ALBUM RELEASE

The album “(L)ESTE” is Brittes´s ninth original album. It is a cross-over between his rhythm of his cultural background, Chamamé, with Baroque music with arrangements of the incredibly talented Maestro Fernando Cordella, executed with a marvelous orchestration of Chamamé´s traditional instruments in dialogue with Baroque instruments. “(L)ESTE” is pure synergy, experience and connection with musical history from here, South America, an unprecedented work, being the first album to be released in South America combining Chamamé and Early Baroque music.

The album was recorded live, with the entire orchestra composed of Baroque-period instruments: harpsichord, oboe, viola da gamba, cello, first and second violins, as well as folkloric instruments: 7-stringed guitar, contrabass, percussion, and accordion.

The sonority of the album seeks to represent the sonic aesthetic of a Mission church so that we can mentally travel there, this is the reason why the recording was made in the Igreja São José – La Salle. All the sonic ambience also tells a story and has the purpose of connecting us to a cavern in which primitive man began making music. In its origin, Chamamé had Early Baroque influences, which means we can connect it to the first human being who made music.

This album paints a portrait of the primordial origins of Chamamé, of the cultural paradigm of the encounter between the Guaraní and Early Baroque music, introduced in the thirty Mission communities by the Jesuits in the South American colonial period which were the initial bases that gave birth to the rhythm.

The album “El viento y las hojas” is composed of thirteen instrumental compositions, primarily original compositions, but also has a composition of Brazilian accordionist Bebe Kramer titled “Hermanos Flores” made in honor of the brothers Rudi and Nini Flores, in this way the piece comes to be a personal homage to Nini, who was Alejandro´s accordion professor at the beginning of his musical studies.

We can state that, in this album, two compositions are highlighted, “El viento y las hojas” and “Mi cielo”. A distinct characteristic of Alejandro Brittes´s discography is that no album is similar to another and all possess sonic variation and original music. In this way, the following compositions stand out “El viento y las hojas” e “Pata y Muslo”, these being of different melody and harmonization. The rhythms that compose this album are: Chamamé, Shotis, Vals and rasguido doble.

Another distinctive feature of this work is the incorporation with Brazilian musical stylings with the presence of the young instrumentalists from Rio Grande do Sul: André Ely, Lucas Rocha and Diego Müller.

This album, as it names suggests, “Herencia Chamamecera”, is a revival of the form in which Chamamé was performed from the 1940´s to the 1970´s. In this album, Alejandro invites two great Chamamé artists that performed with innumerous icons of the genre´s old guard: Jorge Toloza, who was the vocalist of the ensembles of Ernesto Montiel, Damásio Esquivel, and Abelardo Dimotta, and also inviting Luís Santa Cruz who performed bandoneón with Roberto Galarza, Julio Luján and Emílio Chamorro.

The musical project prioritized the reproduction of the typical Chamamé quartet: accordion, bandoneón, guitar, bass and vocals. It goes much beyond the idea of a “quartet”, concentrating on the musical dialogue between four hands, in this case, the left and right hands of the accordion with the bandoneón, which is executed with the same technique.

This album is marked by its affection. Two original compositions transport Alejandro to his family home with Márcia, his mother in the month of July…memories, since July is the birthday month of the Brittes siblings (Irene and Alejandro). In this album, Alejandro began to compose pieces with a cross-over style between Chamamé and Classical Music, such is the case of the piece “Desde Buenos Aires”, his classical inclinations go beyond the legacy of the conservatory where he studied.

This album is in homage to his grandmother, who was Guaraní, possibly Mbyá, from Santo Tomé – an old, colonial Jesuit Mission. Candil is a type of lantern, whose light was the only thing to illuminate the humble dwelling of clay and straw, far for the noise of the city. In this album, Alejandro began to present his work as a composer, interspersing his personal compositions with those of great Chamamé artists. The A side of this cassette album has the piece “El desafiante”, a work that was well-loved and heard on radio stations until this day. For those who like traditional Chamamé, this album is right up their alley.

SINGLES