The Weekend Planet

Tonight’s show revolves around a definitely-Brazilian album for classical guitar, solo. Its still-young virtuoso Aliéksey Vianna was just eight when he took up guitar, via a happy accident at home; in a cupboard he found the guitar his mother had never quite got around to playing. Aliéksey Vianna plays Sérgio Assad: solo guitar works is a project actively encouraged/heartily approved of by the composer. Sérgio Assad is the older sibling in {arguably/inarguably} the world’s top classical guitar duo. Tonight’s show includes that duo’s astonishing take on George Gershwin’s best-loved orchestral work. They manage it wonderfully well, sans-orchestra.

Discover more here: www.aliekseyvianna.com

Playlist

HAVING TROUBLE READING OUR PLAY-LISTS?
READ THIS AND EVERYTHING BECOMES CLEAR (WE HOPE!)
Details of each track are presented in the following order:
BROADCAST TIME
TRACK NUMBER AND TITLE
COMPOSER
PUBLISHING AND COPYRIGHT DETAILS
RECORDING COMPANY AND CD NUMBER
( distributor/ source details, in brackets like this, in lower-case)
ARTIST AND CD TITLE
Duration of track
Description of track, in lower-case.
Where relevant, further info links to information, gigs/events/related programs

’THE WEEKEND PLANET’ SUN 17.2.08.

2205
THEME:
(details below, as per the original CD.. This cut is also on these compilations Ketama - ’Nuevos Medios Coleccion’ - Nuevos Medios NM 15 820
{ in Australia via MGM www.thegroovemerchants.com
worldwide, via: www.flamenco-world.com/noticias/nuevos.htm }
and ’Jarabi - the best of Toumani Diabate’ (Hannibal 334352 )

CD CUT 1, ’JARABI’
TRAD, ARR TOUMANI DIABATE
HAMILCAR MUSIC LTD
HANNIBAL HNCD 1323
( in Australia, some releases through Stomp Enquiries to: ben@stomp.com.au
worldwide: www.rykodisc.com )
KETAMA, TOUMANI DIABATE, DANNY THOMPSON - ’SONGHAI’
THIRTY SECONDS (EXCERPT)
(retains a stately-Manding air, whilst also embracing flamenco elements. Toumani Diabate’s kora, Danny Thompson’s beautiful double bass and Ketama’s flamenco guitars )

2207
CD CUT 13, ’SIGMA’ {THIRD SECTION OF ’3 GREEK LETTERS’)
SERGIO ASSAD
PUB NOT SPEC, BUT. ALL OF HIS COMPOSITIONS ARE AVAILABLE IN PRINT FROM GSP
GSP RECORDINGS GSP 1027CD
( no Australian distributor.
readily available, worldwide: www.gspguitar.com )
ALIÉKSEY VIANNA - ’PLAYS SERGIO ASSAD’ (SOLO GUITAR WORKS)
2: 51
(solo classical guitar. The older composer and its young player are virtuoso Brazilian classical guitarists. Both are open to non-classical and non-Brazilian musics, too. This is restless and virtuosic, with a bravura finale, but still has an ’introspective’ cast. It is not ’pseudo-Greek’ but does intentionally avoid any ’Brazilian’ accent)

SEGUE

2210
CD CUT 6, ’IMPROVISATION ON CAMPANES’
TRAD, ARR XYLOURIS
PUB NOT SPEC, PRESUMABLY APRA
RECORDING IS NOT COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE. RECORDED ESPECIALLY FOR ABC RADIO NATIONAL’S ’MUSIC DELI’
GIORGOS XYLOURIS - ’VOICE/LAUTO, STUDIO RECORDING ST 345/6 21 MARCH 2000’
4: 31
(AUSTRAL PERF AND ARR: solo lauto {large, wire-strung lute}. Based on the sounds of the bells of St Minas the Cathedral in Crete’s capital and largest city, Heraklion.

