Tuesday, 21 October 2014

Adrian Belew looks to a new legacy

Guitarist Adrien Belew.
Guitarist Adrien Belew.

Guitarist Adrian Belew is already famous for his signature sound (think chickens squawking, elephants trumpeting), his quirky art-pop solo albums, and his role as six-string slinging sideman to Zappa, Bowie, Talking Heads, King Crimson, Nine Inch Nails, and more during each of those artists' most formidably experimental moments.

"Like Frank [Zappa] once told me, 'It's all just chapters of one long book,' " Belew, 64, says from his Nashville home.

All that, and Belew feels as if he's just getting started, with two projects - an innovative app, FLUX, where his music never plays the same way twice, and his Power Trio with Philadelphia bassist Julie Slick - that he says he believes will redefine him. Power Trio plays World Cafe Live on Friday.

It's not as if Belew needs a new legacy. The one he's been angling toward since his time with Zappa is pretty iconic. Yet, for the Kentucky native, there's always more. "Now is easily the best time for me," he says. "I'm in command of my instrument, and my ideas flow directly into the guitar rather than me thinking about it.

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