Rock Guitar

After more than 30 years as guitarist, songwriter and singer for Heart, Nancy Wilson knows fine acoustic guitars. Much of the credit for the beauty and tone of the Martin HD-35 Nancy Wilson Signature Edition guitar goes to Wilson herself, who collaborated closely with Martin on the design. A rare combination of premium solid tonewoods gives the HD-35 Nancy Wilson Signature Edition distinctive tonal character. The top of beautiful Engelmann spruce - a tree that grows in the Northwest, where Heart got its start - combines with forward-shifted scalloped braces for full, powerful tone. The sides and the three-piece back wings are East Indian rosewood, while the center wedge is "heart" bubinga, a beautiful and unusually hard African tonewood that provides outstanding projection.

A Pisces fish Yin Yang design is inlaid in rare pink heart abalone, mother of pearl and red composite beneath the Old Style "C.F.

Jazz guitarist Andre Bush to pay tribute to rock's Jeff Beck

HERE'S a show that guitar nuts won't want to miss: Local jazz guitarist Andre Bush will perform a tribute concert for one of his heroes, rock legend Jeff Beck, tonight at Yoshi's at Jack London Square.

Bush, a Grammy-nominated musician and composer, is a 15-year veteran of the Bay Area jazz scene. Still, the guitarist has always found time to return to his rock 'n' roll roots. Over the years, he has balanced performing with such jazz cats as Dave Liebman, Steve Smith, Nnenna Freelon and Jenna Mammina with playing with various rock bands.

His sizable chops mix the best of both worlds — they possess the fire and intensity of heavy metal as well as the sophistication of jazz. Bush is definitely the right guy to perform a tribute to Beck. In particular, he should do a good job re-imagining the material from Beck's classic 1970s fusion albums, "Blow by Blow" and "Wired." Bush apparently feels the same way — he's recording the Yoshi's gig for later release on CD and DVD.

HD-35 Nancy Wilson "Heart" Signature Edition Guitar

Much of the credit for the beauty and tone of the Martin HD-35 Nancy Wilson Signature Edition guitar goes to Wilson herself, who collaborated closely with Martin on the design. A rare combination of premium solid tonewoods gives the HD-35 Nancy Wilson Signature Edition distinctive tonal character. The top of beautiful Engelmann spruce - a tree that grows in the Northwest, where Heart got its start - combines with forward-shifted scalloped braces for full, powerful tone. The sides and the three-piece back wings are East Indian rosewood, while the center wedge is "heart" bubinga, a beautiful and unusually hard African tonewood that provides outstanding projection.

A Pisces fish Yin Yang design is inlaid in rare pink heart abalone, mother of pearl and red composite beneath the Old Style "C.F.

Wear Your Music

The charity bracelet trend has finally hit the indie rock world, and no, we don't mean those black plastic wristbands you bought to support Hot Topic. Relix magazine and Azu Studio have come together to create Wear Your Music bracelets, fashioned from the very guitar stings played by musicians such as Ben Harper, Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard and Ziggy Marley. Retailing for anywhere between $99 for strings used by Gibbard up to $150 for legendary Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh's strings, the bracelets are handmade, designed by Azu Studio and bound by a durable silver seal. All profits from the bracelets are donated to worthy arts and community charities like Headcount, the Rex Foundation, Seva and Rock 'N' Wrap It Up! New artists are constantly being added to the already impressive list of participants, which already includes Ziggy Marley, Michael Franti, String Cheese Incident, the Goo Goo Dolls, Guster and Ben Harper.