1 of 5 2 of 5 With files from David Matychuk. When David Matychuk of No Fun (“the Beatles of Surrey”) read my blogged primer for the upcoming Alejandro Escovedo show at The Pearl, he caught a name on the poster for which I had zero recognition: James Mastro. “Hang on: James Mastro, you say?” he commented.
“There’s a musician worth a writeup.” “Who?” I asked. (I was fixated, and still am, on Escovedo.
) Mastro is “one of the musicians who I’ve always associated with the New York rock music scene of the mid to late ‘70s and early ‘80s without ever knowing much about him,” Matychuk explained in a follow-up email. “He played guitar on Richard Lloyd’s Alchemy in 1979, then popped up a few years later in the Bongos—a pretty good outfit that seemed to vanish after signing to a major record company. But over the years I kept noticing Mastro’s name in association with a lot more of my favourite musicians.
” (Mastro has played with, produced, or crossed paths with everyone from Patti Smith to Robert Plant, from John Cale to Mott the Hoople). Video of The Bongos - Bulrushes (Director's Cut) “He’s obviously the real deal as a guitarist,” Matychuk continued, “and I’m glad to have the opportunity to fill in some of the blanks on an intriguing musical figure from a great musical time and place, now that he’s finally playing a show in Vancouver.” Mastro has been here before, in fact, but he doesn’t come often—and he hasn’t in a long tim.