Hardcore world music fans will find this collection intriguing. World class classical guitarist
Burgess was trained by Segovia and won first place once upon a time in the Andres Segovia Fellowship Competition in New York. And he plays in that style throughout this recording, which functions as a tribute of sorts to classic compositions from various South American countries as well as Cuba and Spain. Among the composers he interprets from a solo guitar perspective are
Jobim,
Nonato Luiz, Antonio Lauro,
Astor Piazzolla and Emilio Grenet. There are also gentle covers of "El Condor Pasa" and Bolivia's "Danza del Altiplano." The drawback is, if you are not a fan of solo classical guitar, the pieces seem to run into each other and after a while the playing comes across more as noodling, even as
Burgess finds interesting ways to play with percussion and tempo. Then again, it's obvious that this was created strictly for those fans, and it gives them quite a catalog of classic songs. ~ Jonathan Widran