Guitar Café: Live-Stream Series

Last year, during the challenges of the pandemic, I turned to live-streaming guitar concerts from my home for the first time. I learned a tremendous amount in the process. After live-streaming weekly during the onset of the pandemic, I found that schedule was unsustainable. I am now live-streaming biweekly or monthly, on Fridays at 3:00 pm ET, and I have re-branded the series as Guitar Café, each one focusing on a different theme, musical style, country, or artist. These live-streams are free, open to all, and archived on my YouTube channel.

Next up: Guitar Café: CUBA!

Guitar Café: Cuba!
Friday, June 4, 2021, 3 pm ET

We'll journey to the enchanting island of Cuba for this edition of the Guitar Café, with a special focus on the work of celebrated guitarist and composer Leo Brouwer, one of Cuba's greatest composers. Music is part of life in Cuba, permeating the streets, bars, homes, and musical clubs throughout the country, with a musical heritage that spans African, Spanish, and Indigenous influences. We'll visit some of Brouwer's compositions and arrangements of afro-Cuban melodies in this special edition of Guitar Café.

Live-stream - and archived at link: https://youtu.be/DL6fEN5Vru8

Guitar illustration by Katrina Warren

Recent Guitar Café live-streams include:

Guitar Café: Classic Movie Love Themes (February 12, 2021): Love themes from classic movies from the 1960s, including “Love Theme from ‘Romeo & Juliet’” - “Love Theme from ‘Love Story’” - “Love Theme from ‘Spartacus’” - “Moon River” - “The Look of Love” - and “A Taste of Honey.”

Guitar Café: B-Side U2 (February 26, 2021 ): Solo set of U2's great B-sides, including “11 O'clock Tick Tock” - “Love Comes Tumbling” - “Spanish Eyes” - “Silver and Gold” - “Lady with the Spinning Head” -and “Salomé”

Guitar Café: Brazil (March 12, 2021): “Consolação (Baden Powell)“ – “Improv - Manhã do Carnaval (Luiz Bonfá; arrangement Howard Heitmeyer)” – “Saudade (John W. Warren)” – “Asa Branca (Luiz Gonzaga)” – “Canto de Xango (Baden Powell)” – “Nana da Lua (John W. Warren)”

Guitar Café: Rock en Español / Latin Alternative (April 9, 2021): "Unplugged"-style classics from Argentina, Mexico, and Spain. “Canción para mi muerte” Sui Generis (1972) - ”Kumbala” Maldita Vencidad y los Hijos del 5to. Patio (1991) “Ayer me dijo un ave” Caifanes (1994) - “Semilla Negra” Radio Futura (1992) - “Sin Documentos” Los Rodriguez (1996) - “Esa Noche” – Café Tacvba (1994) - “Hasta la Raíz” – Natalia Lafourcade (2015).

Guitar Café: Time and Life (May 7, 2021): “In My Life” (The Beatles) - “Thirteen” (Big Star) - “Time is On My Side” (The Rolling Stones) - “Hazy Shade of Winter” – Simon and Garfunkel - “Turn Turn Turn” (Pete Seeger) - “Seventeen” (Sharon Van Etten) - “More Than This” (Roxy Music) - “Brothers in Arms” (Dire Straits) - “Always Look at the Bright Side of Life” (Monty Python)

Live-Streamed Concert Series: Noon "House" Concerts

Before the coronavirus crisis struck us all, I had not attempted performing a live-streamed classical guitar concert. The thought had never occurred to me, and, frankly, I had not done much in terms of music videos either.

I've been performing house concerts frequently over the past few years (and in years past, less frequently), especially with the Groupmuse organization, and I have been collaborating with the amazing Bruno Lucini, who brings his remarkable Brazilian and World percussion to the mix. Latin American and Brazilian guitar music goes very well indeed with live percussion. We had lined up a great series of shows this Spring, looking forward to dates in Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Boston. This, of course, changed, like all our plans.

This is also a time, however, when we all need music in our lives; thus, I decided to attempt a series of noon “House” concerts, streamed live from my home, for those who would enjoy some live entertainment, some “Songs of Comfort,” as Yo-Yo Ma has eloquently put it, or, as my daughter Katrina put it, “Quarantunes.” Those of us who are fortunate are working from home, hunkering down with our teens, kids, and loved ones, and many people are of course struggling more than imaginable just a few months ago. A bit of culture and live entertainment may be welcome. Instrumental guitar is good for working, coffee or lunching, and even napping (don't worry, I certainly won't mind if you nap).

