New Publication: Mallorca by Isaac Albéniz

Over the years, I’ve heard many great guitarists interpret this piece. Fortunately, many of them have also published arrangements. So when I finally decided to learn it this summer, I consulted the piano score and read through as many guitar editions as I could get my hands on: Segovia, Pepe Romero, Abel Carlevaro, David Russell, Rafael Andia, Paulino Garcia Blanco, Stanley Yates, among a few others. I listened to many players as well: Julian Bream, Marcelo Kayath, Jose Antonio Escobar, Alicia de la Rocha, to name a few. There are many great performances on YouTube as well. Each edition and player has something interesting, some way of doing something that is clever or that works well. Some simplify difficult passages and some editions are more or less “guitaristic” than others. And all of those editions work well. But I cannot help trying to find my own way of doing it. The edition here is the way I play it now. You can find the score here on my payhip page.

David Russell Interview

Marcelo Kayath’s project, The Guitar Coop, once again publishes a wonderful interview in two parts. This time with guitar hero, David Russell. They talk technique, transcriptions, interpretations, ornamentation, guitars, and more.

Have a good weekend!

Marcelo Kayath

I’ve always been a huge fan of Marcelo Kayath. His recordings from the 80s had a huge impact on my life and I still think the sound of those records is wonderful in many ways.

So, it was with great delight that I heard that he was recording again! Here is a video of the Gigue and Double from Bach’s 2nd Lute Suite, BWV997.

Though I’m not sure whether or not he founded the wonderful Brazilian Guitar Coop Website/Production Company, it is worth checking out on many fronts – from beautifully shot videos, to amazing artist and recordings, to sheet music, it’s a wonderful resource.

Here is Fabio Zanon interviewing Marcelo. There are many pieces of great advice from Marcelo as he tells his story and what led to recording again.

More coming soon…