Musica De Sobrevivencia
Egberto Gismonti is both a folklorist and a symphonist, a musician who loves the intimate grain of the tin flute or blown bottle and the sweeping grandeur of the orchestra. In many ways, his work invokes the early-20th-century composers who drew on folk inspirations. The symphonic dance ofVilla-Lobos,Stravinsky, orMilhaudis as close to his heart as the rain forest, and what's remarkable here is that he's created that sense of breadth with a quartet. Equally adroit on guitar and piano, Gismonti seems to use the two instruments to express the different dimensions of his music. He's joined here by Nando Carneiro on keyboards and guitar, Jaques Morelenbaum on cello, and Zeco Assumpcao on bass. They fuse into an ensemble that can span the rugged folk dance of "Lundu #2" and the sprightly piano music of "Ferro," bringing vigor and elegance to the leader's shifting methods. Gismonti's compositions here are inspired by themes of survival, nature, family, and friends, and while the pieces are without vocals, he has supplied short poetic texts for them. For the 33-minute "Natura, festa do interior" ("Backwoods Festival"), he has supplied a short verse for each of its 15 parts, as well as a text by poet Manuel de Barros to be read five minutes before listening to it. It's a structured meditation on the transforming power of wilderness with an imaginative breadth that finds connections between the soil and the concert hall.--Stuart Broomer