ABC RADIO NATIONAL ’MUSIC DELI ’ALERT

It’s mostly concert performances, exclusive to the program.
’Music Deli’ with Paul Petran airs Fridays from 8.05 pm to 9.00pm.
It’s repeated on Sunday afternoons after the 4.00 pm news
Website {includes audio}: www.abc.net.au/rn/musicdeli )

SEGUE

2215
CD CUT 1, ’YATI POULI DHEN KELAIDHIS’ (WHY LITTLE BIRD DO YOU NOT SING?)
TRAD, PRESUMABLY ARR BY SAVINA YANNATOU
GENERAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, S.A.
LYRA ML 4900
( no Australian distributor.
Available direct via www.lyra.gr
website is in Greek )
SAVINA YANNATOU - ’SONGS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN’
2: 56
(Haunting Greek song for absolutely solo female voice - a lament from Thrace, originally for the fall of Constanintinople.)

2221
CD CUT 7, ’FANTASIA CARIOCA’
SERGIO ASSAD
SERGIO ASSAD MUSIC {ALL SERGIO ASSAD COMPOSITIONS ON THIS DISC ARE AVAILABLE IN PRINT FROM GSP}
GSP RECORDINGS GSP 1027CD
( no Australian distributor.
readily available, worldwide: www.gspguitar.com )
ALIÉKSEY VIANNA - ’PLAYS SERGIO ASSAD’ (SOLO GUITAR WORKS)
9: 15
(solo classical guitar. Virtuosic, overtly Brazilian, and with a great many shifts - a suitably-multifaceted portrait of Rio De Janeiro {a ’Carioca’ is one born and raised there}. The piece was originally orchestral, then adapted as a guitar duo and then as this version - for one guitar)

SEGUE

2230
CD CUT 9, ’VALSA DE PORTO DAS CAIXAS’
ANTIONO CARLOS JOBIM
PUB NOT SPEC
ACT 9754-2
( In Australia, through MGM / Planet Imports
email: planet@thegroovemerchants.com
website: www.thegroovemerchants.com
worldwide: www.actmusic.com )
SIMON NABATOV - ’AROUND BRAZIL’ (PIANO WORKS V)
4: 46
(solo piano - a crystalline waltz. The title literally translates as ’waltz of the port of boxes’. Jobim composed it for a 1962 Brazilian film of the same name. Its 21st century pianist is Russian )

2237
CD CUT 14, ’RHAPSODY IN BLUE’
GEORGE GERSWHIN, ARR SERGIO ASSAD
WB MUSIC CORP (ASCAP)
NONESUCH 7559-79971-0
( in Australia, through Warner Music: www.warnermusic.com.au
worldwide: www.nonesuch.com )
SERGIO AND ODAIR ASSAD - ’JARDIN ABANDONADO’
14: 50
( unmistakably still ’Gershwin’s greatest hit’, in an ingenious arrangement for two classical guitars. Very virtuosic, but ’unfussy’. Very mobile)

2253
CD CUT 1, ’SWEET GEORGIA BROWN’
BEN BERNIE/ MACEO PINKARD/ KENNY CASEY
WARNER BROS MUSIC (ASCAP)
POWERHOUSE RECORDS
( in Australia through Birdland Records www.birdland.com.au
Worldwide: www.powerhouserecords.com )
DANNY GATTON - ’LIVE IN 1977 - THE HUMBLER STAKES HIS CLAIM’
4: 34
(As a biographer put it, Gatton’s playing of the solid-body electric guitar ’combined styles such as jazz , blues and rockabilly in an innovative fashion.’ Exuberant, swaggeringly virtuosic, with bass, drums and rhythm guitar.

YOUD LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT DANNY GATTON {1945-1994} ?

This is a good place to start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Gatton

Once you’ve been there, the next logical stop is:
www.dannygatton.com )

2258
CD CUT 8, ’EPILOGUE’
JOHN ABERCROMBIE
PUB NOT SPEC
ECM 1993 / 170 9776
( in Australia through Fuse Music
www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
JOHN ABERCROMBIE - ’ THE THIRD QUARTET’
0: 35 {excerpt}
(delicate conclusion to this piece, with John playing quiet elec. guitar, Mark Feldman the violin, Marc Johnson on ac bass and drummer Joey Baron )

------
11PM NEWS
-----

2305
CD CUT 10, ’FINE’
JOHN ABERCROMBIE
PUB NOT SPEC
ECM 1993 / 170 9776
( in Australia through Fuse Music
www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
JOHN ABERCROMBIE - ’ THE THIRD QUARTET’
3: 20
(Spacious-lyrical ballad for Abercrombie-only, twice-over. He’s playing lead acoustic steel-stringed guitar, atop a second one )

