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Album Title:Journeys
Artist:Santa Fe Guitar Quartet
Performers:Christopher Dorsey, Mariano Fontana, Miguel Piva, Eric Slavin
Item Code:ALBUM-00314
Label:Soundset Recordings
Performance Type:   Studio Recording
Genre:Classical, Latin Music, World Music
Sub-Genre:Argentina, Chamber Music, Guitar, Spanish, Tango

 

"Yet another set of three "flirtatious dances" by the fascinating Marcelo Coronel proved to be the most demanding yet rewarding of the evening. In particular 'Gato' was passionate and deep; played perfectly by the guitars matching up in pairs, one set going note by note and the other providing lines in which the melody traveled."
–The Cerritos Ink

"Ever since somebody held Orpheus' stringed lyre against a resonating board, ladies and the rest of us have been seduced by men who play guitars . . . So imagine the effect of four such masters of guitar eliciting the dancing, romantic heart of South American music in the vaulted sanctuary of Church of the Holy Cross on the afternoon of February 5."
–The Kingston Daily Freeman

"From Heaven by way of Santa Fe" "As guitarists, they are as good as you can get...they play like Angels"
–The Washington Post


"Each is a solo virtuoso on the guitar, but together, they produce an ensemble sound that is superb in blend and balance, rhythmically precise and, above all, musically wonderful."
–Rapid City Journal

"The Santa Fe Guitar Quartet proved to be a laid-back group with a strongly lyrical approach to music... Some of these haunting sounds lingered long in the memory."
–Dallas Morning News


"The SFGQ have found a new and attractive repertory which they perform with devotion, authenticity and remarkable precision."
–SOUNDBOARD/Journal for the Guitar Foundation of America

"Their musicianship is first rate...For those who value laid-back competence,the evening proved to be a rewarding success."

"The city referred to in the name of the Santa Fe Guitar Quartet is not the one in New Mexico but the one in Argentina. Still, the group has North American connections: two members, Eric Slavin and Christopher Dorsey, are North American, and this recording was made in Arizona. The program inventively mixes Latin American and North American influences, taking off from some familiar works by Astor Piazzolla (although Mumuki is not so familiar) but immediately moving into novel territory with arrangements of three pieces by U.S. jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. These include a percussive element that ideally complements the strongly rhythmic aspect of the Piazzolla pieces and throws the more conventional Spanish rhythms of the two Albéniz excerpts that follow into fresh relief. The two concluding works also cast light on the numerous interconnections between the North American and Latin American traditions. Argentine Carlos Guastavino is increasingly often heard in combination with Piazzolla; his output, mostly originally for piano or voice and piano, makes use of Argentine folk rhythms. The two Romances heard here, originally for two pianos, extend the language of Argentine creole music in something of the same way Piazzolla treated the tango. The two final works are again by an American, Will Ayton, again under Latin influence -- his Prelude and Ricercar for guitar, although they don't sound much like Villa-Lobos, were written under the influence of the Brazilian's own encounter with Baroque polyphonic art; they extend Villa-Lobos' ideas in fascinating ways. This disc is beautifully recorded, although the visual presentation is less successful; the white print on a light blue background is virtually illegible. Nevertheless, among the entries competing with the phenomenally successful Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, this is certainly among the most novel and compelling." ~ James Manheim, All Music Guide

–St. Louis Post-Dispatch