Ry Cooder
Masterful slide guitar that feels like a warm wind across the Mojave. Roots music reimagined as a cinematic, dusty journey through global and American history.
Masterful slide guitar that feels like a warm wind across the Mojave. Roots music reimagined as a cinematic, dusty journey through global and American history.
Ry Cooder is a foundational figure in the development of Americana and a pioneer of world music collaborations. Emerging from the 1960s Los Angeles scene, he initially gained notoriety for his work with Captain Beefheart and Taj Mahal before becoming a first-call session player for the Rolling Stones.
His technical contribution to the Stones, specifically teaching Keith Richards open-G tuning, fundamentally altered the course of rock history. Cooder's solo career is characterized by a deep devotion to traditional forms, ranging from Depression-era folk and gospel to Hawaiian slack-key and Tex-Mex accordion music. His 1997 production of the 'Buena Vista Social Club' remains one of the most successful world music projects in history, revitalizing the careers of veteran Cuban musicians. Critically, he is revered for his 'song over solo' philosophy, where his immense virtuosity is always subservient to the emotional and narrative needs of the composition. His film scoring work, particularly with director Walter Hill and Wim Wenders, established a specific sonic vocabulary for the American West: lonely, spacious, and profoundly evocative.
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