Egberto Gismonti's Biography

Egberto Gismonti was born in 1947 in Carmo, Brazil. He started his musical studies with the piano at the early age of seven. Also studied classical music for 15 years, with Nadia Boulanger (orchestration and analysis) in Paris, and with composer Jean Barraqué, a disciple of Schönberg and Webern.

Returning to Brazil, Gismonti began to glimpse a reality broader than the classical world of music. Ravel's ideas of orchestration and chord voicing attracted him, as well as the "choro", a Brazilian instrumental popular music where varied kinds of guitars are featured. In order to be able to play such music Gismonti made the transition from piano to guitar beginning on the 6-string classical instrument and switching to the 8-string guitar in 1973. He spent two years experimenting with different tunings and searching for new sounds, which is also reflected in his use of flutes, kalimbas, sho, voice, bells, etc.

By the early '70s, he had laid the groundwork for his current conception was listening to musicians as wide-ranging as Django Reinhardt and Jimi Hendrix. For him, Hendrix's achievements were proof that "popular" and "serious" idioms need not remain opposite poles: "There's no difference between the two kinds of music...".

Egberto’s first ECM record Dance Das Cabeca, and a duet set featuring percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, dating from 1977, was nominated Album of the year by Stereo Review and received the "Großer Deutscher Schallplattenpreis". Sol Do Meio Dia found the duo augmented by saxophonist Jan Garbarek, percussionist Collin Walcott and guitarist Ralph Towner; the session following on a tour featuring Gismonti, the Belonging Quartet and Oregon. Gismonti dedicated this album to the Xingu Indians of the Amazon, with whom he had lived for a period of time in the jungle. On his following 1979 ECM recording "Solo", he played 8-string guitar, piano and bells, expressing a pure and comprehensive view of his music.

Another remarkable album presented by Gismonti was a trio recording entitled Magico with bassist Charlie Haden and saxophonist Jan Garbarek, recorded in 1979 followed by a tour in Europe, including a concert at the Berlin Jazz Festival. Also, they recorded a second Magico album, entitled Folksongs. In 1981, Gismonti toured once again with Haden and Garbarek, performing throughout Europe.

The album Sanfona, is related to the Brazilian roots of his music. It features both group and solo work within the context of a single release. On the first record of his two-disc set, Gismonti is joined by his Brazilian group Academia De Danças: Mauro Senise (saxophone and flutes), Zeca Assumpçao (bass) and Nene (drums and percussion). On the solo disc, the emphasis is more decidedly on his guitar playing and on Indian organ improvisation. In his liner notes for Sanfona, Geraldo Carneiro characterizes Gismonti's offeirng as "a trip through Brazilian rhythms, musical forms and popular festivals... symbolizing Brazilian culture in all its breadth from solemn to burlesque".

Nowadays, Gismonti strives to bring two influences together, Western Europe music and the music from Brazil. Dança Dos Escravos, released in 1989, takes him a step further in the direction where the distinction between "serious" and "popular" music doesn't play any role. His melodic lines have a special cantabile uniqueness. In harmonic terms, Gismonti has found a way of combining two cultures, such as one might also find in the music of Villa-Lobos, Baden Powell or Joao Gilberto. His rhythms are extremely fragile and carefully constructed but never suffering from a lack of pulsating energy.