The latest album by acoustic and classical guitarist Patricio Morales are old tunes he wrote when he was just starting out as composer, impressionistic reflections of his early childhood in Chile. To assist him in bringing these to life he has brought in musicians from different Latin American countries, Vitor Goncalves on accordion and piano, bassist Sebastian De Urquiza with Pablo Menares on one track, drummer-percussionist Rodrigo Recabarren, percussionist Rogério Boccato, mandolinist Daniel Zamalloa, and Kahil Nayton on the cavaquinho, a small Portuguese string instrument.
The result is an album of timeless majesty, with the feeling of hot days in a village on the mountains, where the world drifts past in a different time and space. It is wonderfully evocative, always delicate yet with strength, and while Patricio can often be found providing a wonderful classical lead, he is also very likely to be sat just behind someone else with a smile on his face. When I first started playing this, without looking at the details in the CD or press release, I actually thought Morales played the accordion such is its dominance in the opening title cut. There is a lot of space within the multi-layered arrangements and given it was recorded in just two days this album has that togetherness which only comes from musicians playing together in the same room. It has a very Latin feel, with the accordion and classical guitar playing off each other and the rest of the instruments providing the support for them to shine, the result being a very enjoyable album indeed.
Rating: 8/10