Egberto Gismonti - Carmo (1977)

Cuando la magia se convirtió en música, nació este disco. Y es que la etapa eléctrica de Gismonti es maravillosa, con su particular experimentación  jazz progresivo brazuca que es toda una declaración de intenciones a través de los sonidos. Y si a veces se lo llamó el Frank Zappa brasilero, en momentos uno no sabe si está escuchando a Magma, otras a ELP, otras a Chick Corea, pero todo eso saliendo de un lugar particular, que no es solamente Brasil, sino además su ciudad natal, que es justamente "Carmo", y ya su packaging transmite precisamente esa atmósfera acogedora de infancia: fotos de callejones, rincones propios, ventanas abiertas de par en par, familias reunidas alrededor de la mesa, la iglesia principal del pueblo, y todo su aire fresco y su paz.  Escuchar este disco nos transporta al corazón de Brasil, imposible dejarlo de lado cuando estamos recordando y conociendo algo de la mejor música brasilera. Magia en estado puro.

 

Artista: Egberto Gismonti

Álbum: Carmo
Año: 1977
Género: Jazz Fusión / Latin Jazz
Duración: 44:27
Nacionalidad: Brasil

Este álbum es fabuloso, bueno, como todo lo que el marciano Egberto hace, que por algo Egberto Gismonti es reconocido como es una de las mayores autoridades musicales del planeta, y aquí en una faceta más eléctrica donde conviven el funk, el rock progresivo, la música erudita, la música experimental, pero también la samba y bossa nova, y otros ritmos netamente brasileros que no nombro porque desconozco sobre la música propia del Brasil. Esta vez no son solamente canciones instrumentales sino que también hay temas cantados. Con unos músicos sensacionales, destacan las líneas del bajo con su trabajo impecable y demoledor, pero todos los que intervienen aquí. que son varios, se ganaron su puesto.

"Carmo" es el lugar de nacimiento del monstruo multi-instrumentista, y tanto la gráfica y la música del disco sólo traen imágenes de esta infancia cálida, como una galería de fotos sonoras, el arte proporcionado por este disco extrapola cualquier discusión sobre el verdadero estilo del disco o cualquier comparativa con otro álbum u otro compositor, ya que el disco nos lleva por infinitos recovecos que arrasan un posible encasillamiento, saltando y pasando de formas y estilos en una construcción musical creada de una manera eclécticamente radical. El disco te lleva al corazón de Brasil, pero de una manera tan personal que a veces uno se preguntando en qué tipo de música se transformó esa canción que empezó de una forma y mutó de tal manera que resulta difícil encasillarlo.

Pero mejor me callo y lo empezás a disfrutar...

 

Verdaderamente, este personaje no solamente debe ser considerado como un genio musical sino también como todo un revolucionario de la cultura.

