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It is constructed of 64 pieces of carefully selected wood, rock and bone. Each piece shares a special story in the history Canada. Within the pieces that comprise the guitar one will find wood from Pierre Trudeau's canoe paddles, parts of hockey sticks belonging to Wayne Gretzky — the greatest hockey player ever — as well as Paul Henderson — scorer of the most famous goal in Canadian hockey history, part of the deck of the Bluenose II and many more important artifacts from across the country.
On this night, Taylor would unveil some special fabrics used in the guitar’s case — Pierre Berton's bowtie and Don Cherry's pants. The guitar travels the country and is played by many of Canada's premier guitarists. In presenting the instrument to Solomon for his use at the show, Taylor told the crowd, "The six string guitar is a thing of beauty, most beautiful when being played. Tonight, I invite Adam Solomon and Tikisa to bring life to this guitar".
Solomon took the stage alone, strapped on the Six String Nation Guitar and took a seat on the stage with a "Jambo" (Welcome). The night began with “Baraka” and “Bua”, two new songs found on the Roots Rhythms CD. Solomon delivered them looking solemn and singing with great conviction, punctuating his song with his usual flow up and down the fret board of the guitar.
After the second song, Solomon declared his wish for African Guitar Summit to take their second Juno Award a few days later. Someone in the audience answered back, "In sha' Allah." The Arabic term means, "If God is willing". As it turned out, He was not.
The tempo picked up a bit with “Fisherman's Blues”, also from Roots Rhythms and it was indeed a pleasure to hear Solomon play African Blues again, as his focus in recent years has shifted from blues to African soukous. At the conclusion of the song, Solomon thanked Jowi Taylor for bringing the Six String Nation guitar and allowing him to play it, saying that it made the night perfect.
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Adam Solomon & Jowi Taylor |
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