When it was originally released in 1964, this set of music was a bit of a hit, selling over 100,000 copies. In the early '60s when many Brazilian musicians brought bossa nova to the United States, classically trained guitarist Baden Powell took his guitar to France. Hence, the rest is history, as this Brazilian artist infused his hybrid jazz/classical/bossa nova articulations into the European scene. On various works, Powell melds a distinct sense of classicism with buoyancy and sophistication.
Album first published in 1988 and reissued in 1991 with a study work of Brazilian guitarist and composer Baden Powell de Aquino (Rio de Janeiro, from 1937-2000). Powell was a virtuoso performer and researcher of the guitar which gave a personal way of playing harmonies. He played various musical styles (bossa nova, samba, Brazilian pop music and even ventured into jazz and Latin jazz) always imbued with the spirit of his native country.
Baden Powell de Aquino, widely known as Baden Powell and born in the city of Varre-Sai in Rio de Janeiro, is immensely revered as a premier acoustic guitarist in Brazil. Baden created a guitar style that is unmatched – a classical guitar technique with popular music harmony and phrasing. Baden became known for his Bossa Nova tunes, samba, and Brazilian instrumental songs, a Brazilian style of Jazz, and MPB. His father liked scouting therefore naming his son Baden Powell after the founder of the Boys Scouts Robert Baden Powell.
Recorded between 1966 and 1971, these four LPs presented here on two CDs represent Baden Powell at his best. Roberto Baden Powell de Aquino was one of Brazil's greatest guitarists of the Bossa Nova Generation. On these recordings Powell plays some of his own best known compositions: Canto de Ossanha, Samba Triste, Samba em Preludio, E de Lei… He plays classics by other Brazilian writers: Manha de Carnival, Das Rosas, Dindi… He plays some jazz standards: Round Midnight, All the Things You are… He also shows the influence of classical music, Especially J S Bach - Invencao em 7 1/2 (double tracked with one part at double speed.) The performances display superb sense of timing and great improvisational skills. Mostly he is accompanied by a Brazilian rhythm section but on Poema he uses a jazz rhythm section. This is the essential Baden Powell.
An excellent Brazilian guitarist, Baden Powell has played with his share of American jazz greats (including Herbie Mann and the late Stan Getz). But there's no jazz to be found on Seresta Brasiliera, which was recorded for the Brazilian Caju Music label in 1988 and released in the U.S. on Milestone/Fantasy in 1994. The title Seresta Brasiliera translates to "Brazilian serenade," and an unaccompanied Powell embraces the Brazilian serenade style on personal, introspective versions of Pixinguinha's "Rosa," as well as songs he wrote with his frequent partner, the late Vinicius De Moraes (including "Velho Amigo," "Cancao Do Amor Ausente" and "Serenata Do Adeus"). A melancholy mood defines much of the CD, and Powell's playing is often as beautiful as it is sad and remorseful. Seresta Brasiliera is an album with little optimism and plenty of soul.