Nearly 15 months after his last stateside visit, Pierre Bensusan (www.PierreBensusan.com) heads back to the U.S. for a highly anticipated tour, starting at the Nightcat in Easton, MD. May 9. Over the course of his summer jaunt, the French-Algerian artist globally known as the "Mozart of Guitar" -- who released his most recent album, Vividly, in late 2010 -- will perform in venues throughout the Mid-Atlantic, South, West Coast, Northwest, Midwest and Northeast.

In addition to the U.S. shows, Bensusan will also be performing at the Montreal Jazz Festival on April 27, Capilano University in North Vancouver, British Columbia June 27, Salon de Lutherie on June 30, and the Trinity St. Paul's United Church in Toronto on July 8.

Bensusan's U.S. dates are part of an extensive seven month global tour that began with four March dates at the Portfairy Festival in Portfairy, Australia and includes a total of 17 dates in Australia, three in China and numerous shows in France, Germany, Austria, Ireland and the UK.

Vividly, a multi-cultural, melodic instrumental and vocal album, marked Bensusan's 35th year as a recording artist -- a span that includes such accolades as Guitar Player Magazine's Reader's Choice Award as the "Best World Music Guitar Player" (2008) and the American Association of Independent Music's "Best Acoustic Album of 2002" for Intuite.

One of the key people that Bensusan and Vividly have emotionally lassoed is three-time Grammy Award winner and master guitarist Steve Vai, who has worked with fellow electric guitar monsters like Frank Zappa and Joe Satriani and also toured with Ozzy Osbourne. Vividly was released in the U.S. and Canada on Vai's label Favored Nations.

Another iconic guitarist who played with Osbourne, along with Quiet Riot, was the late Randy Rhoads; an upcoming DVD "Randy Rhoads: The Quiet Riot Years" will feature Bensusan's song "Hymn 11" from his Altiplatos album. The video -- a companion piece to the book "Crazy Train: The High Life And Tragic Death Of Randy Rhoads" -- highlights the life of the guitar master who died in a plane crash in 1982. The DVD will be available for preorder April 1 on www.guitarworld.com.

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