Monday 9 December 2019

Andre Geraissati, Insight (1985), plus more










Those who know the guitar will recognize at once the DADGAD reference as a special tuning of the strings.  Unfortunately unlike the case with Nick Drake these tunings are not as resonant or as wildly creative as one would have hoped.  It might be that the mental illness that afflicted Nick contributed, as it so often sadly does in the case of genius artists.  Anyhow, Geraissati's masterpiece is the 1985 album Insight.  The title track is just gorgeous:





It's slow to get started, very slow in fact, but once it gets going with the gentle acoustic guitar singing its plucked melody atop very delicately arranged and tasteful strings, it absolutely takes me to heaven.  As I always say, music is the closest thing we have to experiencing heaven in our painful real world lives.  In particular it's as good as the best of Araujo, posted extensively in the past here.

Despite the excitement brought on by this record, 3 more from him disappointed me (1979 D'Alma album, 1982 Entre Duas, 1988's DADGAD).  They are basic folk or new age and without much in the way of progressive composition.

From discogs

Brazilian guitarist and composer (b. 1951). He's played with many famous musicians as Egberto Gismonti, Eduardo Agni, Amilson Godoy, Rui Saleme...
In 1970 he founded "D'Alma" with Ulisses Rocha, Mozart Melo, Rui Saleme, Candido Penteado, and others.



2 comments:



  1. 4 albums:

    https://www72.zippyshare.com/v/AD6pchwO/file.html

    https://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/zdqcf6

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  2. Yes, D'Alma is acoustic, a guitar trio. Mostly the instrumental brazilian music has its percussion elements as a contrast element to the harmony and melody of the other "voices", but here its carried by the voice of the guitar alone. Try to hear the other lps, with Ulisses Rocha:

    2nd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQbkf5ox2Bc

    3rd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drf0Rv0dHco

    Geraissati solo is difficult to hear, a compositional endeavor.

    Thanks, Julian.

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