Search - Julio Benavente Diaz :: Charango & Songs From Cuzco

Julio is the BEST

Mukila | Texas | 04/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The best charanguista in the world shows us his amazing talent in this CD. You can hear his passion and soul not only in the charango but his words as well."

Thank You, Bob

Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 07/06/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Is it a guitar? No! Is it a ukelele? No! Is it a mandolin? No! It's the charango! This little gem of an instrument with 5 double-strung courses was first introduced to me via several of Bob Brozman's albums. Coming from Peru and Bolivia around the 1700s (I learned the years from this album's liner-notes) it can be a driving little beast in Brozman's hands (as illustrated on Songs of the Volcano, Live in Germany,etc... the latter of which you can Netflix to hear and see for yourself as a trial run) or it can be a delicate little jewel box, as here in the hands of Peru's Julio Benavente Diaz.



Frida Kahlo was from Mexico, I know that, and this isn't any form of the many musics of Mexico's various ethnicities. I know that, too. Still, you know how Salma's Frida movie had a substantial undercurrent of pain or sadness yet overall it was a gentle, celebratory movie about the courageous, triumphant possibilities in life? That's how I feel about this disc. This music could fit perfectly in some of those scenes, conveying everything we'd want to feel in those cinematic moments. Happy Sadness.



I think this album is still in print. Look around for it if it's still not here. This isn't salsa or the clave or merengue or the several other things most people think of when they see the phrase "Latin music" so my recommendation is to go to the Tower, Barnes & Noble, CDUniverse, etc... types of websites until you find one with sample clips from this cd. This isn't big music that needs a major soundsystem to appreciate. It's not an album for blasting and shaking rafters. Clips will be able to tell the story. It's very even keel, delicate music-box music of touching songs, mostly solo charango though a handful of tracks have guitar accompaniment, and Julio does some singing.



Though I have 2 specific favorite tunes (tracks 7 and 15), it's not a tremendously varied disc. That's not a criticism, I'm just saying don't expect wild fluctuations in mood, tone or approach. I say try this: After you find some clips, start anywhere on the disc and listen to the next 5 clips. If you enjoy that, you'll dig the disc. If you don't, you won't.



This, The Discoteca Collection: Missao De Pesquisas Focloricas, Punaladas de Amor, L. H. Correa De Azevedo: Music Of Ceara And Minas Gerais and The Spirit Cries: Music Of The Rain Forests Of South America & The Caribbean are the sorts of things I'm reaching for when I'm reaching for "Latin music"."