The renowned French musician brings music from his heralded career to Michigan’s Tip Top Deluxe, Chalfonte Theatre and The Ark this week. The Local Spins interview, with a music video.
Still Wowing Audiences at 67: Guitarist Pierre Bensusan (Courtesy Photo)
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French jazz guitarist Pierre Bensusan is equally pleased and bemused at the fact his career has hit the half-century mark.
“I’m celebrating 50 years of doing this. I’m shocked at 50 years,” he says with a chuckle.
So, he has hit the road to celebrate “One Guitar, One Voice,” following shows in Europe (where he’s a superstar) and China with a tour of the United States and Canada. After performing at The Ark in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, he plays the Chalfonte Theatre/Elk Rapids Cinema in Elk Rapids tonight (Aug. 28) and Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill in Grand Rapids on Friday (Aug. 29).Tickets for the Elk Rapids show, $25, available here. Tickets, $25, for the 7:30 p.m. Friday show at Tip Top Deluxe available here.
Despite the many years he’s been in the game, Bensusan insists he is still far from mastering the guitar. “I still feel like a learner. Every day is a new day.”
And there’s always an opportunity to play an old tune a new way. “There’s a freedom of performance. In the jazz world, people improvise,” he says.
Those expecting bebop or smooth sounds may be in for a surprise, as his music incorporates various elements of pop, folk, Celtic, even new age stylings, all in his alternate DADGAD tuning. He believes that open tuning gives his playing a more mysterious vibe.
As a solo performer, and a jazz artist at that, Bensusan is not held hostage to playing the same tunes the same way at every show. His set list invariably changes night to night. He plays what he wants, how he wants and when he wants.
‘Following the Music’: Bensusan’s performances vary night to night. (Courtesy Photo)
“I try to follow what the music demands when I play it. Music is a reflection of who we are and what we feel. We are changing every day,” he says.
Bensusan says the result is a performance that varies throughout the tour. That can translate into unexpected moments for the audience. “Maybe they don’t recognize the tune till two minutes in. There’s a sense of unpredictability with a sense of the familiar,” he says.
If it’s something totally unfamiliar to listeners, that’s not a problem, for either Benusan or the audience. “People don’t necessarily need to know (the music). The important thing is what it does to them.”
And it goes both ways. “I play what I play in order to heal myself,” Bensusan says. “At the end of the day you (the composer/player) are playing music for yourself. You are the first listener.”
Bensusan got his start on piano at age 6. At 11, he picked up a guitar and began teaching himself to play. He left formal education behind at 16 when he quit school, and recorded his debut album, “Près de Paris,” at 17, which won the Grand Prix/Rose d’Or of the Montreux Festival in Switzerland.
Bensusan boasts more than a dozen recordings, with LPs, DVDs and digital recordings among them. He’s recorded with a band, in a duo with countryman Didier Malherbe, even guested with Donny Osmond. But he’s most comfortable as a solo performer, where he can give free rein to his imagination.
His music has won him admirers across the world, including many notable guitarists: Leo Kottke, Mark Knopfler, Andrew York, Tommy Emanuel and Steve Lukather are among the many who have sung his praises. Steve Vai signed Bensusan to his label, and the late Michael Hedges even wrote a tune in his honor, simply called “Bensusan.” He was voted Best World Music Guitarist in Guitar Player Magazine reader’s poll.
Through it all, Bensusan remains true to the music he loves because he has no choice. “I play what I play in order to heal myself,” Bensusan says. He believes that translates to the audience as well.
PHOTO GALLERY: Pierre Bensusan, “Fils de la Rose”
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