French-Algerian acoustic guitar virtuoso, vocalist and composer Pierre Bensusan finally makes his début at The Carleton on Sunday, October 19th. Show time for this extraordinary event is 7 PM and tickets are $35 + HST.

“It’s like the guitar has been given free reign to play itself!”

French-Algerian acoustic guitar virtuoso, vocalist and composer Pierre Bensusan, surnamed “Mister DADGAD”, has taken his unique sound to all corners of the globe.

Winner of the Independent Music Award for his triple live album Encore, voted Best World Music Guitarist by Guitar Player Magazine reader’s Poll, winner of the Rose d’Or at the Montreux Festival for his debut album, Pierre is recognized as one of the greatest guitar players of the 21st century.

When Michael Hedges titles one of his compositions Bensusan, you know that the inspiration behind it must be special and Pierre Bensusan certainly is. Guitarists from Leo Kottke to Larry Corryel, to Tuck Andress, Tommy Emmanuel, Mark Knopfler, Andrew York, Andy Timmons, to Steve Lukather… have sung his praises, and Steve Vai released three Bensusan albums on his label Favored Nations. And it’s not just guitarists who are so inspired by Pierre’s music, as a recent studio collaboration with him on Donny Osmond’s latest album Start Again goes to show.

If World Music means the fusion of traditional, contemporary, jazz, classical and pop music, then Bensusan is one of the most eloquent World Music musicians of our time. A pianist in his beginnings then self-taught on the guitar, the originality of his style makes him one of today’s greatest guitarists and composers for the instrument.

Given the length of Pierre’s career, you can imagine there are a ton of videos available. If you want to explore more, Pierre has a curated mix of live performances on YouTube that you can view HERE.