Yamandú Costa - 7 String Guitar Ace

While I have been away from home during last week, spending my holidays in The Netherlands with my family and enjoying the company of Hans and Corrie, the postman has landed a couple of interesting cds in our mailbox - the subject for this posting. Both cds are featuring the Brazilian 7-string guitar player, Yamandú Costa.

'Yamandu Costa was born in Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, where he began his guitar studies with his father Algacir Costa, band leader of “Os Fronteiriços”, when he was 7 years old. Later, he perfected his technique with Lúcio Yanel, Argentine virtuoso who was then settled in Brazil.

Until the age of 15, Yamandú´s only music school was the folk music from the south of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Nevertheless, after he heard Radamés Gnatalli´s work, he decided to get in contact with the music of other renowned Brazilian musicians, such as Baden Powell, Tom Jobim, Raphael Rabello, among others. When he was 17, he played for the first time in São Paulo at “Circuito Cultural Banco do Brasil” (BB Cultural Tour). The event was produced by “Estúdio Tom Brazil” (Tom Brazil studio), and from then on he was recognized as one of the most gifted guitar players of Brazil.

Yamandu is a guitar player, composer and arranger that does not fit into a single music style, yet he creates his own when he combines all of them playing his 7-string guitar. Yamandu fully deserves his beautiful name which in “tupi-guarani”, the native language of Brazilian indians, means “the precursor of the waters of the world”.'

The above info is quoted from the official website of Yamandú Costa. Only part of this site is in English, but here you also will find further info on and soundclips from the two cds I just received.

The first is his debut-cd from 2001, just entitled "Yamandú"(Eldorado/sony Music, ELD-05-6002), which contains both solo performance and ensemble interplay, displaying Yamandú Costa's skills as a guitarist, composer and arranger. His 7 string acoustic guitar is treated in a convincing and most captivating way of playing that is quite unique, mixing classical tecnique with the fierce of flamenco style and the sophisticated chord structure of modern jazz and the various rhythms of Brazilian music. These influences altogether creates a most enjoyable album of music that is worth listening to over and again.

The next cd by Yamandú now in my collection is his secound release from 2003, "Yamandú Ao Vivo" (Abgi,YC00001). Here Yamandú performs in a trio setting and is accompanied by bass guitar and drums/percussion. The music is varied and mixes influences from both jazz and Brazilian sources - the cd even offers a rendition of renowned composer Radamés Gnattali's 'Brasiliana No 1' and a very personal reading of Django Reinhardt's 'Nuages'. All 12 tracks on the cd are worth listening, and the cd contains a bonus video-track of the live-recording of the cd, also available at Yamandú's website.

If you are interested in 'new waves' of acoustic string music Yamandú Costa is an artist to check out - don't forget to enjoy his contributions on the 'Brasileirinho' dvd/cd, too.

Jo