Bienvenue

Sam Gerstmans

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Artists

Daniel Miranda Acoustic guitar
Osman Martins Percussion, cavaquinho
David Nuñez Alto, violin
Sam Gerstmans Acoustic bass
Guillermo Cervino Wood Cello

About

A Brazilian guitarist, born in Binche while the Gilles threw oranges to celebrate Carnival... Sound likely? Yes, well, perhaps destiny sometimes has a sense of humour. This story was decisive in the imaginary world of my music, and the pleasure of recording my first solo record in Belgium seemed natural.

More than anything else, this CD is the work of a composer. I present some personal compositions such as "Iracema", composed at the age of 16, and others that are the result of travelling throughout Brazil. Rhythms such as the baião from the Northeast, or instruments such as the "peasant guitar" (viola caipira), that I discovered as an adolescent in Pantanal in the Mato-Grosso (the centre-west of Brazil), are married to the samba, bossa nova and the choro from Rio de Janeiro, from where I come...

This is what gives this record its colour: a unique story of many journeys that can be listened to... We start inland, in the province of Minas Gerais with a calango called "Desculpe seu Luiz" (Excuse me, Mr. Luiz), then head for the north of Argentina for an unusual reading of Atahualpa Yupanqui's "Malambo". We drop by Rio through the sambas "Samba pro Augusto" and "Esperança", and the choros with "Bienvenue", "Choro en Rixensart" and "Lamentos do Morro". The northeast is represented by a baião called "Improviso Nordestino" (north-eastern improvisation).

Four exceptional musicians joined me for this musical journey, enriching it with the blend of their musical cultures and the magic of playing together: the precise, daring solos of the Venezuelan David Nuñez; the sound and precision of Belgium's Sam Gerstmans; the creativity, virtuosity and "smile" of the percussions and "cavaquinho" of the Brazilian Osman Martins; and the chamber music of Chilean cellist Guillermo Cervino Wood. All that under the baton of our sound engineer, Daniel Léon.

Each theme, each musical style, each interpretation on this record tells you a little about my history as a musician, and it is with immense pleasure that I invite you to share it.