Customer Reviews

Alma y Corazon

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Simply marvelous! Incredibly beautiful South American tunes performed with great sensibility by two exceptional guitar masters. Where can we get the music sheets? Carlos Barbosa-Lima is an outstanding arranger and player, and Berta Rojas performs superb! All pieces are handsome, but specially prominent are: Sons de Carrilhoes and Tico Tico.

A wonderful journey through the guitar music of the Caribbean and Latin America. I particularly enjoyed their rendering of "Guantanamera". I am no music expert but I found the guitar music very enjoyable and easy on the ear--very relaxing. I have read that the two guitarists featured on this record are themselves concert guitarists of the highest caliber. I highly recommend this album.

I can't listen to this without smiling - throughout. While there are some quieter pieces, this is H A P P Y music ... and has become a personal favorite. The joy of it is infectious, starting right out with the first piece,Juego De Niños - incredibly pretty. The pace, tones and ornaments make you wish you could obtain the scores and join in ... If I could play like this, I would gladly die a Happy man!

Included is the BEST version of Tico Tico, I have ever heard ... what a Great casually lilting rhythm - just shy of a swing. The "Guantanamera" version is equally the richest in detail, I've ever heard.

... a Gem of a little masterpiece. On a 5-star scale, THIS is an 11! If you don't get this CD, your life is far lesser for living.

For more than 20 years Carlos Barbosa-Lima has shown the world that music moves forward with generations. His fluid style delivers classics, folk, jazz and pop with astounding ease, most likely because he is also a great arranger. We have never been disappointed with a single interpretation by this great modern master. The duets here with the renowned and dedicated Paraguayan guitarist Berta Rojas are delightful - these two truly appear to be "Heart and Soul" when playing together. The CD is getting harder to find at a reasonable price, which makes it obvious that it has been in great demand since it was released.

Our favorite on this disc: the fabulous TICO-TICO NO FUBA as arranged by Barbosa-Lima and his teacher the Brazilian guitarist Isaias Savio. Although he has recorded this tune many times solo, in duet with Rojas it is heightened to an incredible, swirling dance. You will not want to sit still when you hear it. The most interesting aspect of all the recordings on this disc is the incredibly synchronized playing - not a strum or pluck out of beat, no ungainly competition, guitars perfectly matched in timbre. The duo partners here are not individually distinguishable in these pieces.

There are three charming little Paraguayan folk pieces (tracks 5-7) that add piquancy to the collection: their rhythms contrast to the more well-known Latino beats, and you will pick up the 6/8 meter of the Paraguayan "polca" here. It was perhaps originally played on the Paraguayan harp, so this special music is "quiet" at heart.

An interesting addition in this collection is the Gershwin piece "Fascinating Rhythm" - played more like a deliberate, serene mood piece than the tappin' dance tune we usually hear. This one grabs the ear because we have to pick out the tune, and hear it in a different mode. We haven't heard such an interpretation of this jazz favorite before.

This album is a must-have for guitar lovers, no matter what your musical genre preference - it's all here, from classical, to Latino, to folk, to jazz.
ENJOY!