...this disc is a definite winner
in every way.

Sarah Bryan Miller
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch

JONGO!
Music of South America
for Two Guitars

A Recording by
the Hanser-McClellan Guitar Duo
order this CD

John McClellan & Kirk Hanser are excellent musicians...
They exhibit a deep understanding of the music... a strong synchronicity...
This recording goes past the technically precise and
into the realm of inspired interpretation.

Terry Perkins
The Riverfront Times

The music of Latin America holds a special mystique; its vocabulary is a synthesis of native folk elements, European and African influences and newer jazz and popular forms.

This recording begins with two of Argentina's most famous composers--Astor Piazzolla and Alberto Ginastera. Verano Porteño and Lo Que Vendra , by the legendary nuevo tango composer Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992), best exemplify all that makes his music so appealing. Both pieces are rich in harmonic content drawn from American Jazz and in contrapuntal writing influenced by J.S. Bach, yet they never lose the essence of the tango. Alberto Ginastera's (1916 -1983) Idilio Crepuscular , taken from his 1941 ballet Estancio , demonstrates a beauty of line and sonority while remaining as delicate and as transparent as glass.

Here's a disc by two gringos... who play Latin American music passionately
with convincing rhythmic dynamism and an excellent sense of ensemble.
I enjoyed the CD "Jongo" -- a delightful musical romp through Brazil and Argentina!

Richard "Rico" Stover
guitarist/composer/author and
noted authority on the music of South America

Our program concludes with three Brazilian composers: Radamés Gnattali (1906 - 1988), Celso Machado (b. 1953) and Paulo Bellinati (b. 1950). The lyrical Anacleto de Medeiros by Gnattali and Machado's pieces from his published collection Imagens do Nordeste pay tribute to modern popular music, while remaining true to Brazilian folk forms ( modinha, maxixe and samba ), rhythms and melodies.

Paulo Bellinati has distinguished himself as one of Brazil's most respected composers, arrangers, musicologists, and guitarists. We have chosen Bellinati's Jongo as our title cut. This piece was originally written for solo guitar, and later arranged as the duo version heard on this recording. Jongo has "rock and roll" energy--a real tour de force!

Also see information on Dedications , a recording by John McClellan.

Contact us via email or phone: 1-800-908-9070 or 314-963-4614
Copyright 1996-2000, The Hanser-McClellan Guitar Duo

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