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David Spelman Re-Imagines Brian Eno’s Apollo with Mike Gordon, Larry Campbell and Itsnotyouitsme

The New York Guitar Festival was founded in 1999 by musician/producer David Spelman. The event will run from January 6-29 at a variety of area venues. Opening night is a free performance at the World Financial Center’s Winter Garden. There “The Apollo Project” will mark the 30th anniversary of Brian Eno’s Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks with a live “re-imagining” of the recording featuring Mike Gordon, Larry Campbell, Itsnotyouitsme, Noveller and Tortoise’s Jeff Parker. Here Spelman discusses that event and the festival as a whole.

Where did the idea for this project originate? What inspired you to choose Brian Eno’s Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks ?

This year I’ve been working as a music supervisor with the director Craig Teper, coming up with soundtrack ideas for next film, Man in the Right Seat. We last worked together on a documentary about Vidal Sassoon. This current film project is about the Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell and, in particular, his epiphany on the return flight from his moonwalk. I was really very moved by Craig’s interviews with Dr. Mitchell, who described how the experience bridged the gap for him between scientific exploration and mystical experience, and altered the course of his life.

Craig is a walking NASA encyclopedia, and he told me that the astronauts took cassettes of music by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard on their trip to the moon, which influenced Brian Eno to use steel guitar on his score for Al Reinhardt’s film For All Mankind.

The New York Guitar Festival’s opening night concert has traditionally taken place in the World Financial Center’s Winter Garden. The venue is a huge, open space with high ceilings and lots of marble and glass. Because of these reflective surfaces, the venue works better for minimalist, atmospheric music than for rock bands or other loud ensembles with percussion.

When Craig mentioned that Brian Eno’s Apollo was approaching its 30th anniversary, we thought about commissioning a group of innovative guitarists and other instrumentalists to re-arrange and perform Apollo, using it as a springboard for sonic explorations and improvisation.

Can you tell us a bit about the New York Guitar Festival and its history?

The Festival is something I launched in 1999 with WYNC radio host and author John Schaefer. It’s been a laboratory for risk-taking exploration of the guitar’s character. Over the years we’ve commissioned many new works and supported innovative collaborations from a broad spectrum of today’s outstanding rock, jazz, blues, classical and experimental guitarists.

Our events have taken place in Carnegie Hall and the 92nd Street Y, and intimate nightclubs like Joe’s Pub and Le Poisson Rouge. The hundreds of artists we’ve presented have included: Andy Summers, Daniel Lanois, Jorma Kaukonen, Bill Frisell, Sonny Landreth, Cindy Cashdollar, Taj Mahal, Leo Kottke, Kaki King, Bryce Dessner (The National), and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) as well as surprise guests like Bruce Springsteen, Levon Helm, and Emmylou Harris.