THE LINER NOTES This CD contains the last solo recordings of an extraordinary musical artist who died just as he was poised to reach an international audience. Guitarist and composer Raphael Rabello revived and extended violão Brasileiro—the Brazilian guitar style that encompasses the classical guitar tradition, Brazilian popular, and Brazilian folk music. Rio’s Jornal do Brasil called him “the reinventor of Brazilian guitar…responsible for a new surge of energy such as that injected by Baden Powell during the bossa nova era.” Rabello’s influence on the Brazilian guitar tradition compares to that of Paco de Lucia on flamenco. Both are superb technicians with a visceral approach to the instrument that can leave listeners breathless. And they each changed the course of their respective styles by synthesizing international elements with the traditional. Not surprisingly, Paco and Raphael admired each other greatly, collaborated on one of Raphael’s recordings (Todos os Tons, BMG 10105, 1992), and had planned a CD of duets. Rabello’s career also resembles that of Brazilian guitarist and composer Garoto (Annibal Augusto Sardinha). Garoto, a stunning virtuoso, was one of the architects of bossa nova, and he too died prematurely as he was about to enter the international spotlight. Raphael Rabello was born in 1962 in Petropolis, the old Imperial capitol in the mountains above Rio de Janeiro. His was a family of professional musicians going back three generations. Raphael’s professional debut was with Os Carioquinhas in the 1970s. This group became popular during a national revival of choro—a traditional popular music from Rio de Janeiro that may sound to Americans like a mixture of ragtime and New Orleans jazz. (Choro was dear to composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, who was himself a fine choro guitarist. For Villa-Lobos choro was a musical touchstone. He used the style as the basis for many of his compositions.) In his teens Raphael studied with Dino Meira (Jaime Tomás Florence), who once taught Baden Powell. The youth made his first television appearance at age 13 at the behest of Hermínio Bello de Carvalho, who later produced two LPs with him. At this stage in his career he was called Raphael Sete Cordas (“Seven-String Raphael”) because of his mastery of the seven-stringed guitar that is central to choro. Raphael’s tune Sete Cordas (written in collaboration with Paulo Cesar Pinheiro) comes from this period when he was considered Brazil’s leading choro guitarist. Ironically, this piece—heard on this CD—was his last solo recording. But Raphael was not merely a choro specialist. Indeed his first LP (Raphael Sete Cordas, Fontana/Polygram 6488-174, 1982) included music by Jobim, Agustin Barrios, and Garoto. And although he never abandoned choro, he quickly moved to modernize his guitaristic approach to “MPB” (“Brazilian Popular Music”)—music closely linked to samba. Another of his most important influences was composer Radamés Gnattali, who tutored him informally and had him study harmony. The result was a modern harmonic approach to guitar arrangement that included an unusually rich array of tone colors and techniques. Raphael’s solos and accompaniments were fresh and innovative—chock full of unexpected turns, subtle nuances, and always fire. Later, impressed with the power of modern flamenco, Raphael incorporated into Brazilian music that seemingly incompatible style and made it work splendidly. (His explosive arrangement of Jobim’s Girl from Ipanema on Todos os Tons is a good early example.) Asked to define himself musically, Rabello said: “I follow the wave of Villa-Lobos and Radamés Gnattali—I am a nationalist.” But as anyone familiar with Brazilian music knows, that definition covers a lot of ground. Rabello’s eclecticism is apparent in the profile of his recording and performance career. He concertized with renowned classical guitarist Turibio Santos and pianist Artur Moreira Lima. Other collaborators included samba queen Elizeth Cardoso, Brazil’s leading saxophonist Paulo Moura, and the popular crooner Ney Matogrosso—not to mention Gnattali, Jobim, Dino Sete Cordas, and Paco de Lucia. Just before Raphael died in 1995 he was preparing to launch an international career. The producer of New York’s leading guitar series was trying to contact him for a concert at the time of his death. This recording leaves no doubt in my mind that his name would have sooner or later become a household word among those who love the guitar. In the words of Turibio Santos, Raphael Rabello was “an anthology of Brazilian popular music, one of those musicians who comes along once in a hundred years.” Most of the music heard on this CD is drawn from the choro tradition. The five Rabello originals, (one in collaboration with Toquinho), comprise an important contribution to the genre in themselves and demonstrate Rabello’s absolute mastery of it. The recording includes older works by Pixinguinha, and by João dos Santos—a guitarist/composer active in the 1930s and ’40s. A more modern approach is heard in the pieces by Garoto and Laurindo Almeida. Canhoto da Paraíba (Francisco Soares de Araujo, b. 1928) is from Recife in northeastern Brazil, but is well-known in Rio. Baden Powell, probably Brazil’s best-known guitarist internationally, is renowned for his sambas and bossa novas. However, as his piece on this CD attests, he is equally at home with choro. Passaredo is an MPB song by Francis Hime made popular in 1976, sung by the inimitable Chico Buarque, who wrote the lyrics. In Latin America especially it is foolish to pick one guitarist, no matter how good he is, and call him the best. Still, I doubt there was any musician who, on hearing Raphael, was not amazed. Brian Hodel GSP 1010CD produced by Dean Kamei recorded by John Strother assisted by Rose Landauer at Penguin Recording - Eagle Rock, CA mixed by Dean Kamei at GSP - San Francisco, CA digital master by GSP graphics by GSP/dk photos by Wilton Montenegro Raphael thanks Hélio and Paula