One might think that a conversation with Bill Kanengiser, one of the founding members of the LAGQ, would begin in Los Angeles, but one would be wrong to assume so.
James Baker: Bill, I'm so happy to have the opportunity to talk to you. Can you please take us back to the beginnings of the LAGQ?
BK: San Antonio, okay. LAGQ has a really strong Texas history. I have to say, even though we all met at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles over 40 years ago when we were all students there, and we were drawn there because the masterclass teacher there was Pepe Romero, the great Spanish virtuoso . . . Actually, the summer before Scott Tennant started at USC, which was really the beginning of the quartet, Pepe Romero was teaching annual masterclasses in Houston sponsored by my good friend Suzie at that time, Suzie Cash and at the guitar gallery of Houston. And so, really the first time we met was in Houston at these Pepe Romero masterclasses. And we then started at USC in a guitar ensemble class, like we were all registered in this class that we had to take. And Pepe sort of helped put us together and we, we worked with him. We also worked with our teacher at the time, Jim Smith. And I like to say that, you know, it's taken us like 40 some years to like, get that A in the class. You know, it's tough. But, but I have to think when I really think through like the history of the Quartet, and Texas, is there's a lot of, of important milestones. I mean, one one huge milestone for us, was right there in San Antonio. We did the world premiere of a concerto that was written for us by Sergio Assad.
Bach, Js: Violin Concerto In D Minor, Bwv 1052r: Ii. Adagio (arr. For Guitar And String Quartet)
BK: We also premiered this fantastic work by Nico Muhly for actually three guitar quartets and chorus. We premiered it in Austin, Texas, with Conspirare under the director, Craig Hella. Johnson. And we played it with the Dublin and the Texas guitar quartets back in 2015. And then, right before the pandemic, we recorded that piece along with some other pieces that were written for LAGQ and Conspirare, we recorded them in Houston, actually. And so those are a couple of big milestones, but boy, we've played in Texas, so you know, I'm trying to think, you know, boy, we played in Odessa, and Brownsville, Corpus Christi, tons of times in Dallas at UT Dallas. So we have a real strong connection with Texas and I got a bunch of buddies there... I think, Austin, especially the Austin guitar society, and their hosting of the guitar Foundation of America festival. That was a real highlight for us.
JB: Yeah, I think we have, I'm sure several mutual friends. I'm thinking of Matt Dunne, in particular. He introduced me to a lot of guitar players over the years that I've known him.
BK: Well, I think it's it is kind of unusual that John, and Scott and I are original members. We've been in the group for the whole time, and we've only had three people in that third chair, the whole time, and Anisa Angarola for about 10 years. Andrew York, a very well regarded composer for 16. And now Matt Greiff. And Matt is coming on on 16 himself. So he he'll soon be the longest reigning third chair guy.
Classical Guitar Ensemble
JB: Yeah, you sound like you're talking about an orchestra section with first chair, second chair and the third chair. It's sort of a band vocabulary that you're using.
BK: We like these sort of roles, in a way. I mean, we're, we like to think that it's a very heterogeneous ensemble, a very democratic ensemble, but because we all play the same instrument, it's not like a string quartet where, you know, first fiddle, and then the viola is there in the background kind of thing. And, you know, at any given moment, any of us can be the main melody or the accompaniment, but we just sort of have our roles in the group And so we sort of, we've always sort of thought it's like I'm first chair, Scott second chair, Matt's third and John playing the seven string is kind of the, you know, the bass, the bass guy.
JB: That's one of the things I've always admired about your work is the interplay within the ensemble, as you were just describing. So with very few changes in personnel, how has the sound of the quartet changed over these 40 years?
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BK: It's really interesting, you know, over the years, I think our instruments have changed, our techniques changed a little bit as we age, we slowed down a little bit. When I've heard some of our early recordings, I was like, man! We need to ease off the coffee there! But I do think there is there is an LAGQ sound, you know, that, that we try to create, you know, it's a sort of blend, a unified blend. But it's interesting that we, we each have a slightly different tone, it's a pretty subtle thing. But we each do have a little bit different kind of attack . . . a little different. And I think that's a good thing. Like, I think if we all sounded exactly the same, for people playing the same instrument, sounding exactly the same, it would kind of wash out. But so we have our own individual personalities. But we can blend when we need to. And, you know, this was really highlighted for us. We had this incredible honor that Pat Metheny wrote a piece for us, it was this massive piece, this six movement, 27 minute piece called Road to the Sun. And when he wrote it, and he gave us the score, it wasn't just guitar 1-2-3-4. It was like Bill, Scott, Matt, John, and because he had really, like, listened to us as individuals, and he kind of had a sense, okay, this is what, you know, this is what Matt does and here's John's vibe. And here's, you know, and it was really an honor. You know, and also, I think, really smart of him, you know, it's like to really kind of custom tailor the parts for our individual personalities.
JB: Over the last 40 years, I'm sure you've all changed instruments. Perhaps you're playing instruments built by different makers. This is one of the things that's always fascinated me about guitarists is you guys are always very much wedded to whoever the maker of your instrument is. So has that changed the sound?
