Carinhoso My affection for the guitar started at an early age, with the gramophone player filling our home with the sounds of guitar music by Baden Powell and Antonio Lauro. Now, after recording two albums with primarily European and contemporary repertoire, I felt that it was time to return to these roots. The result is a collection of some of my favorite Latin American pieces - a mosaic of guitar works with affectionate overtones, exemplified by the title piece, Carinhoso. There is a seductive attraction in Antonio Lauro’s music, who often miraculously manages to imbue his works with a Venezuelan tinge and the beauty of a Chopin melody. María Luisa is such a piece. Lauro named it after his wife and declared that the piece is just as difficult as she is – or so the legend goes. Next on the program are two Brazilian works: Chará by the legendary guitarist Baden Powell de Aquino, and Felicidade by Antonio Carlos Jobim, in a delightful arrangement by French guitarist Roland Dyens. We return to Antonio Lauro with another piece that was inspired by his family: El Negrito, named after his son. Next is Rosemarie, a walz from my country of birth, the sunny island of Aruba. Los Caujaritos is a work for the Venezuelan harp written by Ignacio Figueredo. It was transcribed for the guitar by Lauro, who aptly translated the distinct qualities of the harp to the guitar. A central piece on this album is Carinhoso, written by Alfredo da Rocha Viana Jr., better known as Pixinguinha, the almost mythical godfather of Brazilian music in the twentieth century. During the 1930’s and 40’s he revitalized the Brazilian music scene by creating a blend of traditional 19th century folklore, jazzy harmonies, and Afro-Brazilian rhythms. The affectionate character of the composition, which he originally wrote for his ensemble , is preserved wonderfully in this transcription by Dyens. After Babel, a work by Baden Powell in the spirit of the Bossa Nova, a fusion of samba and jazz popularized in the 1960’s, we continue to another great figure from the guitar tradition: Cuban composer Leo Brouwer. I have included two hauntingly beautiful pieces from his recently published set of new etudes: his homages to Szymanowski and Villa-Lobos. Next on the cd is a Porro by Colombian composer Gentil Montaña. The Porro is a Colombian dance in 4/4 meter, related to the Cumbia. The Porro by Montaña is reminiscent of the sound of the small ensembles that typically play this music. Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz was already attracted to the Argentine tango in the late 19th century, and wrote an evocative and sensitive Tango in D major for the piano. Half a century later, Astor Piazzolla became the chief representative of the Argentine Tango Nuevo. This movement aimed to further develop the traditional tango by using complex musical structures and influences from jazz and pop music. In the Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas, Piazzolla portrays the four seasons of Buenos Aires. Verano Porteño, the movement that I have recorded on this album, represents the summer. Água e Vinho is one of the most famous works by Brazilian composer Egberto Gismonti. At the end of the theme, a harmonic appears that I find beautiful, unexpected, and fascinating: when I heard it for the first time I decided I had to play the piece. The Choro, literally “cry”, is a Brazilian genre that, despite being a lament, often sounds surprisingly upbeat. Marco Pereira wrote a beautiful addition to the repertoire with O Choro de Juliana. For the next work we return to the Caribbean. Aruban guitarist Alfonso Boekhoudt wrote the guitar transcription of Adios Adios, a work composed by Gregorio van der Linde. It is written in the style of the Aruban Tumba, a typical genre from the lower Netherlands Antilles, characterized by a famously deceptive rhythm. Unsuspecting listeners often think they are following the pulse, only to find out later that they have been tricked and are tapping completely off-beat. Documentary makers who film in Latin-America like to accompany their images with the sound of a classical guitar – and often their composition of choice is the Prelude No. 1 by Heitor Villa-Lobos. The long melodic lines in the lower range of the guitar are reminiscent of a cello melody; indeed, Villa-Lobos played both the guitar and the cello. It is one of the most played guitar works from the repertoire. Yet, it is such a great piece that I could not resist including it on this album. The next piece, Cuba Libre, refers to a popular drink in the Caribbean: the mix of rum and coke. Cuba Libre was originally written as a poem in the 1940’s by a trio called Julio Perenal, consisting of poets Jules de Palm, Pierre Lauffer, and Rene de Rooy. Julian Coco, godfather of the Antillean guitar scene, composed the guitar part which I have recorded here. The Bambuco is a dance from Colombia in alternating 3/4 and 6/8 meter. What I particularly like about this Bambuco composed by Gentil Montaña is that the melodic line is primarily written in 6/8, while the bass line follows a 3/4 meter. The result is a delightful rhythmic counterpoint that is so typical of much Latin American music. The totumo, a gourd tree that grows in the Venezualen city of Guarenas, is the source of inspiration for the final composition on this album. Its rhythmic exuberance and melodic delicacy make it a perfect piece to ring out our musical journey through Latin America in style.