Customer Reviews

Baden Powell Box

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At last, the box-set gathering the Brazilian releases of one of the most important jazz guitarists of the XX century reaches the US market. Many, if not all, of the titles contained in this collection have been unavailable for years, so this is a long-overdue recognition to the late guitar god and a definitive collection of firsts for guitarists and non-players alike.

Baden Powell's innovations in songwriting and arranging as well as his amazing right hand technique will continue to inspire listeners for years to come.

Aside from his first solo efforts ("Apresentando Baden Powell e seu violao" and "Um violao na madrugada") which contain some arrangements which sound a bit dated and could be dismissed as "elevator music" when listened to out of context, all of the titles contained in the box are gems of their time and are highly recommended.

Last, but not least, if you are looking for a reissue of the 1966 album "Os Afro Sambas de Baden e Vinicius" look no further. It (the original, not the '90's re-recording) is included in the set.

There's not much I can add to what has already been written about this guitarist, but I can tell you the titles of the albums included in the collection (which I wasn't able to find before buying it):

1961 - Apresentando Baden Powell e seu violao
1961 - Um Violao na Madrugada
1963 - Baden Powell swings with Jimmy Pratt
1963 - Baden Powell a vontade
1966 - Os Afro-Sambas de Baden e Vinicius
1966 - Tempo feliz
1966 - Ao vivo no teatro Santa Rosa
1968 - O som de Baden Powell
1968 - Os Originais Do Samba (Show/Recital) - Baden e Marcia
1969 - 27 Horas de Estudio
1970 - As Musicas de Baden Powell e Paulo Cesar Pinheiro, Os Cantores da Lapinha
1971 - Estudos
1972 - E de lei

The set is nicely packaged, with what I believe to be the original front and back cover art with liner notes reprinted, though not translated.

The guitar is an orchestra in miniature; this sentence comes from Hector Berlioz.
And this statement acquires all his expressive force when you listen Baden Powell.
That musician is in my opinion, the best gifted brazilian guitarist in any age.
Beside his countless skill proofs; it remains his sense of poetry. Every note he played , you feel that floates: Consider for instance, his performance of Manha de carnaval ; who can play it better than him?. The sense of loss, the huge nosthalgy, the eloquent sadness and saudade this performance awakes every time you listen is the best proof of not only his fierce musicality; but his clear sense of the harmony and sensitiveness at the poetry's service.
An inusual artist; undoubtly; Brazil still has a enormous doubt with him. I think that sooner or later one film maker will bring to the memory of this new generation the greatness and above all deep singleness that Baden Powell hold along all his career.
You know as well like me, that the art has no boundaries. In this sense I recomend this album , because it contains the qunitessence of his craft.
I really hope that in the case of Baden Powell as many other musicain giants from the past this Balzac's sentence be innecesary: " The glory is the sun of the dead ".