Garoto
(Annibal Sardinha)
Brazilian Guitar Master of the 1940s & '50s
In the 1940s and 1950s, between gigs
accompanying Carmen Miranda, Annibal Agosto Sardinha, aka Garoto, wrote and
played choro. Many of his choro compositions
are polished miniatures which
fully explore the harmonic and melodic possibilities of the guitar. Technically
it's hard to find more brilliant guitar playing anywhere. "Desvairada" has become
a standard showpiece for Braslian guitarists (Rabello, Rabello/Dino 7 Cordas
Rabello/Armandinho, Caio Marcio, Marco Pereira, and many others) with its
torrents of 64th notes, but many of the other pieces are even more beautiful
harmonically. There are very few recordings of Garoto; this is one. Listen to
his accompaniment of Carmen Miranda on some of her recordings to understand
something of the unique Brazilian relationship of vocals to
the guitar.
--an Amazon reviewer
Paulo
Bellinati
The Guitar Works of Garoto
(2004)
Bellinati does a wonderful job in bringing
forward the music of Annibal Augusto Sardinha ("Garoto"). Garoto is not well
known outside of Brazil, but Bellinati's work certainly gives this brilliant
composer his due. Garoto's style is well founded in Brazilian choro traditions,
and you can hear the influences of his work in later composers such as Antonio
Carlos Jobim and the whole "bossa nova" movement.
Bellinati's technique is superb, and this CD is a joy to listen to.
For guitar players, Bellinati has also come out with a two volume set of
transcriptions (from Guitar Solo Publications) that are also outstanding, and a
nice addition to the CD. For those who like Brazilian solo guitar, this work
will stand out among even the best. --an Amazon reviewer
Raphael Rabello & Radames Gnattali
Tributo a Garoto
Garoto (a slang term for "guy" in Portuguese) was the stage name of Annibal Augusto Sardinha (1915-1955), a talented Brazilian guitarist and composer whose music was a precursor to bossa nova. The guitarist on this recording is Raphael Rabello, a brilliant guitarist, also Brazilian, who died at 35, and the pianist and arranger is Radames Gnattali, a Brazilian composer and pianist who wrote both classical works and music for television. This recording is something of a mish-mash. Rabello and Gnattali combine very well on the Garoto tunes they do, but there's only five of them and the rest of the recording is a concerto for guitar and orchestra by Gnattali obviously recorded at a different time and place with different equipment. The piece is rather self -consciously "classical" in form and it makes a peculiar pairing with the Garoto pieces. "The Complete Guitar Works of Garoto" with Paolo Bellinati is a much better bet. --an Amazon reviewer
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