TEIXEIRA: Terra da Luz/Kalu: NEPOMUCENO: Cantigas : L. MAIA: Trem de Ferro: Z.MAIA : Bobo; Violando: CIRINO: Estrela Ferrada FACANHA: Ternura: ASSUNCAO / PONTES: Sia Mariquinha: LUIZ : Melancolica; Valsa Latina: NILO/ GOUVEIA: Esquina do Brasil : BARROSO : Valsa Proibida: FORTE : Choro Pro Noel. ARAUJO: Yeda : DE SOUZA: Aracanga: TAVORO/ LUIZ: Pingo de Gente :EDNARDO: Pavao Mysteriozo: FREITAS: . Arlete: FAGNER / BELCHIOR: Mucuripe
Nonato Luiz
Estelita Records
The Brazilian state of Ceara is a place, to be honest, I have never come across before, and similarly the huge majority of the composers here fall into the same category, but the player Nonato Luiz IS known to me and a wonderful player he most certainly is.
These pieces on this latest 65 minute 19- track set are almost certain to be largely new to the majority of readers here, unless this area of the globe’s music is closely followed by you. What you can rely on is the wonderful style of the pieces, for they are everything you might expect them to be. Take, for example the opening Terra de Luz - Kalu pairing by Humberto Teixiera , full of dancing rhythms , and percussive styled bass lines whilst the offbeat rhythms dance above with a toe – tapping tune to boot. Lauro Maia’s Trem de Ferro (Iron Train) is constantly moving from one harmony to another in the opening bars , before some percussive elements appear, no doubt , simulating the train’s sounds, before a catchy melody and set of chords take over. Luiz has a tremendous technique that makes none of this really difficult technical music sound at all tricky which it definitely is! Of course a few of the pieces are more reflective and with less forward rhythms , as is Ternura(Tenderness) by Agricio Facanha, an arpeggio based piece where the often complex melody is underpinned by some elegant arpeggios that never sit still for a moment . I gather that one or two are actual songs arranged for guitar, as (probably) is Sia Mariquinha, by Luiz Assuncao and Eyanor Pontes, and another standout track (not that any of them are boring or leave you unaffected, because none of them are). Our guitarist has his compositional fingers over three of the tracks including the emotive Melancolica and the next track Valsa Latina, both of which are exactly what you might expect them to be. Yeda by the fabulously named Mozart Araujo is full of emotional moments with a sad yet acrobatic little melody set against some very appealing harmonies. Aracanga by Francisco Soares de Souza goes constantly across the fingerboard, on a continuous journey from top to bottom and back again in what is quite a technical feat of playing. The jazz elements of some of this music surface on occasions as in Pingo de Gente by Edison Tavora and Nonato Luiz, and that is one of the beauties of this recording , because in spite of the fact that you don’t know the pieces or the majority of the composers , you can rely on the fact that the music covers ballads, latin dances, jazz styles and many others whilst still remaining entertaining , approachable and constantly enjoyable from start to finish, and you can rely on Nonato Luiz to play wonderfully too. An excellent recording for lovers of Brazilian music.
Chris Dumigan
Comments