Velha Amizade - Proveta & Penezzi Celebrating Old Friendship In Music

Nailor Proveta (cl), Alessandro Penezzi (violão 7 cordas) (photo by Stela Handa)

Last year was released a CD featuring reed player Nailor Proveta and guitarist Alessandro Penezzi with the title Velha Amizade (Capucho Produções 2015). The title of the CD means 'old friendship' in English, and the idea was to celebrate the friendship between the two musicians in a CD production of instrumental music composed by the duo especially for this project. The result is a marvellous album of virtuosic interplay and highly elaborated tunes expressing the true spirit of friendship in instrumental music of great beauty reflecting both tradition and contemporary choro as well as related genres.

CD front, Velha Amizade (Capucho Produções 2015)

The CD has 13 tracks, eight of the tunes are composed by Penezzi, four by Proveta and one by the duo together. Info about single tracks is available at Discos do Brasil, here. What struck me when listening to the album was the impression of a wealth of musical ideas being presented and worked out in every track, both musicians contribute with inspired and flawless playing at a high artistic level and the interplay is just amazing. I think Paulo Aragão, who wrote the liner notes for the CD, has expressed the spirit of the music and characterized the two musicians better than I am able to:

"In music, as in football, the meeting of star players is no guarantee of a perfect set. More than the sum of individuals, it is necessary to have generosity, delivery, engagement, communion. The CD Velha Amizade celebrates the meeting of two of the greatest instrumentalists in Brazil, Nailor Proveta and Alessandro Penezzi. And here the symbiosis of the great musical encounters is present from the first to the last note.(-) Proveta and Penezzi are two rare artists. On the one hand, they play with the naturalness of a speaker, play with such virtuosity that musical ideas seem to overflow. On the other, they do not let the music be poured out, when there is no note to be played. Above all, however, generosity prevails.(-) We could emphasize the modernity emanating from Proveta and Penezzi's music [...], the concern for the search of the most sinuous melodies, the most surprising harmonies. We could also speak of tradition that permeates the whole concept of their music. After all, composing or playing are two musicians who look forward without fighting with the legacies of the past. In addition to modern or traditional, though, this is an extemporaneous meeting. The old friendship celebrated in this disc is enduring.(-) In dry times, Proveta and Penezzi show the way in which Brazilian instrumental music is fluent and full of energy." (my English translation)

In the duet setup of the disc Proveta provides the melody lead on clarinet, alto or soprano sax while Penezzi contributes extremely elaborate accompaniement on violão 7 cordas, together they create a never stagnant but lively and colorful soundscape of great beauty. Tempo is mostly vivid throughout and the mood is light and marks the spirit of good friendship striving for a common quest for harmony and the clearest expression of the musical ideas being presented. I highly recommend this co-work between two giants of contemporary Brazilian instrumental music.

The CD is available for purchase as download at Alessandro Penezzi's web at bandcamp, here. You also have the opportunity to listen to all tracks in full length at the mentioned website.

Proveta and Penezzi celebrating old friendship in music (photo by Stela Handa)

To end this and give you an impression of the featured music on the Velha Amizade CD, I'll insert an uploaded video from the recording of the first track at the CD. The title of this tune composed by Penezzi is Jeringonça - enjoy!

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Jo

choromusic.blogspot@gmail.com