Gismonti, Egberto (*1947)
Brazilian composer, guitarist and pianist. Gismonti began his formal music studies at the age of six on piano. After studying classical music for 15 years, he went to Paris to study orchestration and analysis with Nadia Boulanger and the composer Jean Barraqué, a disciple of Schoenberg and Webern. After his return to Brazil, Gismonti began to explore other musical genres. He was attracted by Ravel's approach to orchestration and chord voicings, as well as by "choro", a Brazilian instrumental popular music featuring various types of guitars.
In order to play this music he learned to play guitar, beginning on the 6-string classical instrument and switching to a ten-stringed guitar in 1973. He spent two years experimenting with different tunings and searching for new sounds. This exploration of timbre is further reflected in his use of kalimbas, sho, voice, bells, etc.
By the early '70s, he had laid the groundwork for his current style which incorporated elements drawn from musicians as wide-ranging as Django Reinhardt and Jimi Hendrix. In the 1970s and 1980s he collaborated several times with Nana Vasconcelos recording for ECM. Some best-selling albums such as the Brazilian released eponymous Egberto Gismonti were never officially released in the US.
Albums (ECM):
Dança Das Cabeças - 1977 - Germany (ECM)
with Nana Vasconcelos
Sol Do Meio Dia - 1978 - Germany (ECM)
Solo - 1979 - Germany (ECM)
Sanfona - 1980 - Germany (ECM) solo and with Academia de Dancas
Works - 1984 - Germany (ECM)
Duas Vozes - 1985 - Germany (ECM) with Nana Vasconcelos
Dança Dos Escravos - 1989 - Germany (ECM)
Infância - 1990 - Germany (ECM)
Musica De Sobrevivéncia - 1993 - Germany (ECM)
Zigzag - 1996 (ECM)
Meeting Point - 1997 (ECM)
Saudacoes - 2009 (ECM) with Alexandre Gismonti
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Resources
John Cage
Joseph Beuys
Pierre Boulez
Luc Ferrari
Egberto Gismonti
Charles Edward Ives: Central Park in the Dark
Gyorgy Ligeti
Olivier Messiaen
Steve Reich
Ad Reinhardt
Terry Riley
Jean-Claude Risset
David Tudor
Ludwig Wittgenstein
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[11] · Piano drone #1 [04:40]
[10] · Piano minimal #2 inspired by quaggy [13:06]
[09] · Piano minimal #1 [04:46]
[08] · Train Sonor: Piano NYC Subway #4 [10:17]
[07] · Cluster medicine [pianodrone #2] [18:54]
[06] · Flute stream [09:54]
[05] · Supernatural drone [guitardrone reverse] [17:02]
[04] · Piano minimal #3 [simultaneous] [08:50]
[03] · For Marjan K. [excerpt three] [05:44]
[02] · For Marjan K. [excerpt two] [05:40]
[01] · For Marjan K. [excerpt one] [06:21]
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