A really unique moment for Brazilian genius Egberto Gismonti – as the album marks a strong move away from some of the fuller orchestrations of his previous sets! The album features Gismonti on acoustic 8 string guitar – mixed with piano, wood flutes, and voice – plus some sublime percussion touches from Nana Vasconcelos, whose organic quality on berimbau and other instruments really brings out a sense of nature in Gismonti's music. The sounds here are as wonderfully understated as previous Gismonti records were powerful – and there's no vocals or other instrumentation, but the record seems to have the same power as some of Egberto's more direct music. Titles include "Porta Encantada", "Quarto Mundo #2", "Aguas Luminosas", "Danca Solitaria", and "Tango". LP, Vinyl record album

Blue-tinged work from Egberto Gismonti – a set that's got an even mellower feel than usual, with lots of very spacious sounds in the mix! Gismonti plays piano, flute, and guitar – mostly the latter, with an acoustic quality that comes into nice play with the ECM style of production – almost abstracting the organic elements into new sonic territory. Other players include Jacques Morelenbaum on cello and bottle, Zeca Assumpcao on bass and rainwood, and Nando Carneiro on synth and additional guitar. All titles are original Gismonto compositions – and titles include "Carmem", "Bianca", "Lundu 2", "Forro", "Alegrinho 2", and "Natura Festa Do Interior". CD

Spare European work from Egberto Gismonti – a set that's different than his fuller earlier work from Brazil, but still pretty compelling overall! Gismonti's playing here with a group of familiar ECM artists – mixing his own piano, guitar, and percussion lines with soprano sax from Jan Garbarek, guitar and percussion from Ralph Towner, tabla from Collin Wolcott, and berimbau and assorted percussion from Nana Vasconcelos. Many tunes are spare, but not nearly as cerebral as other ECM work – as Gismonti brings a very organic feel to the record, one that resonates strongly with Wolcott – and helps keep things in a loosely creative space. Tracks include "Cafe", "Sapain", "Coracao", "Kalimba", and the great "Raga", with excellent work by Wolcott! LP, Vinyl record album

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A really unique album from the legendary percussionist Nana Vasconcelos – one that continues the groundbreaking tradition of his 70s work, but with a very special style here! Some of the tracks use overdubs, so that Nana is mixing berimbau, percussion, voice, and other percussion instruments with a sonic complexity that lives up to the best tradition of ECM at the time – still rootsy, but really showing the modernist elements that lie in his music as well! Egberto Gismonti adds in guest guitar on one long track, and there's a bit of strings on the record too – but most of the energy comes from Nana himself. Titles include "O Berimbau", "Vozes", "Ondas", and "Dado". LP, Vinyl record album

A really unique album from the legendary percussionist Nana Vasconcelos – one that continues the groundbreaking tradition of his 70s work, but with a very special style here! Some of the tracks use overdubs, so that Nana is mixing berimbau, percussion, voice, and other percussion instruments with a sonic complexity that lives up to the best tradition of ECM at the time – still rootsy, but really showing the modernist elements that lie in his music as well! Egberto Gismonti adds in guest guitar on one long track, and there's a bit of strings on the record too – but most of the energy comes from Nana himself. Titles include "O Berimbau", "Vozes", "Ondas", and "Dado". LP, Vinyl record album

A set that's mostly solo from guitarist Fabiano Do Nascimento – yet one that's not like the solo Brazilian guitar records from years back, as Fabiano handles a range of different instruments, often overlaying them during the course of a performance – so that he works here with a wonderful array of sounds, tones, and colors, spun out in a really beautiful way! The guitarist's previous records have always had a careful sense of sound – but here, his ear for performance and recording has really taken off – with a sonic depth that's almost at an ECM level at times, but a lot warmer too – as Fabiano serves up sounds on 6, 7, and 10 string guitars – plus E baritone guitar, Oktav guitar, bass, percussion, keyboards, and pedals. There's some very slight guest work on the set – drums on one track, percussion on another, and bass on a third – but almost all the sounds come from Fabiano, on titles that include "Bari", "Abertura", "Paperstrings", "Agua De Estrellas", "Meianoite", "Reflections", and "Coisa 2". CD

A set that's mostly solo from guitarist Fabiano Do Nascimento – yet one that's not like the solo Brazilian guitar records from years back, as Fabiano handles a range of different instruments, often overlaying them during the course of a performance – so that he works here with a wonderful array of sounds, tones, and colors, spun out in a really beautiful way! The guitarist's previous records have always had a careful sense of sound – but here, his ear for performance and recording has really taken off – with a sonic depth that's almost at an ECM level at times, but a lot warmer too – as Fabiano serves up sounds on 6, 7, and 10 string guitars – plus E baritone guitar, Oktav guitar, bass, percussion, keyboards, and pedals. There's some very slight guest work on the set – drums on one track, percussion on another, and bass on a third – but almost all the sounds come from Fabiano, on titles that include "Bari", "Abertura", "Paperstrings", "Agua De Estrellas", "Meianoite", "Reflections", and "Coisa 2". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the earliest recordings of Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos – an artist who'd go on to have a huge history in jazz, including famous work with Pat Metheny on ECM! This set has Nana very much in his roots – playing first on a stunning solo percussion track that mixes melodic sounds on cuica with a whole host of other percussion instruments – then joining in this sublime improvisation with guitarist Agustin Pereyra Lucena – another favorite player of ours, and one who normally never records in such a stripped down mode! The mixture of percussion and guitar is fantastic – full of fresh ideas, and a great showcase for Lucena – who then takes off on two shorter solo tracks too. Titles include "Concerto Pra Mae Bio", "Improvisacao", "Tempo Feliz", and "Conversa Do Poeta". CD

Some of the earliest recordings of Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos – an artist who'd go on to have a huge history in jazz, including famous work with Pat Metheny on ECM! This set has Nana very much in his roots – playing first on a stunning solo percussion track that mixes melodic sounds on cuica with a whole host of other percussion instruments – then joining in this sublime improvisation with guitarist Agustin Pereyra Lucena – another favorite player of ours, and one who normally never records in such a stripped down mode! The mixture of percussion and guitar is fantastic – full of fresh ideas, and a great showcase for Lucena – who then takes off on two shorter solo tracks too. Titles include "Concerto Pra Mae Bio", "Improvisacao", "Tempo Feliz", and "Conversa Do Poeta". LP, Vinyl record album