The guitar is the focus of Y Bolanzero. Actually, legions upon legions of guitar players is a more accurate description of this disc, featuring the amazing Jugendgitarrenorchester Baden-Württemberg (literally, “young people’s guitar orchestra”–or, to make its moniker mercifully shorter, the JGO). Under the joint direction of Helmut Oesterreich and Roland Boehm, the JGO luxuriates in its sheer numbers–and chooses works that make the ensemble’s potentially ungainly size a virtue rather than an impediment. Both American jazz and Latin styles are recurring elements in this program: of course, the guitar has very strong associations with both genres, and this German group effortlessly switches between these musical languages.
Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint, a work originally written for Pat Metheny and tape, is transformed into an ensemble piece. It works astonishingly well here. The JGO manages to preserve the feeling of cross-fading that worked so magically in the original, and yet there’s a sensational feeling of forward motion in this version. Another American composer of the same generation also makes an appearance with a world-premiere recording: Terry Riley offers his Y Bolanzero, written for the JGO itself as part of an ongoing larger project called “The Book of Abbeyozzud”. With Riley himself at the piano and solo guitarists David Tanenbaum and Gyan Riley (the composer’s son), Y Bolanzero weaves together jazz, Spanish dances, and patented Rileyisms into a fascinating blend. (And for Riley aficionados who recall his longtime association with North Indian classical music–yes, his modal framework does bear great similarities to raga Madhuvanti.)
There’s one more world premiere on this disc. Forget 80 trombones–how does 100 guitars strike your fancy? That’s the gimmicky premise of Henry Brant’s Rosewood. (He’s got a thing for massive ensembles.) Taking “the more the merrier” as their rallying cry, 134 guitarists showed up for the recording (made live in 1997). It’s hard to understand the musicians’ apparent enthusiasm for this piece. The title refers to the destruction of the Brazilian rainforest in pursuit of the exotic wood from which guitars are traditionally made. So of course Brant writes music that mimicks the sounds of trees being cut down and lumber being processed. (To my thoroughly citified ears, the buzzing and shrieking sounds in the first minute and a half are eerily reminiscent of a New York City subway car screeching along.) While there might be something to be said for the novelty value, Brant can’t sustain the piece for its full 15 minutes.
The JGO brings out another American heavy hitter with Spain, one of Chick Corea’s signature compositions. Arranged here for the JGO and electric guitar (with soloist Michael Sagmeister), the piece returns to the territory that Miles Davis explored in 1960’s Sketches of Spain–taking Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez as its point of departure. This arrangement has a lot of color, and the JGO pulls it off with panache–but Corea’s jazz lite conception will not be to everyone’s taste. Leo Brouwer’s Acerca del cielo; el aire y la sonrisa (“Above heaven; the air and a smile”) is similarly folkloric and nostalgic, although this time the landscape is that of Brouwer’s native Cuba. Anyone who enjoyed the Brouwer disc John Williams made for Sony a while back (The Black Decameron) will find this appealing as well. The recording features full, rich sound that lets the guitars resonate nicely. Fortunately, the Brant is the last piece on the disc–shut it off before then, and you’ve got a 10/10 in hand.
