Ry Cooder

Ry Cooder once likened his playing – a sublime amalgam of American folk and blues, Hawaiian slack-key guitar, the Tex-Mex zest of conjunto and the regal sensuality of Afro-Cuban son – as “some kind of steam device gone out of control”.

Cooder’s life on guitar has been distinguished by a rare mix of archaic fundamentals and exploratory passion, from his emergence as a teenage blues phenomenon with Taj Mahal and Captain Beefheart in the mid-Sixties to his roots-and-noir film soundtracks and central role in the birth and success of the 1996 Havana supersession Buena Vista Social Club.

Cooder has brought true grit and emotional nuance to classic albums by Randy Newman, The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. Cooder is also a soulful preservationist, keeping vital pasts alive and dynamic in the modern world. A good example: the night Bob Dylan showed up at Cooder’s house asking for a lesson on how to play the guitar like the bluesman Sleepy John Estes.

Not to be missed.

Age restriction: 5+. Under 14s to be accompanied by an adult.