Un importante documento su Keith Rowe e il suo innovativo approccio alla chitarra, ideato e filmato da Bob Burnett e Alan F Jones, particolarmente toccante ora che la malattia gli impedisce di suonarla: What Is Man And What Is Guitar?
What Is Man And What Is Guitar? is a profile of musician and composer Keith Rowe's relationship with the instrument and how he uses it to understand himself. Directed by Bob Burnett and Alan F Jones, the short documentary delivers passages of Rowe’s ongoing journey, from “playing jazz through early years of poverty in Britain, to exploring the unexplored with the ensemble AMM, to his groundbreaking solo, duo and ensemble work from beneath the small umbrella of fringe music.” The film also zooms in on Rowe's current practice and explores how Parkinson's disease affects his work and performances.
"Rowe decided that he can no longer perform solo concerts on guitar because of the tremor in his right hand", writes Matthew Blackwell in his review of the film. "The moment he made this decision can be heard on Absence, as he explains in its sleevenotes - but still the instrument informs his practice. We watch as he dims the lights at a concert, playing only a metronome. Rowe and the audience sit in darkness and silence between each click. ‘The performance becomes a performance of what I cannot do, and a recognition of my own vulnerability,’ he explains, and in that sense ‘the guitar is still there.’"