Brazilian Guitar Marathon - Luminato 2009, Closing Weekend

The closing weekend of the Luminato guitar festival at Bloor-Yorkville, today's instrument of choice is the classical guitar. Most of the artists performed without any amplifier connected to the guitar but just a simple mic in front of it. This really brings out the sound of the nylon/steel string instrument to its full extent. I didn't really like the venue, the spaces aroud the stage were surrounded by 3+ m tall trees which blocked the views to the podium. On top of that, there were two strips of garden of which no one was alowed to step in. I personally think it was a waste of space for a concert. However, I did enjoy the nice shade under one of those trees.

The first act I witnessed was Badi Assad & Celso Machado who were making a lot of nature noises, most notably monkey sounds mixed with a lot of percusions and guitar plucking in between. The overall feel transported me to a forest far away from the current urban setting, I really enjoyed that kind of musical creation, very different from what I used to listen. The trees and leaves which were semi-blocking my view to the stage really added to the naturistic experience.

The second act I watched was Luciana Souza & Romero Lubambo. Romero played a lot of nice solos with his amplified classic guitar and was well supported by vocals from Luciana. The guitar followed the rhythm of the singer very closely at several instances, the Portuguese lyrics were a nice break from last weekend's performances.

Next on came the Assad Duo with Romero Lubambo. The trio performed a couple of pieces together. After that, the Assad Duo had the stage to themselves, their style of music felt very classical and they performed amazingly well together. I believed they composed a lot of pieces from famous South American composers and artists whose names were unknown to me.

Yamandu Costa joined them afterwards to segue into the final act of the day, of which the new trio performed a couple of songs. Like before, Yamandu ended up having the stage for himself. He sprinked his playing with some whistling, that really distinguished himself from the other acts. His sound felt different as well as the head of his guitar which seemed to have more gaps compared to a regular 6 string classical. After some research, I found out he was playing a 7 strings which might explain the different sound.

The show ended with all the above artists who performed together for one last finale to conclude the Luminato Guitar Festival. The music felt very raw today and I liked it a lot, you could feel what a guitar sounds like at its core. The public had a great time too, a lot of standing ovations for the different pieces. I am quite happy with the series of guitar concerts that I have been to since last Friday. I hope Luminato 2010 will outdo 2009.