Noon “House” Concert, March 20

My first attempt at this was on Friday, March 20. Admittedly, I was a bit nervous to be live-streaming for the first time. I’m very used to performing before a live audience, but this is much different. So, as Kate Bush said, “Be Kind to My Mistakes”:

My first live streamed concert included a program of music from Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, and two of my original compositions.

Repertoire for Friday, March 20:

Drume Negrita - Eliseo Grenet

Sons da Carrilhōes - João Pernambuco

Trémolo - Eduardo Falú

La Noche Triste - John W. Warren

Nana da Lua - John W. Warren

‘Drume Negrita”—also frequently called “Canción de Cuna” is an Afro-Cuban lullaby composed by Eliseo Grenet arranged by Cuban guitarist Leo Brouwer. I enjoy performing this piece and I often open my concerts with this arrangement. It includes a bit of improvisation in the middle and an interlude, which I composed from one of these improvisations. “Sons da Carrilhōes” (Sounds of the Bells) is a Brazilian dance, a choro, popular in the salons of Rio de Janeiro in the nineteen-twenties. “Tremolo,” by the late Argentine guitarist Eduardo Falú, is reminiscent of the popular piece “Recuerdos de la Alhambra.” Two originals: “La Noche Triste” evokes the tragic night of conflict between the Aztecs and Spanish in Tenochtitlan, while “Nana da Lua” is an original, Brazilian-flavored lullaby which employs the use of harmonics throughout. (I really miss Bruno’s percussion on these pieces!)

Noon “House” Concert, March 25: Electric Edition

My second concert turned to electric guitar. I’ve always been primarily a classical guitarist, but back in my late teens and early twenties I played a bit of rock and roll, blues, and soul in a couple of bands. Lately, I have turned to performing some classic rock instrumentals, Brazilian, and classical music on my vintage electric guitar.

Repertoire for Wednesday, March 25:

Sleepwalk - Santo and Johnny

Serenata de la Sirena - John W. Warren

Albatross - Fleetwood Mac > Gymnopedie no 1 - Erik Satie

Here Comes the Flood - Peter Gabriel

Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen

This second live-streamed concert, on electric guitar, includes some songs that are relatively new to my repertoire, as well as one debut. “Sleepwalk” is a classic guitar instrumental from 1959 (originally performed on “steel” or “slide” guitar) by Brooklyn, NY-born brothers Santo and Johnny Farina. (I think my parents may have dated to this song.) It was a #1 Billboard hit back in ‘59. I didn’t realize until after I started performing the song, but Fleetwood Mac’s instrumental “Albatross” was inspired by “Sleepwalk.” I guess it sounds obvious, but that bit of trivia had escaped by notice until my pal Chris Kelaher pointed it out. Peter Green, Fleetwood Mac’s guitarist, knew how to pull out some unusual notes, melodies, and harmonies. This is originally an instrumental with two guitars, bass, and drums, so pardon the solo instrumental. (Again, these pieces are really missing Bruno’s touch!). I mash-up “Albatross” into Satie’s “Gymnopédie No. 1,” normally performed as a an atmospheric, even mournful, piano solo, but here I perform it with a touch of the blues. I think it goes well with “Albatross” (which, I should note, in turn inspired the Beatle’s “Sun King”). I have no evidence for this, but my thought is that Satie’s “Gymnopédie No. 1,” published in 1888, may have been the inspiration for “Sleepwalk.” No way to know, but it would not be surprising to me.

Peter Gabriel’s “Here Comes the Flood” is a piece I have always loved; I remember listening to Gabriel’s first solo album, on vinyl, over and over, shortly after graduating from high school, along with Robert Fripp’s first solo album, on which the song also appears. My version follows closer to the version on Fripp’s album, which includes Gabriel’s vocals and which he evidently also preferred over his own album’s version. My solo guitar arrangement of “Here Comes the Flood” is new—something I’ve been working on this Winter and Spring, and performed here live for the first time. “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen, is, of course, a classic, and on one will ever remotely come close to Jeff Buckley’s version of this song, but here it goes anyway. “Serenata de la Sirena” (Mermaid’s Serenade) is the title track to my first (and so far, only) CD, where it was performed on classical guitar, but here on electric.

