Search - Egberto Gismonti :: Sol Do Meio Dia (Shm)

Incredible stuff...

Marshall Massey | Omaha, Nebraska, USA | 07/02/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a delightful album this is! There are others on which Egberto Gismonti plays more skillfully, but to my ears, at least, this is the Gismonti album that hangs together best as a unit. Like Miles Davis's *Kind of Blue*, this is a wonderful album to play late on a hot summer night, when no one is sleepy but no one feels like doing anything more than listening: its contemplative mood, its intricacies, and its playfulness all come together perfectly at such a time. I also have daydreams of opening a coffeehouse and playing the piece "Café" from this album three times daily to set the mood. It would be ideal for the task: as background music, stimulating and even hummable without being obtrusive; but the occasional real connoisseur of music would forget the coffee and the conversation entirely and be transported to heaven in rapture by this piece. Gismonti and Towner play their respective guitars, not in harmony, but in a sort of dialectical unity that rather suggests telepathy. Gismonti's flute-playing is the flute-playing of a faun-child without an agenda; his piano playing in "Coração" is introspective in a manner suggestive of Debussy, while in "Baião Malandro" it is showily Gershwinesque. Garbarek's sax realizes the lazily caffeinated spirit of "Café" flawlessly. Vasconcelos's and Walcott's percussion work somehow always make me imagine a troop of capybaras, stomp-dancing happily to the rhythms in a jungle clearing in the moonlight. The group as a whole rises to the very highest sort of jazz -- all those exotic harmonic and rhythmic combinations that popular music would never dare attempt, all done with exquisite understatement, as if this is just a few musicians fooling around in somebody's living room without any thought of impressing an audience, or indeed of doing anything except having fun. And yet the back-and-forth between Gismonti and Vasconcelos on the final piece never fails to raise goose-bumps on my skin. Such incredible stuff. It makes me amazed to be human."

Another great late 70's album from Gismonti

Vincent Devaux | Pau - France | 12/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Gismonti has been amazingly prolific in making many great albums from early 70's up to mid 90's.



Typically, his music is somewhat "rough" but very powerfull, emotive, rich, risky and bold during all the 70's. It is mostly acoustic work with many Gismonti's vocals too. It is a little difficult to access because of the complexity; but once you are in, it will stay with you forever. Most of this earlier work is under EMI or lately reissued under Gimsonti's CARMO labels.



The 80's are a transition period from pure acoustic to a mix between acoustic and electric instruments; Gismonti's vocals tend to disapear. Typically, the music becomes less provocative and more polite than earlier Gismonti's work. It is somewhat more civilized and more easy to access. Yet, the music remains highly sophisticated and creative; but with little less (good or bad?) surprise. Lots of these albums are under ECM label.



The 90's are a period where Gismonti's Group was founded. The music move towards more classical style: very polite, distinctive, fluid and elegant. Yet, there is still this amazing creativity, complexity and freshness of all Gismonti's works.

A few movie music albums are part of this period too (Kuarup, Amazonia). They tend to have more electronic effects but they stay into the elegant distinctive spirit of Gismonti's group latest compositions. Most of these albums are under ECM or CARMO labels.



About SOL DO MEIO DIA album, it is in the same spirit as DANCA DAS CABECAS album (check my other review). It is another really nice transition between earlier 70's albums and later 80's albums, retaining the best of the two styles. The melodies feature a lot of beuatiful sounds from Amazonia forest and in addition , this album has several beautiful vocals (that we may miss a little sometimes into the later purely instrumental albums). Although similar, this album is quiter, with not as much rage as DANCA DAS CABECAS. But in both cases, the melodies are very strong and very spirited: Gismonti may not know who he is, but he knows where he goes...

Please check my other reviews of Gismonti's albums if you wish.

"

Un disco sobresaliente

Octavio Arosemena A. | Panama, Rep. de Panama | 07/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Por primera vez pude oir este disco en 1981 y causo una gran impresion en mi, para ese entonces existia un vacio en lo concerniente al jazz (vacio por la ausencia de un Miles Davis, John Coltrane). Solo algunos como Keith Jarret, Kenny Wheeler, Hermeto Pascoal ya lograban alcanzar esa cima de superlatividad, cuando aparece, para mi, el gran Gismonti, (que ya habia grabado algunos excelentes, por no decir los mejores discos en Brasil) va a Oslo y graba este disco con el sello ECM en 1977, junto a su percusionista que se lleva de la tierra natal, Nana Vasconcelos un virtuoso, y ademas se junta con jazzistas de avanzada, nada menos que Ralph Towner quien toca la guitarra de 12 cuerdas en 2 de las 8 piezas que tiene el CD; Collin Walcott en la tabla para el "Raga" segunda pieza del disco y la gran saxofonista Jan Garbarek en la composicion titulada "Cafe". Gismonti quien es mas conocido por su virtuosismo en el piano, de hecho en este disco graba solo 2 piezas con ese instrumento, se enfoca mas bien con la guitarra (de 8 cuerdas), como lo hacia previamente en sus grabaciones del Brasil, ademas utiliza el Kalimba y una flauta de madera (me imagino que hecha por alguna tribu de indios del interior) y canta con su seductora voz en tres de las piezas. La grabacion es de primera, los solos son geniales, las composiciones son buenas todas, de los discos de Gismonti grabados en Europa a mi juicio este es el mejor, eso si, hago la salvedad, los discos grabados en Brasil son insuperables (p. e. coracoes futuristas, EMI)"