Book Description

Classically trained jazz guitarist Diego Barber presents five well-developed themes and a 3-movement solo sonata transcribed from his outstanding commercial CD recordings: Calima, One Minute Later, Tales, and The Choice. Two of the tracks, “Elvira Maria” and the 3-movement Sonata “Banc d’Arguin” are strictly guitar solos, while “Richi” is a solo accompanied by light percussion. “Kilian’s Mountain” is a reduced score of an extended duet with a pianist, and “Desierto” and “Virgianna” include expert sidemen on saxophone, bass and drums. The music ventures from complex melody-chord textures to hard-swinging grooves, all played with spontaneity and a heightened awareness of time, dynamics, color, technique and tone. Even seasoned guitarists will find these pieces rhythmically and technically challenging, but they provide a roadmap to the recordings, and rare insight to the workings of a unique musical mind. Diego Barber’s Compositions for Classical Guitar are written in standard notation only, with online access to stellar solo and ensemble recordings. About Sonata “Banc d’Arguin” … Diego Barber is a native of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, just off the northeast coast of Africa; in writing Sonata “Banc d’Arguin,” the main solo piece in this collection, he was inspired by the major cities, Nouadhibou and Nouakchott, the Banc d’Arguin National Park, and the desert of the West African country of Mauritania.