For Andrew York, a career in music was something he was willing to gamble on.
“I was quite aware that if I wanted to make money I should go into sciences, another deep interest of mine, but to me music was such a muse,” York told the News Bulletin. “It was so beautiful and interesting so I just thought I am going to take my chances.”
Now more than three decades later, with numerous tours and a Grammy Award under his belt, York’s gamble paid off in more ways than he could have ever imagined.
“My goal was never to garner awards or recognition,” he said. “That luckily can come with it if you’re doing well, but that wasn’t my goal. My goal was to experience music.”
On Saturday (Jan. 17), York will be performing with Brian Gore, Diego Figueirido and Maneli Jamal at the Port Theatre as part of the venue’s International Guitar Night. The event will see the four artists perform a short solo set followed by duos and a quartet.
“We will do some duos together and then we usually end off with one quartet just to find something to do, which is a really creative process because this is essentially people that don’t know each other,” York said.
York was born into a musical family in Georgia and as a small child, he quickly became interested in music.
“I would play records endlessly and listen to them intently,” York said. “I heard them then as I do now. I was able to hear the music. That’s probably why I became a composer.”
Following high school, York attended James Madison University and earned his Masters in Music at the University of Southern California.
“I was grateful. USC is one of those tiers of school that is very expensive. I needed scholarships to be able to go because who wants to pay $40,000 a year in 1983?” York said.
He originally started out as a classical player but switched into jazz shortly after arriving in California.
“I came out to actually to be a jazz studio player,” he said. “I was actually a classical player since I was very young … but I got into jazz and was very serious about it.”
In 1990, York joined the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and won a Grammy Award with them in 2005.
“It’s hard believe,” York said about winning a Grammy. “When I was younger I knew I was going to be a musician and everybody is aware of the Grammys, but I thought ‘well that is something that will never happen.’”
After spending 16 years as a member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and balancing a solo career, York decided to leave the group and focus on himself.
In 2012, York released his most recent solo record, Yamour, and he is currently working on a new album.
“To write music is a very difficult, frustrating and fascinating adventure,” he said. “I have remained drawn to that throughout my life.”
The advent of file sharing, social media and the Internet has left many musicians wondering what will happen, including York.
“The reality is that, yes, it makes it harder. We’re all trying to figure out how to adjust. I don’t have an answer. I am just trying not to be crotchety about it.”
York believes that the attention span among modern music listeners is dropping.
“To listen to complex and good music requires more than a Twitter link … and that’s the sad part for me,” he said. “It’s sort of a dying art, being able to actually concentrate.”
York points out that generations ago people would listen to symphony orchestras for hours on end, but now people listen to music with distractions all around them.
“Nobody sits down and listens to an hour of music and really listens, and are not doing anything,” he said. “That’s a lost art and that is too bad because there is a lot of beauty and depth and nourishment for the spirit and mind when you can do that.”
Despite the drop in attention span, York believes there is a place for classical and jazz musicians such as himself.
“I think that there are a lot of people in the world that hunger for this complexity and meaning that a deeper level of music can offer,” he said. “It has its place and it cannot be supplanted by pop stars.”
York performs at the Port Theatre on Saturday (Jan. 17).
For more information, please visit www.porttheatre.com or www.andrewyork.net.
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