Liberalquino and Navarro: Latin Guitar Genius

Their names are not easy. Neither is the music they play. But these two young acoustic guitarists from the Latin world are well worth getting to know. Brazil's Nenéu Liberalquino and Cuba's José Angel Navarro have new releases that are guaranteed to thrill solo-guitar fans but are also noteworthy for the way they extend the technical possibilities of the world's most versatile instrument.

The cover photo on Liberalquino's Aquarela do Brasil (GHA/Qualitron) tells his story. Not much taller than his classical guitar is long, Liberalquino lays his instrument on a stand before him and plays it like a keyboard, allowing him to fret with all five fingers of his left hand, stretching for intervals and positions no conventional guitarist could manage. Navarro, on the other hand, kneels on the head of a conga drum and uses his guitar to paddle through a sea of honey on the cover of his debut release, Miel (Ashé/Rounder). But the musical feat he manages -- transposing the astoundingly subtle and complex rhythms of Cuban religious drumming onto the guitar -- is no mere stunt.

Brazil has a long tradition of guitar virtuosity, from the expansive harmonies and rhythms of classical-guitar composer Heitor Villa-Lobos to the powerful nuances of the great bossa nova players. Liberalquino touches on plenty of that history -- samba, choro, bossa, and baião -- while including four elegant original compositions within the 15 short tracks on this, his second release. His breathless rendition of the famous samba "Aquarela do Brasil" certainly stands out. But mostly he focuses on slower, more expressive material, as in his lush reading of the Tom Jobim classic "Insensatez." Liberalquino's impeccable technique and velvet tone let him squeeze every drop of seductive romanticism out of this well-chosen material.

Navarro's Miel is more brilliant and challenging still. He too draws on tradition, but whereas Liberalquino has methodically studied the guitar masters, Navarro is self-taught. The eight original tracks incorporate music never intended for guitar. Navarro's ability to sustain multiple rhythmic voices at the same time -- precisely rendering the round tones and knotty interplay found in classical Cuban drumming -- is a phenomenon relatively unexplored in the guitar repertoire. But he delivers more than an eye-popping freak show. This is spiritual music, inspired by the Yoruba religion that Africans brought to Cuba centuries ago. Navarro's long, organic explorations move through lovely guitaristic passages with dreamy tremolos and pregnant pauses, into jamming barrages of snap, crackle, and pop. The old you-can't-believe-it's-just-one-guitar remark was never more apt. Miel, by the way, comes as one of three fresh releases from a new label presenting mostly Afro-Caribbean music, Ashé. If the folks there have more surprises like Navarro up their sleeves, their future looks bright indeed.

Many guitar legends have remarked that control of rhythm ultimately distinguishes the best players. By this standard, the guitarists of the Latin world have to rank as the best on the planet. Liberalquino and Navarro make the case as well as their most distinguished predecessors ever did.

-- Banning Eyre