Regional Barnabé - Barnabé
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Regional Barnabé
Barnabé
World Village (www.worldvillagemusic.com)

cd cover Much is made of Regional Barnabé's musical hybridity in the liner notes of the group's eponymous release. And indeed, the four piece ensemble (flute, seven-string guitar, mandolin, percussion) consists of Brazilian and Catalan musicians residing in Barcelona who perform mainly choro (or chorinho) music from Brazil. However, the exciting musical friction that such a collaboration promises is largely absent. With the exception of an elegant piece from Villa-Lobos, the remainder of the CD consists of standards in the choro repertoire that add little to other interpretations of these well-trod pieces. While the musicians are highly skilled and play well off of one another, the music all too often slips into pleasant background music. Occasional moments stand out, such as guitarist Emiliano's minor key guitar coda near the end of "Delicado" and a buzzing flute workout by Quim Ollé on "Proezas de Salon." However, moments like these are uncommon. The pieces on this CD all too often call to mind Satie's idea of music whose goal is to "mask... the clatter of knives and forks... without imposing itself". One hopes that future releases from this group will be a little less polite and will generate more creative spark. - Michael Duke

CD available from cdRoots


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