Folk-baroque fingerstyle guitarist Laurence Juber was the guitarist with Paul McCartney’s Wings for three years, with whom he won a Grammy. The man has also recorded over two dozen solo albums, and he’s back at Boulevard this week so the News asked him about what he’s been up to since he was last in these pages…
What have you been up to since your last Boulevard show?
I haven’t been traveling quite as much as I was pre-Covid, preferring to spend time in the studio writing and recording music. I composed the score for a short film, Catching The Bus, which is garnering accolades from film festivals around the US.
Do you have any new recorded music available?
My latest album, A Day In My Life, is being released on February 9th. It’s a collection of a dozen of my solo acoustic guitar Beatles arrangements recorded in London’s famed Abbey Road Studio 2, which is where the Beatles recorded most of their music. It will be available on a vinyl LP, as well as digitally. In late 2023, I released a series of four digital singles — original fingerstyle guitar tunes, for which I’ve also published the transcriptions.
What are your memories of performing at Boulevard Music?
I’ve performed there around a dozen times. It’s a warm room to play, surrounded by guitars and with a friendly audience. I enjoy chatting with the owner Gary Mandell too. He has a deep appreciation for the guitar.
What can the audience expect from the set this time?
I’ll be featuring some of the Beatles tunes from the new album, and debuting a few new originals, as well as fun arrangements of familiar guitar tunes.
What else do you have coming up?
There are new albums that I worked on as a record producer and arranger, as well as a guitarist. The Way Of The World by keyboardist and singer T Bear, comes out in March. Are You With Me by British Invasion artist Billy J Kramer, will be released in the Spring. “It Makes Me Cry,” a single I played the guitar on for Carla Olson (The Textones) and Allan Clarke (The Hollies), is in the Top Ten of the UK Heritage chart. With my band Airfoil, I’ve been getting back into playing out on electric guitar — singing too. We explore the rockier side of the Wings repertoire and I’m hoping we’ll have some L.A. area shows in the Summer. I have some travel to do — I’m performing on a music cruise in March, playing London in April and teaching at a guitar camp in Alaska in August.There are some guitar festivals on the agenda too. I’ve been playing every day for 60 years, still learning, and happy to have the opportunity to share my passion for the guitar.
Laurence Juber performs at 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 17 at Boulevard Music. Go to boulevardmusic.com for more information about the show.
Elsewhere this week
The Culver Hotel will be hosting the likes of Sylvia & the Rhythm Boys, and Scotty Bramer. Go to culverhotel.com for more info.
There’s a full program of music at the Cinema Bar this week, as usual. The Hot Club of Los Angeles plays every Monday, and Wednesdays are singer/songwriter and open mic night. Other artists performing this week include Bruce Ray White, the Clams, Golf Sucks, and Vincent Brue. Go to thecinemabar.com for more info.