Search - Baden Powell :: Estudos

Uncelebrated Masterpiece

Michael | 08/12/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I found this album in a cut-out rack during the 70's, and became very attached to it after a few spins on the turntable. I was excited to find this record available again after apparently being unavailable for many years. This is not the Baden Powell of more recent history, or the kind of Brazilian pop-samba you might expect to hear in the background at a cocktail party. The instrumentation here is guitar and percussion. The remarkable thing about this album is how it manages to be both earthy and ethereal, rootsy and avant-garde. Powell connects with the heart of samba; Portuguese folk music and Spanish gypsy-flamenco merged with African and traditional South American rhythms. There's a playfulness here (I choose the word playfulness over experimentation, as Powell seems to know exactly what he is after)in terms of melody and timbre. The ethereal and avant-garde comes in the form of Powell's sense of atmosphere, mood, and tone-poetry."