Faraco, Mãe Cleusa do Gantois, Guilherme Vergueiro The producer thanks John Strother, Rose Landauer, Luciana Rabello, Paulo Bellinati, and Raphael Raphael was one of the finest guitarists I have ever heard. His talent was enormous and I am highly honored yet deeply saddened to have produced his final solo recording. The memory of Raphael’s untimely passing has been a somber reality for me while working on this album, and though my only disappointment is that he is not here to share in it’s completion, his ‘larger than life’ presence and spirit have been influential throughout the entire post-production process. Raphael’s original title for this CD was "Back To Life," as he felt a ‘new beginning’ for himself here in California after briefly moving from Rio de Janeiro to San Diego. Although "Back To Life" would be appropriate in some ways, I’ve decided to use "Cry, My Guitar," the title which Raphael inexplicably used for the Baden Powell piece on this album—I have since learned that "Cry, My Guitar" is not the correct title of this piece. However, I do sense Raphael’s approval as I recall him repeatedly going over some of the nuances of Baden’s guitar style in preparation for the recording of this piece. We spoke at length of our mutual respect and admiration for this great musician and close friend of Raphael’s—one of his most idolized heroes. The influence is obvious in Raphael’s own unique style. It was indeed difficult to choose between the two session takes of “Cry, My Guitar” (Sentimentos, se Voce Pergunta: Nunca Vai Saber)—both unique, each equally inspired. We recorded everything in two afternoons in September of 1994. At Raphael’s request, we recorded with the specially installed internal microphones in his guitar. "Sete Cordas" is included despite the noticeably different audio quality from the rest of the album. It was fortunately preserved on tape while Raphael warmed-up before the first session, at a distance and off-center from a pair of microphones which happened to be on at the time. It is a hauntingly beautiful interpretation and a fitting mood to close this album—sadly, Raphael’s last. Dean Kamei QUOTES “Raphael Rabello was simply one of the greatest guitarists who has ever lived. His level of insight into the potential of the instrument was matched only by the great Paco de Lucia. He was ‘The’ Brazilian guitarist of our time, in my opinion. His death at such a young age is an incredible loss, not only for what he already did, but for what he could have done.” — Pat Metheny “Raphael is Brazil’s finest guitarist.” — Antonio Carlos Jobim “The best guitarist I’ve heard in years. He has overcome the technical limitations of the instrument, and his music comes unhindered from his soul, straight to the hearts of we who admire him.” — Paco de Lucia “Raphael was a very close friend. When I met him, I was impressed with his talent. I was astonished by his genius.” — Gal Costa “…this is one of the finer Brazilian guitar players I’ve ever heard.” — Lee Ritenour, JazzTimes Magazine “He was born to play the guitar.” ­— Radamés Gnattali “He had no limitations…Technique, speed, good harmonic taste, a complete artist.” — Dino Sete Cordas (Horondino Silva) “There are people who live beyond their chronological time. He was a genius in what he chose to do: to keep the tradition of the Brazilian guitar alive. He reinvented the way samba is played on guitar.” — Ginga “He represented the great tradition of the Brazilian guitar along with names like Dilermando Reis, João Pernambuco, Baden Powell, and Garoto.” — Turibio Santos “He was one of the greatest musicians that I ever met. It seems that he was born to play the guitar. He was an artist at birth, not a product of study.” — Paulo Sergio Santos “If the acoustic guitar has once again established itself as the leading instrumental voice of modern Brazilian music, much of the credit can be given to Raphael Rabello…” — Mark Holston, Guitar Player Magazine “He was an amazing guitar player. I never saw his equal, he was unique.” — Francis Hime “…one of Brazil’s greatest guitarists, a musician of great creativity, with a profound sense of harmony, a big heart, and above all, a great friend.” — Paco de Lucia “To play with Raphael was a big inspiration for my music. To listen to his playing will always be a beautiful learning experience for me.” — Romero Lubambo “The fire that coursed through every note, along with a jaw-dropping virtuosity and imaginative harmonic sense, made him to Brazilian music what Paco de Lucia is to flamenco music.” — Scott Nygaard, Acoustic Guitar Magazine “He was a prodigy, talented and fragile. He was the Mozart of choro.” — Luis Nassif “Raphael managed to free the ‘choro’ from its seriousness with his extroverted style of playing. Because of this, the ‘choro’ attained a universal quality.” — Paulo Moura “Raphael Rabello was one of the most notorious guitar players of all time. His approach was very expressive and confident, with moving interpretations and exuberant technique. His contribution was essential, leaving one of the richest and most remarkable pages in the history of the Brazilian guitar.” — Marco Pereira “This is the missing CD among Raphael Rabello’s scarce discography. It’s like a dream come true to see this CD accomplished—one of the best solo guitar albums I have listened to. Congratulations Dean Kamei for giving such an important contribution to the Brazilian guitar.” — Paulo Bellinati “Raphael was a brilliant guitarist, intensely emotional as a soloist, while possessing unique accompaniment skills.” — Carlos Barbosa-Lima “With the death of Raphael we lost more than the incredible guitar player he was. With all his technique, his tone quality and his bravura performances he was still a young talent—learning and assimilating all the music that surrounded him. I wish we could witness what time would have brought to an artist who was growing and maturing so much beyond his young years. A great loss for us and the guitar world.” — Oscar Castro-Neves