Search - Luiz Bonfa :: Violao E O Samba (Dig)

From a bygone age...

Samuli Repo | Helsinki, Finland | 10/25/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here it is, at last!



Many moons ago, in the languid warm summer evenings when just about everything seemed to stand still because of the heatwave I rediscovered some of these pieces from an old EMI vinyl disc my parents used to have. The compilation LP (called Bossa Nova Brazil!) had some vintage Joao Gilberto on it as well, the classic "Chega de Saudade" for example, so Luiz Bonfà was in a pretty heavyweight company. This music just seemed a perfect combination of pristine, brilliant technique and an utter sense of relaxation. In other words, just the kind of laid-back warm groove that you barely notice until you find yourself humming the tunes and walking to the rhythm of the deceptively minimalistic beat - and thinking to yourself: there must be more where this came from!



Finding these tracks on cd, however, turned out to be a very hard task indeed. I even wrote to Odeon Brazil a few years ago - they kindly let me know the name of the original Luiz Bonfà LP that the songs came from; however, at that time there seemed to be no hope of reissuing the tracks in any format.



And yet - here we have them! Anyone who loves their bossa nova without overblown orchestrations and without excessive emotional syrup on top should check this out - as this is as good as it gets. The pieces are mostly instrumental, but every now and then Mr Bonfà (at least I guess it's him singing) delivers a line or two in Portuguese in between his masterful fretwork. And he's wise not to play too much. I mean, it is possible to say so much with "only the necessary amount of notes" - echoing the words of Mozart. Check out the almost impossibly relaxed and yet forward-moving rhythm of "Saudade da Bahia" - coupled with a liquid flute and Bonfà's refined guitar, the song is absolute bossa nova bliss. And so is most of the other material. So get it while you can! This kind of treasures from the vaults are, sadly, released not too often."

Beautiful sounds

Samuli Repo | 01/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Anyone who loves guitar led small combos playing authentic bossa nova will love this album,Bonfa,s guitar is so fluid and melodic
and the recording quality is great, bags of atsmophere and depth.I really reccomend this one."