Extreme Guitar Project

During May and June 2002, Italian guitarist Marco Cappelli spent time in New York City. While there, Cappelli became involved with the NYC avant-garde scene - internationally known as Downtown Music - in which composers / improvisers coming from avant-garde jazz, experimental rock, as well as from academic music, created a common musical language. These experiences and influences inspired Cappelli to a new idea and concept: to make a "musical photograph" of the Downtown musical scene through the commission of guitar pieces. And so, the concept of "extreme guitar" was born. Inspired by both the unusual possibilities of Cappelli's guitar playing as well as the proposal to use a mixture of writing techniques (from rigorous written structures to free improvisation), 10 leading Downtown composers wrote for him. These works receive their first recordings here. For the Extreme Guitar Project, Cappelli uses an amplified classical guitar modified with the addition of 8 sympathetic strings, which enable the guitar to control MIDI devices.