Monnette Sudler strings together another all-star guitar summit
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Monnette Sudler's mother didn't always understand her daughter's passion for the guitar.
Lionel Loueke
Monnette Sudler’s mother didn’t always understand her daughter’s passion for the guitar. A gifted classical singer who performed in church, she was suspicious of any music that involved an electric guitar. “My mother didn’t understand all the capabilities and diversity of guitar music,” Sudler recalls. “As a result, she stunted my growth by hiding the guitar from me because she thought I was gonna be a rock ’n’ roll player.”
Though her mom eventually came around, Sudler’s annual Philadelphia Guitar Summit was at least in part inspired to rebuke that limited conception of the instrument’s wide-ranging potential. In past years Sudler has invited everyone from fusion pioneer Larry Coryell to jazz great Pat Martino, prog-metal virtuoso Tosin Abasi and rootsy blues duo Mulebone, to her yearly six-string gathering at Montgomery County Community College.
This weekend’s sixth installment will be headlined by the immensely gifted Benin-born jazz guitarist Lionel Loueke, who has worked with jazz giants Terence Blanchard and Herbie Hancock among others, and incorporates African influences into his playing and singing. Loueke and Sudler will also lead a workshop on “African and Blues Accents.”
Also on the bill will be veteran Philly jazz guitarist Jimmy Bruno and classical guitarist Nikolay Galvishin. Sudler herself will front a multicultural band assembled for the occasion, the PGS World Music Ensemble, which includes Liberian vocalist Princess Fatu Gayflor, percussionist Leonard “Doc” Gibbs, drummer Jerry Blamoh Doe and pedal steel guitarist Dave Doggett. As part of her set, Sudler will be showcasing her flamenco playing for the first time — the latest addition to an arsenal that long ago silenced her mother’s fears. Sudler is equally well-versed in jazz and blues playing and supplements her virtuosic and soulful axe work by occasionally switching to bass, percussion or vocals.
Sat., Jan. 24, workshop 5 p.m., free; concert 8 p.m., $28; Science Center Theater, Montgomery County Community College, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell, Pa., 215-641-6300, mc3.edu/livelyarts.