BK: Absolutely. I mean, this is getting into sort of guitar geekdom... but way back in the day when we were just starting out, we sort of fashioned ourselves as being like a mini Romerosguitar quartet. And we were playing, you know, some of their repertoire, you know, very traditional Spanish music, a lot of Baroque music. And we played on this kind of instrument that was made in in Cordoba, by this legendary builder named Miguel Rodriguez. And so we were, we sounded, you know, like a little mini Romero's. It was when Andy York joined the group that we kind of made this decision: it's like, well, we're never going to be as good as the Romeros, but let's be the best we can be as LAGQ. And we started playing different instruments. I got my first American instrument, and then we started finding actually German. I think we're all playing German instruments right now. And our repertoire change drastically. Our, our style of playing, that's when we started, you know, especially through Andy York, we started exploring, you know, like groove oriented music and you know, doing jazz and doing, you know, Afrobeats and, you know, country and, you know, rock elements and, you know, definitely taking it pretty far from where the Romeros would go, essentially reflecting our more eclectic musical tastes, and the fact that we're American guitarists who grew up, you know, in the 60s and 70s.
Guitar Night Special (piano Duo+ Guitar Ensemble+ String Quartet)
JB: Let's talk a little bit about Opalescent. I've been listening to it and I have yet to find a track or several tracks that stand out as my favorite because I've enjoyed everything about the recording. Tell me a little bit about how you came to form the program that you recorded for this particular album. And let's see, it's the 15th or 16th . . .
BK: I lost count. But it's the second project that we've self-released. About five years ago, we released a project called New Renaissance, which I'm very proud of, based on Spanish Renaissance music and French Renaissance music. And we learned a lot about the pluses and minuses of being your own record company. You know, you have complete control and a complete responsibility. And you know, it's a lot of work. But this particular project, sort of the, the theme of
BK: It's really interesting, you know, over the years, I think our instruments have changed, our techniques changed a little bit as we age, we slowed down a little bit. When I've heard some of our early recordings, I was like, man! We need to ease off the coffee there! But I do think there is there is an LAGQ sound, you know, that, that we try to create, you know, it's a sort of blend, a unified blend. But it's interesting that we, we each have a slightly different tone, it's a pretty subtle thing. But we each do have a little bit different kind of attack . . . a little different. And I think that's a good thing. Like, I think if we all sounded exactly the same, for people playing the same instrument, sounding exactly the same, it would kind of wash out. But so we have our own individual personalities. But we can blend when we need to. And, you know, this was really highlighted for us. We had this incredible honor that Pat Metheny wrote a piece for us, it was this massive piece, this six movement, 27 minute piece called Road to the Sun. And when he wrote it, and he gave us the score, it wasn't just guitar 1-2-3-4. It was like Bill, Scott, Matt, John, and because he had really, like, listened to us as individuals, and he kind of had a sense, okay, this is what, you know, this is what Matt does and here's John's vibe. And here's, you know, and it was really an honor. You know, and also, I think, really smart of him, you know, it's like to really kind of custom tailor the parts for our individual personalities.
JB: Over the last 40 years, I'm sure you've all changed instruments. Perhaps you're playing instruments built by different makers. This is one of the things that's always fascinated me about guitarists is you guys are always very much wedded to whoever the maker of your instrument is. So has that changed the sound?
BK: Absolutely. I mean, this is getting into sort of guitar geekdom... but way back in the day when we were just starting out, we sort of fashioned ourselves as being like a mini Romerosguitar quartet. And we were playing, you know, some of their repertoire, you know, very traditional Spanish music, a lot of Baroque music. And we played on this kind of instrument that was made in in Cordoba, by this legendary builder named Miguel Rodriguez. And so we were, we sounded, you know, like a little mini Romero's. It was when Andy York joined the group that we kind of made this decision: it's like, well, we're never going to be as good as the Romeros, but let's be the best we can be as LAGQ. And we started playing different instruments. I got my first American instrument, and then we started finding actually German. I think we're all playing German instruments right now. And our repertoire change drastically. Our, our style of playing, that's when we started, you know, especially through Andy York, we started exploring, you know, like groove oriented music and you know, doing jazz and doing, you know, Afrobeats and, you know, country and, you know, rock elements and, you know, definitely taking it pretty far from where the Romeros would go, essentially reflecting our more eclectic musical tastes, and the fact that we're American guitarists who grew up, you know, in the 60s and 70s.
Guitar Night Special (piano Duo+ Guitar Ensemble+ String Quartet)
JB: Let's talk a little bit about Opalescent. I've been listening to it and I have yet to find a track or several tracks that stand out as my favorite because I've enjoyed everything about the recording. Tell me a little bit about how you came to form the program that you recorded for this particular album. And let's see, it's the 15th or 16th . . .
BK: I lost count. But it's the second project that we've self-released. About five years ago, we released a project called New Renaissance, which I'm very proud of, based on Spanish Renaissance music and French Renaissance music. And we learned a lot about the pluses and minuses of being your own record company. You know, you have complete control and a complete responsibility. And you know, it's a lot of work. But this particular project, sort of the, the theme of
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