Paul O'Dette

Paul O'Dette truly needs no introduction. One of the leading figures of the early music movement, guitarist, lutenist, and conductor Paul O’Dette has performed in festivals in virtually every major city in the world, he has made over 120 recordings, among those the complete solo lute works of John Dowland, he is a professor of lute and the director of early music at the Eastman school of music, and is the artistic director of the Boston Early Music Festival. It is an absolute honor to have him appear on All Strings Considered. On the show today we hear Paul talk about his rock ‘n’ roll guitar origins, about improvisation that was happening 400 or so years before the invention of jazz, about arranging Bach for the lute and guitar, reentrant tuning, and more. You'll hear a few tracks from his recordings, on both Baroque guitar and lute, of Santiago de Murcia, Dowland, and Bach. For you flamenco guitarists out there, much of the Santiago de Murcia is actually in that 12-beat cycle (compás) that we all love so much, and you'll hear a seriously old school fandango.