2310
CD CUT 9, ’A HARD DAY’S NIGHT’
JOHN LENNON & PAUL MCCARTNEY
PUB NOT SPEC
FAR OUT RECORDINGS FARO 077CD
( In Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
worldwide: www.faroutrecordings.com )
JOYCE AND BANDA MALUCA - ’JUST A LITTLE BIT CRAZY’
6: 35
(the Brazilian version - sung in English, superbly, with a seductive sophistication that the Beatles’ original never hinted at! Joyce’s just-incredible singing {listen closely and you’ll hear why Jobim regarded her as one of the great singers of all time} w flutes, ac bass, elec piano, percussion and her own fine nylon-string ac guitar)

SEGUE

2317
CD CUT 8, ’ALLEGRO MODERATO’ FROM ’SONATA’
SERGIO ASSAD
GENDAI GUITAR. {ALL SERGIO ASSAD COMPOSITIONS ON THIS DISC ARE AVAILABLE IN PRINT FROM GSP}
GSP RECORDINGS GSP 1027CD
( no Australian distributor.
readily available, worldwide: www.gspguitar.com )
ALIÉKSEY VIANNA - ’PLAYS SERGIO ASSAD’ (SOLO GUITAR WORKS)
5: 56
(solo classical guitar - first movement from a 3-part sonata. The older composer and its young player are virtuoso Brazilian classical guitarists. Both are open to non-classical and non-Brazilian musics, too. This is restless, but in places haunting, too and intricate, with a ’high, calling’ phrase that recurs)

SEGUE

2323
CD CUT 9, ’FAVELLA’
ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM
PUB NOT SPEC
JAZZHEAD HEAD033
( www.jazzhead.com )
ROB BURKE - ’WIDE-EYED’
8: 26
(AUSTRAL PERF: the darker-than-’Ipanema’, more impressionistic side of Jobim. Rob Burke’s tenor sax w pianist Tony Gould, ac bassist Nick Haywood and drummer Tony Floyd. The title refers to Rio’s vast, hillside slums. Some of them - when the rains are heavy - literally slide right down into the more affluent streets, below )

2333
CD CUT 14, ’JOBINIANA NO 3’
SERGIO ASSAD (INCORPORATING ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM’S ’DESAFINADO’ )
EDITIONS HENRI LEMOINE {ALL SERGIO ASSAD COMPOSITIONS ON THIS DISC ARE AVAILABLE IN PRINT FROM GSP}
GSP RECORDINGS GSP 1027CD
( no Australian distributor.
readily available, worldwide: www.gspguitar.com )
ALIÉKSEY VIANNA - ’PLAYS SERGIO ASSAD’ (SOLO GUITAR WORKS)
8: 21
(Solo classical guitar. As eventually becomes obvious, this is essentially a serries of variations on one of Jobim’s most popular songs - his ’Desafinado’
{aka ’slightly out of tune’} )

SEGUE

2341
CD CUT 2, ’ONCE I LOVED’
ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM
CORCOVADO MUSIC (BMI)
MILESTONE OJCCD-720-2 (M-9063)
( no current Australian distributor.
Is still available via on-line suppliers)
McCOY TYNER - TRIDENT’
7: 52
( The initial and final deployment of a céleste notwithstanding, this a robust, nigh-anthemic take on a Jobim samba-song. Tyner’s very powerful piano, Ron Carter’s fat ac bass and Elvin Jones drums. From 1975 )

2351
CD CUT 6, ’STONE FLOWER’
ANTONIO CARLOS (TOM) JOBIM
PUB NOT SPEC
EDITIONS DDV 603
( available worldwide via www.dougdevries.com
and from better Australian retailers )
DOUG DE VRIES - ’LANTANA LOVERS’
7: 56 {complete}
(AUSTRAL PERF: a strong, exploratory version of a hypnotic Jobim piece. Has more ’Africa’ and grit than did that proverbial from Ipanema! Doug & Jaimie Smith are the two guitarists, Shannon Birchall the bassist, Denis Close the multiple-percussionist, with Joe Chindamo on accordion.
Jobim’s piece alludes to maracatu, from Pernambuco in north-east Brazil.

YOU’D LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MARACATU?
The Wikpedia entry is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maracatu )

Presenter

Doug Spencer

Producer

Doug Spencer