Learn Desert Guitar | Desert Blues Guitar Lessons
Justin Adams needs little introduction, he being one of Britain’s master guitarists - whether he’s Robert Plant’s right-hand man or Jah Wobble’s foil, producer of Tinariwen and Rachid Taha, a studio collaborator with the likes of Brian Eno and Sinead O’Connor, half of the JUJU duo with Gambian griot Juldeh Camara or joining Ben Mandelson and Lu Edmonds in maverick folk trio Les Triaboliques.
Adams' long connection with the music emanating from the Sahara and North Africa has ensured that he is amongst the most influential electric guitarists of the 21st Century. Just as his British forefathers Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton picked up on US blues and rockabilly to pioneer new levels of dynamic improvisation in rock guitar, Adams’ immersion in (and understanding of) the music of the Berbers and Tuareg - who roam the Sahara - and the griots of Africa has literally expanded and enriched the electric guitar’s sonic palette.
Born in London and spending his early childhood years in Egypt - his father was a diplomat - Adams grew up loving both the British pop/rock music he heard on the BBC and the North African music encountered on the streets and souks of Cairo. As a young guitarist back in Britain it was his ability to blend elements of both musical cultures that made him such a distinctive musician and an in-demand player for visionary producers and band leaders who wanted to step outside convention
Justin Adams teaches a rhythmic approach to North and West African styles of playing guitar that is based on both groove and musical dialogue: these traditionally oral (non-written) forms of music are inclusive, open to long improvised sections, and can be very flexible
I became fascinated with the almost infinite forms of traditional music,” says Adams, “often using ancient stringed instruments and trance like dance rhythms