Ariel Posen & Mark Lettieri Live at the Sanctuary

The Guitar Sanctuary is proud to present guitarist Ariel Posen with special guest Mark Lettieri at The Sanctuary Music & Events Center on Friday May 10th at 8pm (doors open at 7pm).

VIP Tables with seating for 4 directly in front of the stage are $125 per table.

Downstairs Seats (First Come, First Serve) are $20

General Admission Tickets on the Balcony (Standing Room Only) are $10.

We will have standard Bar and Food Service available from our friends at Rick's Chophouse.

A lifelong musician, there are few roles Ariel Posen hasn't played.

Although born in Winnipeg, Posen spent much of his childhood on the road, traveling from show to show with his musician parents. He began playing guitar at 9 years old, kicking off a career that eventually found him traveling the globe for his own gigs, including shows as a member of the roots-rock band The Bros. Landreth. The group built its audience on the road, opening for Bonnie Raitt one minute and performing with John Oates the next. They also won a Juno Award for their debut album, Let it Lie. Several years later, Posen began working on an album of his own, tracking his new songs in the same studio in which his parents once recorded their albums.

How Long marks Posen's long-awaited solo debut, showcasing not only his chops as an instrumentalist, but his talents as a diverse songwriter, too. The record casts a wide net, moving from rootsy blues to R&B to melodic rock & roll. A co-writer and producer for artists of all genres, Posen shows the full range of his talents on these 10 tracks, nodding to his influences — including The Beatles, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayer and more — along the way. How Long is not a guitar record, although there's certainly plenty of guitar to be heard here. Instead, it's a song record, filled with hooks, autobiographical lyrics, and Posen's compelling voice.

"The guitar is the tool to get the music out," he says. "Always serve the song first. Otherwise, you're just playing an instrument.”

The Mark Lettieri Trio is an instrumental jazz-rock-fusion ensemble led by three-time GRAMMY Award-winning guitarist and composer, Mark Lettieri. Notable for being a longtime member of jazz super-group Snarky Puppy, Lettieri formed his trio as a live outlet for his guitar-based material that spans his three albums.

Lettieri’s most recent release, Spark and Echo (2016, Ropeadope Records), is the latest continuation of Lettieri’s evolution as an artist. Following 2011’s Knows and 2013’s Futurefun EP, the compositions on Spark and Echo display his eclectic melding of genres, tones, and virtuosic technique with cinematic charge. The album reached #2 on iTunes’ Jazz Chart, and #11 on Billboard’s Jazz Albums Chart, thanks to rapidly growing international recognition among fans of instrumental guitar music, coupled with his vibrant social media presence.