Concert - Richard Durrant

Multi-instrumentalist Richard Durrant is a hard man to classify. Equally at home with an extraordinary range of music, a recent schedule saw him playing with punk poet Attila the Stockbroker at a beer and music festival one week and performing in a concert with the Royal Philharmonic the next. But despite his range of instruments, (he has recorded on mandolins, bazoukis, bodhran, recorders, cello and double bass), Richard’s focus is primarily the guitar, although when I ask him if I can describe it as his main love, he’s worried (extraordinarily) about being pigeon-holed.
There’s no danger of that, judging by the repertoire for Friday and Saturday’s concerts. “First I’m going to be playing some Bach on the ukelele and the banjo”, he tells me. Really? “Yes I tune them up to match the violin and the cello which unlocks them to play a whole different type of music.” Next up is some ‘impro stuff on my foot pedals’ followed by some ‘crowd-pleasing bog-standard solos’, some South American music and some of his own compositions. “I think I’ll play some Mozart too”, he adds. “I fancy a bit of that.” On what? I say, curious. “On a copy of a Nineteenth-century guitar. So there’ll be some authentic sound amidst all the mucking about”, he laughs. Anne of Cleves seems an unlikely and small venue for him, I finish. “I’ve been playing there for years”, he says. “I love it. It’s a great setting, and the crowd are really friendly, which means I can try things out. It’s more like playing for your mates”. ER