Baden Powell Music

A Classical guitarist and collector of the genre, I can only rave about this cd. I purchased several of these cd's for my close friends and family. The two Paganini pieces are awsome.
Hopefully, Denon will produce more of the same. This time they supply the names of their artists. Well Done! Bravo!

this guy takes a 2-note berimbau riff and turns it into a few guitar chords - then he really launches it. this is a lesson in how to take a little nylon string guitar and, using only your fingers, make it sound HUGE. there is some singing in portuguese - i dont understand it but it isnt bad - but to a guitar player this is revolutionary stuff.

Recorded shortly before his death in 2000, Baden Plays Vinicius is a collection of songs that guitarist Baden Powell co-wrote with lyricist Vinicius de Moraes. Produced by Armando Pittigliani, who produced Baden's first album in 1959, this album consists of 8 of Baden's and Vinicius' songs, played in Powell's unusually ethereal solo style.

Amazon did not supply a track listing as of this writing, here it is:

1. Consolacao
2. Tempo Felix
3. Apelo
4. Samba Em Preludio
5. Valsa Sem Nome
6. So Por Amor
7. Samba de Bencao
8. Deixa

At only 36 minutes, the amount of music is disappointing but it is only one of two Powell CDs that I'm aware of where he plays solo guitar in a studio with no singing.

If you bought this double album in a shop you would realise from the tracklist that, despite the prominent picture of Baden Powell on the front, only 8 of the 27 tracks have anything to do with him. And although Baden Powell undoubtedly knew some of the other artists represented, it seems highly unlikely that all of them were actually friends of his.

Perhaps the compilers of this collection thought they could get away with their grossly misleading packaging by including several other guitarists, especially Joao Gilberto and Laurindo Almeida (who performs with Bud Shank). However, on several tracks even that remote connection with Baden Powell is missing.

In fact this album is a bizarre mixture of easy listening, light jazz and appallingly crass pseudo-latin big-band music, with a few solo tracks by Baden Powell thrown in. The "Prelude", "Adagio" and "Aria" are the usual suspects by Bach and Albinoni. While the Almeida/Shank tracks are acceptable, the Joao Gilberto contributions are invariably ruined either by a nasty bit of arranging or by the other performers (Astrud Gilberto and a very poor showing by Stan Getz on one track and a percussionist who sounds as if he is chopping bricks on another). Of the Baden Powell tracks themselves, perhaps five are worth listening to, but I cannot imagine that anybody who wants to listen to those five would be interested in anything else here.

In fact this compilation is such a grotesque mixture that I cannot imagine anybody, regardless of their musical tastes, who could bear to sit through either of the CDs. Even if they like some of it, they will hate the rest.

Note: the review below relates to an edition of this album that contains only the first 27 tracks of the 40 advertised here. Maybe the remaining 13 tracks are better, but I doubt it.
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If you bought this double album in a shop you would realise from the tracklist that, despite the prominent picture of Baden Powell on the front, only 8 of the 27 tracks have anything to do with him. And although Baden Powell undoubtedly knew some of the other artists represented, it seems highly unlikely that all of them were actually friends of his.

Perhaps the compilers of this collection thought they could get away with their grossly misleading packaging by including several other guitarists, especially Joao Gilberto and Laurindo Almeida (who performs with Bud Shank). However, on several tracks even that remote connection with Baden Powell is missing.

In fact this album is a bizarre mixture of easy listening, light jazz and appallingly crass pseudo-latin big-band music, with a few solo tracks by Baden Powell thrown in. The "Prelude", "Adagio" and "Aria" are the usual suspects by Bach and Albinoni. While the Almeida/Shank tracks are acceptable, the Joao Gilberto contributions are invariably ruined either by a nasty bit of arranging or by the other performers (Astrud Gilberto and a very poor showing by Stan Getz on one track and a percussionist who sounds as if he is chopping bricks on another). Of the Baden Powell tracks themselves, perhaps five are worth listening to, but I cannot imagine that anybody who wants to listen to those five would be interested in anything else here.

In fact this compilation is such a grotesque mixture that I cannot imagine anybody, regardless of their musical tastes, who could bear to sit through either of the CDs. Even if they like some of it, they will hate the rest.