Noon “House” Concert, March 27: Classical Guitar

For my third live-streamed "House" concert, I go back to classical guitar.

Repertoire for Friday, March 27:

Consolação - Baden Powell

Julia Florida - Agustin Barrios Mangoré

La Catira – Antonio Lauro

Berceuse a Jussara - Baden Powell

The Frog Prince - John W. Warren

Berimbau - Baden Powell

Adagio from the Concierto de Aranjuez - Joaquin Rodrigo

Baden Powell was an amazing Brazilian guitarist, composer, performer, and improviser. He wrote many of the classics of Brazilian bossa nova, with the poet Vinicius de Moraes writing many of the lyrics. “Consolação” and “Berimbau” are two of Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes’ “Afro Sambas,” evoking the African heritage and culture of Brazil’s Bahia region. “Julia Florida” is a wonderful piece by Paraguayan composer Agustín Barrios Mangoré. My former guitar teacher, back in the early-70s to early-80s, Richard ‘Rico’ Stover, was an expert on Barrios and Latin American music, and published the first popular anthologies of his music. My version of this piece is a bit more folkloric and improvised, but I don’t think Barrios would mind—he was reportedly a master of improvisation and rarely played the same piece twice, something I appreciate. “La Catira” is by the Venezuelan composer Antonio Lauro. This is one of my mother’s favorite pieces, and here is dedicated to her. “Berceuse a Jussara,” also by Baden Powell, is another piece on my CD, as is my original “The Frog Prince,” which evokes English folk songs (or, at least, I think it does.) Finally, the “Adagio” from the “Concierto de Aranjuez” is my work-in-progress arrangement of the famous concerto by Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo. This was written for guitar and orchestra, and has been performed innumerable times. My arrangement is a bit loose and improvisational (and, I repeat, a work in progress) and truly needs Bruno Lucini’s percussion… but there we are, anyway. (I can’t wait to perform live with Bruno, once again, but nevertheless I need to wait…)

Noon “House” Concert, April 3: Electric Spanish Edition

Repertoire for 4/3

Saudade - John W. Warren

Norwegian Wood – Lennon and McCartney > Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix > Malagueña - Ernesto Lecuona

Nature Boy - Eden Ahbez > Prelude No. 1 - Heitor Villa-Lobos

Floresta do Amazonas: Melodia Sentimental - Heitor Villa-Lobos

Serenata de Adeus (Farewell Serenade) - Baden Powell

My fourth live-streamed “House” concert is again performed on electric guitar. I’ve been calling this new style of mine “Electric Spanish.” It seems appropriate. Why not? For one thing, my vintage Gibson is an ES-330, and the “ES” stands for “Electric Spanish.” I start out with “Saudade,” another Brazilian-flavored piece written many years ago, on a trip to Brazil. My friend Juan Gras has a house in Camburí, on the coast outside of São Paulo, and I either wrote this tune there or shortly thereafter with nostalgia for the place. The Portuguese word saudade is one of those words that is perhaps untranslatable, at least so it’s said; it’s very Portuguese, a bit mournful, but not entirely so, a sort of longing or nostalgia. Lennon and McCartney’s “Norwegian Wood” here blends into Jimi Hendrix’ “Little Wing,” which in turn blends into the Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona’s Spanish-sounding “Malagueña.”

“Nature Boy” by Eden Ahbez is an arrangement by Howard Heitmeyer that I’ve been working on lately, and here it leads into an electric blues version of the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos’ “Prelude No. 1.” This is an iconic classical guitar piece. I’ve never heard it on electric guitar but I suppose I’m not the first. Another new arrangement I’ve been working on this Spring is a solo guitar version of another piece by Heitor Villa-Lobos: “Melodia Sentimental” from “Floresta do Amazonas.” This was one of the last pieces written by the great Villa-Lobos (1887-1959). Originally commissioned for the film Green Mansions, which starred Audrey Hepburn and Anthony Perkins, the composer later turned it into a suite for soprano and orchestra, entitled A Floresta do Amazonas (Forest of the Amazon). This is a new arrangement I’ve been working on, with elements of a version by Carlos Barbosa-Lima, and it’s still a bit of a work in progress. This is the first time I’ve performed it live, and it probably shows. (Oh well!) I love this melody, however. Close your eyes—do you feel the humidity and mystery of the Amazon forest, the moonlight above the trees, the green vines falling from above down to the ground? Listen for the growl of a jaguar, close by (but, one hopes, not too close). I close here with another Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes composition, “Serenata de Adeus” (Serenade of Goodbye). Goodbye!

