Search - Baden Powell :: A Vontade

Possibly Baden Powell's greatest recording

Charles A. Cooper | Jacksonville, Florida USA | 10/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't have the japanese import CD edition of a Vontade, but I do have the Baden Powell Box CD set, and this recording is included as part of his more or less complete opus through the 1970's. This disk has become my hands-down favorite of his recorded work through that period. It is completely unique in the way guitar and percusion work together and the way they are recorded and mixed. The production standard of this disk is amazingly cool for that period, a time when over-production was the rule and many otherwise brilliant recordings were ruined for subsequent generations. This, on the other hand, is well recorded with a naked sort of feel throughout. The guitar playing is tight and energized and shows Powell at his finest; the flute playing is also excellent, but there is a special improvisational interplay between the percussion and the guitar which I have not heard elsewhere. Sarongaio and Conversa Poeta are my favorite examples of what I am talking about, although the entire song selection for this disc is brilliant. Listening to this recording is always a pleasure and a source of amazement. If I was only allowed one Baden Powell recording (actually I have pretty nearly all of them) this one would be it."