Bringing on the jarowbeat

Suzie Harrison

He calls it “jarowbeat” -- an influence of jazz, rock and world beat.

With a reputation as one of the world’s greatest guitarists,

Toulouse Engelhardt is unleashing some new sounds with his latest

endeavor, “A Child’s Guide to Einstein,” a collaboration with

legendary percussionist Remi Kabaka.

Engelhardt and Kabaka met in 2000 when a friend, who was starting

a digital satellite surf channel hired them both independently to

write and perform the scores.

“We had one session together and knew it was magic -- like Africa

meets California surf, it’s liquid,” Engelhardt said.

“Remi was baptized and lived near a river Ghana [Africa], and I

grew up on Southern California beaches -- there’s a liquid vibe,”

Engelhardt said. “The water connection was the initial bonding, the

ocean and body of the river bonded us, and as a result we’ve been

making beautiful music together.”

Engelhardt and Kabaka will be bringing their music to the stage on

Saturday at the Galaxy Theatre with the CD release set for May 18.

“It’s hard to categorize. The bottom line when the label says how

do we market this ... there’s so many different styles and things,

you can’t just check off an area,” Engelhardt said. “There’s so much

diversification that we started our own classification.”

While listening to him play while he was fooling around on his

guitar recently at his home in Laguna Beach, Engelhardt’s difference

is obvious.

“You’d think there’s two [guitar] players instead of one,”

Engelhardt’s manager John Bullard said. “‘Einstein’ is his third

album -- he wanted to do a big deal, he wanted a place to break out

the CD and started his own label, Lost Grove Records.”

Also a long time Laguna local, Bullard, explained that the label

was basically created with the idea of “by artists for artists,” to

allow freedom to express musical ideas and visions.

“I play bizarre timing, 6, 8 and 12, Remi is the only

percussionist on the planet who can keep up with me and make it

work,” Engelhardt said. “He loves the challenge, we go back and forth

with different timings.

Both Engelhardt and Kabaka are interwoven into the tapestry of

music anthology.

“I started out with surf music and was pretty well known in the

surf scene backing the day,” Engelhardt said.

In the late 60s early 70s, he was one of the original members of

the “Takoma Seven,” which included Leo Kottke and the late John

Fahey. They were well-know for originating their finger-style guitar

techniques.

“I was born with a Mosrite guitar in my hand, it’s the ultimate

surf guitar,” Engelhardt said.

He said that he found the instrumental sounds of surf limiting, so

he expanded out and was penned by the media as the psychedelic Chet

Atkins -- for his sophisticated picking styles with a lot of reverb.

“My first lucky break was in the early 70s on the Byrds last

tour,” Engelhardt said. “It was the highlight of my life and the

influence that started my new genre of music.”

Engelhardt has toured with some of the most influential music

groups such as the Byrds, Kenny Loggins’ “Celebrate Me Home” tour,

Jack Bruce, formerly of Cream, Bob Weir, George Winston and David

Lindley among others.

Kabaka’s reputation as a world-class percussionist has been heard

on stage with the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley and the

Wailers, Stevie Winwood and Traffic, as well as all four Beatles.

Engelhardt and Kabaka will headline the concert with the Insect

Surfers opening. The Galaxy is at 3503 S. Harbor Blvd. Show time is 8

p.m. and tickets are $15. Proceeds will go to the VH1 Save the Music Foundation. For tickets call (714) 957-0600 or visit

www.galaxytheatre.com. For more information about the new release of

Engelhardt go to www.lostgroverecords.com.