Cajita de Música (“Music Box”) was written by Isaias Savio (1900-1977), Uruguayan composer, pedagogue and guitarist. He was the teacher of Carlos Barbosa Lima, Luis Bonfá, and Paulo Bellinati, among others. He wrote more than 200 works for guitar, didactic works and many transcriptions and arrangements.

Gnattali wrote Canhoto, a charming piece with a choro flavor, named after his friend, a left-handed guitarist. Da Fonseca gives occasional percussive touches, like someone listening in on a conversation between two people and getting in for a moment. Marcilio Lopes, one of the leading mandolin players in Brazil, wrote this arrangement for mandolin and guitar. - The mandolin has had an important role in Brazilian music since the 1950s. It found greater acceptance after the rise of composer Jacob do Bandolin who wrote many works in the choro style. Implicante was brilliantly arranged by Lopes for mandolin, Barbosa-Lima on guitar, and percussionist Da Fonseca.

Canción Caroreña is a tribute by its author Rodrigo Riera to the state of Carora, Venezuela, where he was born. It’s a song of haunting lyricism, with a rich use of polyphony and harmony on the guitar. 

The great guitar virtuoso Agustín Barrios Mangoré (1885-1944) was born in San Juan Bautista de las Misiones, Paraguay and died in El Salvador. He wrote more than 200 works for guitar, always emphasizing the musical heritage of Latin America. Barrios had an extensive concert career until settling in El Salvador where his health started to decline. “Pais del abanico” (“Country of the Fan”) was inspired by the artwork on a hand-fan. Barbosa Lima has played Barrios’ music since the beginning of his concert career. 

Gentil Montaña, born in 1942, is a talented composer and guitarist, inspired in the musical traditions of his country Colombia. “Nunca te olvido” (“I never forget you”) is a dance of exquisite lyricism and inventive harmonies. 

Escorregando (“Sliding”) was written by Ernesto Nazareth (1863-1934), one of the most important Brazilian composers. He integrated European forms with Afro-Brazilian rhythms in the late 19th century, such as the “maxixe”. In fact, Nazareth was establishing the foundations for a new genre which was eventually defined as “choro”. In the 20th century, they became the most popular instrumental music of Brazil. Barbosa-Lima arranged this piece for guitar trio, here played by the “World Guitar Trio”. Da Fonseca adds his percussive skills to this work.

Hawaiian composer Byron Yasui was born in Honolulu in 1940. He has written many works for orchestra, chamber music and solo instruments, in a wide range of styles. He met Barbosa-Lima in 1977 and has since developed a great interest in the guitar. Fantasy on a Hawaiian Lullaby is a series of variations based on “Pupu Hinu Hinu” by Nona Beamer. The song describes a boy and a girl at the beach, listening to ocean sounds through a conch shell; afterwards they fall asleep and start a pleasant dream enjoying nature’s wonders.

Congratulations, Carlos, on this new CD full of musical surprises, innovative arrangements and brilliant guitar playing - it is one of your best! Definitively, Carlos resembles great wine which also matures and gets better with the passage of time.
Ernesto Cordero
July 1, 2009

Solo guitar recorded at PRT Studio, Puerto Nuevo, Puerto Rico, in June 2008. Recorded by Pedro Rivera Toledo. Additional solo guitar recorded by Malcolm Addey at MALCOLM ADDEY STUDIO B, New York, NY in April 2009. Digital editing by Kevin Siwoff, May 2009.

Further recordingsat Maverick Recording, New York, NY in April and June 2008. Recorded by Allen Farmelo. Estudio Umuarama, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in March 2008. Recorded by Ricardo Calafate. Acoustic Plus, Dallas, TX, in May 2008. Recorded by Gerald Jones. – Remixed and mastered by Malcolm Addey at MALCOLM ADDEY STUDIOS, New York, NY, in April – June 2009.