Search - Henrique Cazes, Marcello Goncalvez :: Pixinguinha de Bolso

Excellent Demonstration for Many View Points

Mediaflow | Hoboken, NJ, USA | 01/12/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is an album of excellent value for demonstrations. What does it demonstrate?1.It demonstrates an innovative approach can revive an old form of music. Pixinguinha (= Pixinga= Alfredo Da Rocha Vianna Junior 1897-1973) is one of the best composers in Brazil. Many instrumental artists have recorded his tunes/songs. Most likely you will hear music be reproduced by a small ensemble with saxphone/flute/guitar/pandeiro and a few extras elements, as Pixinga originally planned. To use only two guitars [one soprano guitar (cavaquinho), one 7-string] to mimic the sound of many more pieces needs some creativity. Henrique Cazes and Marcello Goncalves have done a great job on this CD in rearranging those classic pieces. Marcello?s 7-string guitar went beyond the base chords as accompany to a dual. The 7-string equally shares the music line while providing a solid base beats. In many sections of the CD, 7-string is actually being the ?solo?. The effect is very ?Bach...ish?. 2. It demonstrates how a good recording can enhance the enjoyment of music. Cavaquinho has never sound better on my system. The soprano guitar was very sweet and full with its tiny wood chamber. The sound of 7-string was solid and extended, with just a bit exaggeration at the lowest end. The sound of fingering (picking the strings) is very clear, adding some hi-fi feeling for the audiophiles. Although the instruments almost equally distributed to both channel, as I prefer mostly one instrument per channel in this ?dual?, the sound quality is pleasant nevertheless.3. It demonstrates that a bit more practice can make perfect, even for professionals. The only reason I did not give this CD 5 stars because it has some synchronicity problem and some technical flaws. Henrique and Marcello are both excellent musicians, but their timings are not always coherent. In the very fast tracks such as ?Tr. 2: Segura Ele? and ?Tr.13 Um a zero?, the incoherence of beats can be very annoying. There were also some impurity noticeable in the quick flying passages especially Henrique. He missed or bluffed quite a few passages. This is not a live recording which we can tolerate these types of errors. These loose ends can be tighten if the artists just rehearsed more times before recording session. 4. It demonstrates guitars can sing without a human voice. A few tracks of this album is very well done. Tr. 12 Gloria, Tr.3 Sensival, Tr. 7 Ingenuo, and Tr.10 Cochichando were my favorite. With a fine balance between virtuosity and sensitivity, the singing of the two guitars go straight to your heart. This album is highly recommended, regardless of a few glitches. One advantage of CD over LP is that you can skip the tracks you don?t enjoy. Just to press ?skip forward? a few times while playing, I ensure you will have great pleasure with ?Pixinguinha De Bolso?."