Egberto Gismonti - Saudacoes

The great Brazilian musician Egberto Gismonti's first ECM recording for 14 years is a double-album that displays his artistic range - as composer for orchestra and virtuoso guitarist. The title 'Sauda��es' means greetings - the artist saying hello again after a long absence.

Disc one features Gismonti the composer on a 70-minute journey through his native Brazil: Sertoes Veredas: Tribute to Miscegenation. It is a work that takes account of Brazil's culture and history, landscapes and cityscapes, vividly evoked by Cuba's all-women Camerata Romeu, an orchestra which specializes in performances of South American composition, conducted by Zenaida Romeu. The seven-part orchestral suite is described in the liner notes as a journey through time and space, in a permanent exchange between music, literature and cinema, where nothing is left untouched and everything goes through a deep transformation. The music at different points makes reference to Villa-Lobos, Stravinsky, Bach, the dance rituals of the Xingu Indians and more.

Disc two features Gismonti the guitarist in an exciting duo recital with his similarly-gifted son Alexandre, romping through a programme of new arrangements of such well-known, favourite Gismonti pieces as Zig Zag, Lund� and Dan�a dos escravos.

Personnel: Egberto Gismonti, Alexandre Gismonti (guitar), Camerata Romeu, Zenaida Romeu (conductor)