Show Review: Guitar Passions Featuring Sharon Isbin, Stanley Jordan and Romero Lubambo

If you’ve got a hankering to witness the perfect classical guitar trifecta, then your best bet is to check out Stanley Jordan, Sharon Isbin and Romero Lubambo perform during Guitar Passions, a tour inspired by Isbin’s 2011 release Sharon Isbin & Friends: Guitar Passions.

They've just wrapped up an 18-date tour, and this trio brings a new meaning to the concept of classical guitar concerts. Allow me to explain...

First, these three amazing instrumentalists were meant to play together. The chemistry between them is so genuine it was evident they were communicating at another level. If we had to compare it to something, it’d be like a love triangle of soul mates who finish each other’s sentences.

Secondly, sometimes it felt like we were at a comedy show. Lubambo, who is from Brazil but resides -in his own words - in the “United States of New Jersey,” has a gregarious personality that was both charming and contagious. He would joke around in the most opportune moments, which kept the vibe casual and warm and the nearly sold-out crowd laughing.

Lastly – where else could you find an electric guitarist who plays both guitar and piano simultaneously (Jordan), a classical guitar virtuoso (Isbin), and a Brazilian improv Maestro (Lubambo)? Nowhere! It almost sounds like the plot to a funny joke, “So, an electric guitarist, a classical guitarist and a Brazilian fingerstylist walk into a bar...” Simply awesome.

Those who attended the show were treated to an exquisite medley of compositions, mostly by Latin American maestros such as Joaquin Rodrigo, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Isaac Albéniz, Gentil Montaña, Quique Sinesi, Ariel Ramírez, and Alfredo Vianna.

Jordan, Isbin and Lubambo traded spots during the show, playing alone, as a trio and as a duet.

A truly memorable performance was Jordan’s insane master tapping double duty on piano and electric guitar, as he performed a number by Béla Bartók, for which he earned a well-deserved standing ovation.

Isbin delivered impeccable renditions of classics like “La Catedral” by Agustin Barrios, and “Asturias” by Isaac Albeniz, in all her classical guitar glory and majesty.

Lubambo played graceful pieces like “Louisa,” which he composed for his daughter, and a modern interpretation of jazz classic “All The Things You Are” by Jerome Kern.

But just because the tour ended doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy these guitar virtuosos’ music. You can listen to them time and time again if you grab Isbin’s Sharon Isbin & Friends: Guitar Passions record, which features both Jordan and Lubambo and which we wholeheartedly recommend!

Head over to www.sharonisbin.com for future tour dates, and check out this live performance the trio made during their stop in Detroit: