Orchesta Nova showed an amazing amount of potential on this entirely instrumental and difficult-to-categorize debut. European and Latin American classical music was a strong influence on
Nova's founder/conductor
Carlos Franzetti, but the orchestral, strings-laden effort also underscored his love of Argentinean tango music (particularly the innovations of bandoneon master
Astor Piazzolla) and the type of intellectual third-stream jazz associated with
Gunther Schuller. From
Piazzolla's music (including "La Muerte Del Angel" and "Oblivion") to gems by Brazil's
Antonio Carlos Jobim ("Retrato Em Branco E Preto," "Amparo" and "Por Toda A Minha Vida") and Brazilian classical great
Heitor Villa Lobos' "Choro No. 1," this CD never fails to be imaginative. Retailers wondered whether it belonged in the classical or Latin sections, and the truth is that it belongs in both.