Egberto Gismonti was born in 1947 in Carmo, Brazil. He began his formal music studies at the age of six on piano. After studying classical music for 15 years, he went to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger (orchestration and analysis), and composer Jean Barraqué, a disciple of Schönberg and Webern. Returning to Brazil, Gismonti began to glimpse a reality broader than the classical world of music. He was attracted by Ravel’s ideas of orchestration and chord voicings, as well as by “choro”, a Brazilian instrumental popular music where varied kinds of guitars are featured. To play this music he made the transition from piano to guitar, beginning on the 6-string classical instrument and switching to the 8-string guitar in 1973. He spent two years experimenting with different tunings and searching for new sounds, which is also reflected in his use of flutes, kalimbas, sho, voice, bells, etc. By the early ’70s, he had laid the groundwork for his current conception was listening to musicians as wide-ranging as Django Reinhardt and Jimi Hendrix… For him, Hendrix’s achievements were proof that “popular” and “serious” idioms need not remain opposite poles: “There’s no difference between the two kinds of music…“. Gismonti’s first ECM record Dance Das Cabecas (ECM 1089), and a duet set featuring percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, dating from 1977, was nominated Album Of The Year by Stereo Review and received the “Großer Deutscher Schallplattenpreis”. Sol Do Meio Dia (ECM 1116) found the duo augmented by saxophonist Jan Garbarek, percussionist Collin Walcott and guitarist Ralph Towner; the session following on a tour featuring Gismonti, the Belonging Quartet and Oregon. Gismonti dedicated this album to the Xingu Indians of the Amazon, with whom he had lived for a period of time in the jungle. On his following 1979 ECM recording “Solo” (ECM 1136), he plays 8-string guitar, piano and bells, expressing a pure and comprehensive view of his music.
Tha next album to present Gismonti was a trio recording entitled Magico (ECM 1151) with bassist Charlie Haden and saxophonist Jan Garbarek, recorded in 1979. The same year, the trio toured Europe, including a concert at the Berlin Jazz Festival, and recorded a second Magico album, entitled Folksongs (ECM 1170). In 1981, Gismonti again toured with Haden and Garbarek, performing throughout Europe.
The album Sanfona (ECM 1203/04), is related to the Brazilian roots of his music. It features both group and solo work within the context of a single release. On the first record of his two-disc set, Gismonti is joined by his Brazilian group Academia De Danças: Mauro Senise (saxophone and flutes), Zeca Assumpçao (bass) and Nene (drums and percussion). On the solo disc, the emphasis is more decidedly on his guitar playing and on Indian organ improvisation. In his liner notes for Sanfona, Geraldo Carneiro characterizes Gismonti’s offeirng as “a trip through Brazilian rhythms, musical forms and popular festivals… symbolizing Brazilian culture in all its breadth from solemn to burlesque”.
Duas Vozes (ECM 1279) with Nana Vasconcelos appeared in 1984. Today Gismonti strives to bring two influences together, Western Europe music and the music from Brazil. Dança Dos Escravos (ECM 1387), released in 1989, takes him a step further in the direction where the distinction between “serious” and “popular” music doesn’t play any role. His melodic lines have a special, cantible uniqueness. In harmonic terms, Gismonti has found a way of combining two cultures, such as one might also find in the music of Villa-Lobos, Baden Powell or Joao Gilberto. His rhythms, also extremely fragile and carefully constructed, never suffer from a lack of pulsating energy.

En definitiva, un disco que sobrepasa todo, una maravilla convertida en delicia auditiva. Ni se atrevan a perdérselo. Ultra recomendado, por si hacía falta que lo aclare.

 

Lo podés comprobar desde acá:
https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/album/685j5uG0VzSiocwtsFzx1O

 

 

 

Lista de Temas:
01. Baião Malandro
02. Café
03. Educação Sentimental
04. Apesar De Tudo
05. Bodas De Prata
06. Raga
07. Feliz Ano Novo
08. Calypso
09. As Primaveras
10. Cristiana
11. Carmo
– Hino Do Carmo
– Ruth

Alineación:
- Egberto Gismonti / piano, electric piano, acoustic guitar, synthesizers, Kalimba, voice
- Robertinho Silva / drums, percussion
- Mauro Senise / soprano sax, G flute
- Valdecir / electric bass
- Esdras Ferreira (Neném) / cuica
- Bira da Silva / percussion
- José Carlos Ramo / G flute
- J. T. Meirelles / C flute
- Celso Woltzenlongel / flute bass
- Bijú (Moacir M. dos Santos) / clarone
- Luiz Alves / contrabass
- Sandrino Santoro / contrabass
- Jaime / C flute
- Flautim / Copinha, Jorginho da Flauta
– Adolpho Pissarenko, Arlindo Figueiredo Penteado, José Dias de Lana, Nelson de Macedo / Viola
– Alceu de Almeida Reis, Ana Bezerra de Mello Devos, Giorgio Bariolla, Peter Dauelsberg / Cello
– Aizik Meilach Geller, Alfredo Vidal,André Charles Guetta, Carlos Eduardo Hack, Giancarlo Pareschi,João Daltro de Almeida, José Alves da Silva, Walter Hack,Marcelo Pompeo, Nathercia Teixeira da Silva, Paschoal Perrota, Salvador Piersanti / Violin
Special Participations:
Wanderléa / Voice
Joyce / voice
Marlui Miranda / Voice
Christiane Legrand / Voice