Live at Montreux

by Gui Mallon

Overview

Though not well-known among American Brazilian music fans, despite being on the road for 20 years, guitarist/composer Gui Mallon ought to gain a bigger following with the release of his eighth album -- his first on an American label. Here is one Brazilian who has something new to say in a vintage idiom, combining a 1960s bossa nova/samba sensibility, a sharp ear for good tunes, a flair for driving rhythm, and sophisticated third stream writing for strings and winds. Mallon's energetic acoustic guitar work is complemented by a versatile ensemble that he formed when he was based in Sweden -- and this band has no trouble getting a rise out of the discerning audience at the 1999 Montreux Jazz Festival. The strings are in configurations of duos, quartets, and quintets; the winds are two flutes or two saxophones -- and these musicians are not mere window-dressing slathered onto the band as a sweetener. The string parts often interweave with the rhythms -- and the wind players, obviously well-versed in jazz, are given plenty of worthwhile solo time. The centerpiece of the disc is the multi-part "Brasil, Brazil Suite," a seamless, beautifully played, percolating progression of pieces that seem to take listeners through the vast green interior of the country. As the suite seems to settle into a rumbling cadenza for Mallon's solo acoustic guitar, one that tells a complete short story in only a bit over a minute, the scene shifts abruptly as rapper Glauko Santos Lima jars listeners back to urban reality. Yes, there is a vital, inventive, Brazilian third stream route in the 21st century. ~ Richard S. Ginell

Product Details

Release Date:	10/12/2004
Label:	Adventure Music
UPC:	0823421100728
Rank:	208456

Tracks

1. Bai¿¿o Tv¿¿
2. Overture Montreux
3. Marianne (or Lost in New York)
4. Brasil, Brazil Suite: I Samba Intro
5. Brasil, Brazil Suite: II Pavana da Guanabara
6. Brasil, Brazil Suite: III Ipanema Sunset
7. Brasil, Brazil Suite: IV Canto Indio
8. Brasil, Brazil Suite: V Bai¿¿o
9. Brasil, Brazil Suite: VI Cadenza
10. Brasil, Brazil Suite: VII Brasil, Brazil
11. Brasil, Brazil Suite: VIII Samba Coda
12. Jam Finale
13. Herm¿¿tica II
14. Lek

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Gui Mallon   Primary Artist,Guitar
Amado Regueiro Rodriguez   Percussion
Santiago Jimenez   Violin
Mikael Godee   Saxophone
Helena Espvall   Cello
Jonas Knutsson   Saxophone
Anders Hagberg   Flute

Technical Credits

Gui Mallon   Mixing,Arranger,Composer,Producer,Mastering
Joao Bosco   Photography
Ken Lee   Mastering
Gwen Terpstra   Photography,Package Design
Chris Pew   Package Design
Edson Menezes   Composer