Customer Reviews

Jacob Do Bandolim

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This triple album is not only a great compendium of the music of Jaco do Bandolim (born Jacob Bittencourt) but is also an excellent history of Brasilian choro through the 50s. Jaco is technically remarkable but was widely recognized for his innovations in songwriting, arrangement, and improvisation; in fact, although it may be hard to believe, Jaco had contemporaries who played even faster. Musically, however, he's considered one of the greats of Brasilian choro. Also check out Trio Madeira and Chorinho de Verdade, oither choro albums with fantastic mandolin playing. (Note: bandolim = mandolin in Portuguese.)

Also a good sound!
Jacob do Bandolim is playin' his instrument with maturity! Delightful music!

The booklet is very informative; for i'm learning Portugese languague now!

Thank You!

Album title: "Gravacoes Originais: 1949-1969"
Jacob do Bandolim was a Brazilian mandolin player whose work dazzled audiences for decades, taking the instrumental style know as "choro" to new heights in the years before bossa nova took over as Brazil's new pop style. This 3-CD box set might not be easy to find -- Brazilian major labels have a way of producing far too few enough copies of their best reissue albums, and thus drive everybody crazy -- but it sure is worth looking for. There are also two single-disc collections that came out on bluegrass-jazz guru David Grisman's Acoustic Disc label that might be easier to find... I haven't done a side-by-side comparison between this set and the two Acoustic Disc albums, but I can say that the sound quality here and the pacing of the songs are quite stupendous. This box is mastered straight from the original tapes, with brightness and clarity that is quite astonishing. Listening to it all at once might be overwhelming, but taken a little bit at a time, you'll be amazed at Do Bandolim's technical facility and his melodic grace. Particularly nice are some live recordings from the 1960s, which close out Disc 3, showing his dazzling speed and accuracy, and the warmth with which Brazilian audiences greeted his performances. Highly recommended!