Anything sounds good when accompanied by soft acoustic guitar music
by musicrob July 12, 2008
"As I learned last night at a classical guitar concert, anything sounds good when accompanied by soft acoustic guitar. Most of the stuff played was Renaissance Faire era, nostalgic in that strange way Main Street, U.S.A. is supposed to be. But among all the ye old Gutenberg Bible stuff, I discovered a new composer - Leo Brouwer (1939 -). His works were the highlight of the concert. His Etudes Simples, written around the early seventies, have a strong Nick Drake (think 'One of These Things First') and fusion (think Jaco) influence. They have a haunting, soulful nature that speaks of Bruce Cockburn and Joni Mitchell. No. 1 in particular stands out, with its throbbing, Weather Report-esque bass line.
“William Grant Still and Bernstein are famous for bringing the blues to their classical; Duke Ellington and George Gershwin are famous for bringing the classical to their blues. Maybe Leo Brouwer has brought the folk/fusion to his classical. The guitar ensemble also played Brouwer's Cuban Landscape with Rain. This longer, almost-process-music work imitates the sound of thunderstorms, drizzle, and hail. Like Cloudburst, it succeeded when it broke into an aleatoric section - as the guitarists imitated hail, they slapped their strings loudly and randomly. It worked." [Leo Brouwer, Duke Ellington and William Grant Still are composers of African descent who have written both popular and classical works and are profiled at AfriClassical.com] [The above Leo Brouwer CD is GHA Records 126.025 (1998)]
Afro-Cuban Composer
Acoustic Guitar
Cuban Landscape with Rain
William Grant Still
Classical Guitar
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