David Gilmore.(RIFF: Jazz)(Interview)

GILMORE'S GEAR

GUITARS Gibson ES-335, Taylor 640ce, Wechter 9303c

AMP Mesa/Boogie Lone Star loaded with two 30-watt Celestions

EFFECTS Boss ME-50, Line 6 MM4 Modulation Modeler and DL4 Delay Modeler, Dunlop CryBaby 535

STRINGS Elixir

IT'S ONE THING TO PLAY INTRICATE POLYRHYTHMS over shifting, complex meters. It's quite another to groove so naturally in that environment that the listener is drawn into the pulse without counting or trying to quantify the feel. David Gilmore does all that, as well as weaving lyrical, yet earthy lines through lush harmonic structures--which has helped him back up artists as diverse as Joss Stone, Don Byron, Wayne Shorter, Mavis Staples, Steve Coleman's M-Base Collective, Melissa Etheridge, and Trilok Gurtu. His tones range from edgy and distorted to mellow and clean, and his playing reveals echoes of Grant Green, Pat Martino, Miles Davis-era Pete Cosey, and B.B. King. However, as influenced by his classical percussionist father, Gilmore's musical life began by banging on pots and pans.

"When I was 14 or 15, I picked up the beat-up guitar my sister had been taking lessons on," he explains. "It's not like I heard Jimi and thought, 'That's what I want to do!' I had been playing drums for a couple of years, but I started playing more guitar when my brother began playing more drums, and then I just took off with it."