Cruz-based Steve Graves, whose songwriting marries divergent elements like reggae, country, rock and Native American musics.
“What would you call The Beatles, rock ‘n’ roll?” Graves asks. “Well, sort of, but they weren’t just a rock ‘n’ roll band, they were their own genre.”
Graves’ wife teases him all the time about him being his own genre.
“I consider it a compliment,” he says, “because I don’t think of my music in terms of genre. I just let the universe bring the music through me and I try to be the best channel I can for whatever the song itself wants to be.” Graves brings a five-piece group to Monterey, which promises to be a head-bobbing affair worthy of the genres he merges – and defies.