California Guitar Trio to Play Mesa Arts Center, 4/19

With a repertoire that ranges from re-workings of classical music to "Bohemian Rhapsody," the progressive acoustic group California Guitar Trio (CGT) will perform a diverse program at Mesa Arts Center in the Piper Repertory Theater Saturday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m.

The Trio's 22-year career has produced 14 albums and nearly 1500 live shows. The combination of technical mastery with an unparalleled collection of stylistic influences, including European classical music, rock, blues, jazz, world music, and surf music, has created a demand for their recordings and touring performances.

After completing several of Robert Fripp's Guitar Craft Courses in England beginning in 1987, Bert Lams (Affligem, Belgium), Hideyo Moriya (Chiba, Japan), and Paul Richards (Utah) toured worldwide with Fripp's League of Crafty Guitarists. The three continued working together in Los Angeles, founding The California Guitar Trio in 1991. CGT gained notoriety opening for artists such as King Crimson, John McLaughlin and David Sylvian.

The Trio's music has been featured during television coverage of the Olympic Games (1998 and 2000), and on CBS, NBC, CNN WorldBeat, and ESPN TV programs. CGT music was sent into outer space as wake-up music for the crew aboard NASA's space shuttle Endeavour.

In August 2004 CGT released Whitewater, produced by Levin. It features mainly original works of the CGT, offset by a puzzle-work arrangement of a Bach lute suite and a mash up of "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" with The Doors' "Riders on the Storm." This was followed in 2008 by Echoes, an album composed entirely of covers, and 2010's Andromeda, the band's first release to consist entirely of original material. The 2012 release Masterworks is an all classical music compilation featuring music by Beethoven, Bach, Vivaldi, Rossini and Part.

Mesa Arts Center is located at One East Main Street in downtown Mesa. Tickets are $25 for the California Guitar Trio concert, and are available through the Mesa Arts Center Box Office at MesaArtsCenter.com or by calling 480-644-6500.