Noon “House” Concert, April 10: Classical Guitar

This was a tough week. It has been a tough week for all of us, I’m sure. It feels as though life is both zooming by and standing still. I thought of putting these concerts on pause, but with the loss of the great songwriter, poet, and soul John Prine, with some of my friends (and yours) sick or recovering from the coronavirus, and more, too much more, it seemed like music must go on no matter what. I honestly hadn’t played enough this week and didn’t really feel quite ready, but… perfection is not the point. Not now, if ever. Come join me however you are....

Repertoire for April 10:

Classical Gas - Mason Williams

Angel from Montgomery - John Prine

Here Comes the Flood - Peter Gabriel

Scarborough Fair - traditional 

Danza Inca - Jose Torres

Nana da Lua (Lullaby for the Moon) - John W. Warren

Canto de Ossanha - Baden Powell

Back to the classical guitar for my fifth live-streamed concert. Before this concert, I’d performed 26 different pieces without repeating any, but that can’t go on forever. I’ve been learning some new pieces but feel they are not quite ready. (I don’t perform reading music, for one thing, and memorization is an imperfect science.)

“Classical Gas” is a piece I last performed live perhaps 25 or 30 years ago. As I recently mentioned in a podcast interview with the Tactical Guitarist, I learned this piece by ear back in 1976 or thereabouts, when my guitar teacher Richard Stover refused to teach it to me. “Figure it out,” he said, so I did. Originally written and released by Mason Williams in 1968, with instrumental backing by members of the famous Wrecking Crew, “Classical Gas” has been recorded and released by many artists.

I decided to perform a simple and spontaneous instrumental of “Angel of Montgomery” in remembrance of the great John Prine. Needless to say, he was a great wordsmith, poet, and a great soul, and this version does not do the song justice, but here it is anyway. During my second live-streamed concert, I performed “Here Comes the Flood” by Peter Gabriel on electric guitar, but here it is on classical guitar. “Scarborough Fair” is of course a traditional folk song popularized by Simon and Garfunkel. This arrangement is by Howard Heitmeyer. This is the first time I’ve performed it live in decades. It also appears on my CD. “Danza Inca” is a piece composed by Jose Torres, based on a traditional Peruvian melody, which the Cuban composer Leo Brouwer used for his “Danza del Altiplano.” Another piece that I had not performed live in many years. Here, in a bit of improvisation, I also include an excerpt from the “Theme from Spartacus” by Alex North. (I have to get more into this piece, I think. Listen to the incredible version by Carlos Santana on his album Swing of Delight.) I close this live-stream concert with another Afro Samba by Baden Powell, “Canto de Ossanha.”

Join me again, Friday April 17, 12:00 pm ET for my sixth live-streamed “House” Concert.

Review of my CD in Classical Guitar magazine

The Winter 2016 issue of Classical Guitar magazine includes a brief review of my CD, Serenata de la Sirena, excerpted below:

"This American guitarist-composer, who traditionally has specialized in playing works by Latin and South American composers, has self-produced a CD of nine homespun pieces mixed with five other works. Warren’s title track is warm and Latin in style, with a nice melody and harmonies. Leo Brouwer’s arrangement of “Drume Negrita” follows, with a new interlude composed by Warren, and a couple of other moments where he deviates, in an improvisatory way, from the printed score… Antonio Lauro’s short “La Catira” is a rarity that Warren plays very well. There are also two pieces by Baden Powell: “Berceuse a Jussara” is a work I had not heard before—Warren dispatches it with an almost jazz-like touch that suits the piece nicely; and “Afro Sambas” is complex and highly rhythmic through-out… The rest of the works are Warren’s. “Nisene” is a complex, patterned, arpeggiated, piece…"

—Classical Guitar magazine, Winter 2016