Guitarist returns for intimate concert

Guitarist returns for intimate concert - Pierre Bensusan holding a guitar - Pierre Bensusan

Considered by many as one of the world’s greatest guitarists, Frenchman Pierre Bensusan will perform for a small audience in Tavernier – on purpose.

The concert, presented by Islamorada Community Entertainment, will be at the Café Moka, next to the Tavernier Hotel, MM 92. Sixty tickets, at $30 each, are available.

Bensusan, also a composer and singer, released his first album when he was 18 , winning the prestigious Montreux Festival grand prize in 1976. After 11 more albums and numerous music awards, he returns for his fifth concert in the Keys.  In 2009, Bensusan and noted American guitarist Leo Kottke performed for an ICE concert at Coral Shores Performing Arts Center.

“No other guitarist shares his strange gifts of sophistication, accessibility and downright joy,” said Kottke. “Even at its most complex, Pierre’s music only needs ears to be enjoyed.”

Bensusan’s acoustic guitar music is often characterized as a complex mixture of Celtic, folk, world music, new age, and chamber jazz. His singing expresses warmth, charm and inventiveness.

“Even guitar virtuosos consider him the master, a musician’s musician, and the small setting at the Café Moka is the perfect place to hear him play,” said David Feder, president of ICE and himself an accomplished guitarist. “His selection by Guitar Players Magazine – the bible of serious guitarists – as the ‘Best World Music Guitarist’ was well deserved.”

ICE is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing quality entertainment and cultural events to Upper Keys residents. Proceeds from ICE events provide music, dance, and arts scholarships to local students and grants to school programs.

Pierre Bensusan

Wednesday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m.

Café Moka, MM 92, Tavernier.

Tickets, information at keysice.com