The inaugural Brooklyn Guitar Festival will take place on June 12-13. For a first-year festival, the lineup is stunning. Al DiMeola, Vernon Reid, John Scofield, Mike Stern, Bill Frisell, Eric Gales, Greg Koch, Adam Rogers DICE, Alex Skolnick, and many others. Joel Harrison will not only perform at the festival, but he is one of the organizers, something that can be tricky in New York. Since the New York Knicks made the NBA Finals, the City now needs LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Prospect Park for a fan watch party. So… the guitar festival has pivoted to The Arlo Williamsburg on June 13. The Friday June 12 show remains at Warsaw in Brooklyn.
The festival will include elite guitarists of all ages, include a couple of innovative women artists from Texas, Jackie Venson and Ally Venable. Harrison and Skolnick curated the lineup and wanted to bring in guitarists of varying styles and backgrounds. Two of the highlights of the festival will be an all-star tribute to the late Jeff Beck on Friday night and another tribute to Scofield on Saturday.
Harrison is essentially a professional juggler. He’s a prolific guitarist, arranger, writer, producer, performer, teacher, and talent booker who is a two-time winner of the Jazz Composers Alliance Composition Competition. He will play both nights of the Brooklyn Guitar Festival. He also has a who’s who list of legends lined up for the Catskill Crossroads Blues Camp from August 11-14.
Brooklyn will be the place to be for guitar lovers this weekend at a promising new event.
Hear the full interview with Joel Harrison here:
