Sig08arg.

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Guitar Passions such complaintindeed, I found the added

RODRIGO: Concierto de Aranjuez: Adagio; line a fascinating and tasteful addition.
MONTANA: Porro; SINESI: Sonidas de Aquel The standard repertory presented here as
Dia; ALBENIZ: Asturias; BARRIOS: La Cate- solos (or, in the case of Montanas Porro, a
dral; Allegro; WILSON: Dreamboat Annie; duet with herself) are all as fine as you are like-
RAMIREZ: Alfonsina y el Mar; JOBIM: ly to encounter. This includes Asturias and a
Chovenda na Roseira; VIANNA: Carinhoso; standard performance of La Catedral, though
MELLO: O Presidente without the Saudade Barrios composed sev-
Sharon Isbin, Steve Vai, Steve Morse, Romero eral years later. She also plays a solo guitar
Lubambo, g; Nancy Wilson, g, vocals; Paul Win- arrangement of Ramirezs Alfonsina y el Mar.
ter, sax; Rosa Passos, vocals; Gaudencio Thiago de The other performances are just as fine.
Mello, organic percussion Singer and guitarist Nancy Wilson (of Heart)
Sony 8421957 minutes contributes Dreamboat Annie in a simple and
lovely performance. Guitarist Lubambo also
Sharon Isbins release Voyage in Song was one
joins Isbin in a performance of Jobims
of my Critics Choice recordings for 2009.
Chovenda na Roseira. Singer Rosa Passos and
Despite the presence of singer Joan Baez and
Gaudencio Thiago de Mello perform Pixin-
virtuoso fiddler Mark OConnor, I argued that
guinhas Carinhoso. Finally, she performs
it was not a crossover recording, designed to
with Paul Winter on soprano saxophone and
appeal to a popular audience. The quality of
Thiago de Mello in Mellos composition O
the compositions, and of the performances,
Presidente.
was so uniformly high that it should appeal to
If you believe, with Sir Thomas Beecham,
any serious listener.
that there are two kinds of music, good and
This recording is a crossover. That is not a crit- bad, you will find this in the good category.
icismthe quality of performance is uniformly Only if you are definitely opposed to the idea
outstanding, and Isbin collaborates with some of crossover recordings should you avoid this,
of the finest musicians in jazz, rock, and world but it will be your loss.
music; and with one exception, I found this a
KEATON
delightful and fascinating set of performances.
Lets get the exception out of the way first.
That would be the arrangement of the Adagio Change Is Gonna Come
from the Concierto de Aranjuez. The arrange- HAGEN: Locatelli Variations; BACH: Cha-
ment is by Laurindo Almeida, and it begins conne; SOR: Fantasy; MAW: Music of Memo-
with a two-guitar rendition of the movement ry; WENNAKOSKI: Balai; DOWLAND: Fare-
up to the cadenza, with Romero Lubambo.
well
Petri Kumela, g
Then after the shattering climax, instead of the
Alba 313 [SACD] 74 minutes
wave of sound from the orchestra, we have a
bossa nova improvisation with Steve Morse. Finnish guitarist Petri Kumela has assembled a
This finally dovetails on the closing, quiet wildly varied set of works here, each in theme
moments of the movement, as the final sounds and variations form (or something related to
ascend to heaven. it). He is pictured several times in the notes
Full disclosure here: I went to college with brandishing what appears to be a protest sign,
Morse. I regard him as one of the finest rock angrily warning that Change is Gonna Come.
guitarists ever (and he was a profoundly tal- And he has written a very thoughtful set of
ented classical guitarist, though I dont believe notes on the nature of change as an agent of
he developed that as his career progressed). musical formindeed, of aesthetic form in
He is a supreme musician, and his playing general.
here is superb. But this music is about the He encompasses an unusually broad set of
death of Rodrigos child and the possible loss musical styles here, from Renaissance to mod-
of his beloved wife in childbirth...the final ern, all comfortably and convincingly. Joachim
sounds represent the soul of the child ascend- Bernhard Hagen (1720-87) was a lute player
ing into heaven. Launching into a bossa nova and composer at the end of the lutes reign as
improvisation at just that point disturbs me. an important instrument. His Locatelli varia-
Isbin was a personal friend of Rodrigo, and has tions could pass for an unusually charming
played similar arrangements for years without piece by CPE Bach, and Kumela plays with
any complaint from the musics creator. And charm and delight. His own transcription of
Rodrigo himself was perfectly willing to the Bach Chaconne is similar to Segovias with-
arrange the music into several different ver- out some of his additions except for the bass
sions. Still, I cant get over my misgivings. line, and with some added ornamentation. I
A similar creative effort, the Allegro review David Leisners performance of this
solemne from Barrioss Catedral with an elec- towering masterpiece below. Leisner is more
tric guitar obbligato by Steve Vai, brought no dignified, more inexorably solid, but Kumela
218 January/February 2012
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