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Ricardo Sandoval : mandolin, bandola llanera, bandola oriental
Antonio Giménez : cuatro, guitar
Cristóbal Soto : guitar
About the album « Nostalgia » (2000)
“In 1996, after finishing my higher education and having had multiple artistic experiences in Venezuela, I took the road to Europe, more specifically Germany, to deepen my musical training. The academic repertoire and technical work then demanded all my concentration and my will, because I had come to learn and discover, moreover, another culture and a rich history.
Even if this learning time was extremely interesting and profitable, I could not help but regret the living practice of music that I had known in Venezuela: every week, musicians’ meetings where we re-created the traditional repertoire, where the composers presented their new pieces and where we had fun improvising on typical themes and rhythms. I missed this ubiquitous music and wondered if I would not end up losing this ability to make Venezuelan music spontaneously, without score or repetition. The title “Nostalgia”, a piece by my friend Gerson García, a slow merengue (typical five-beat music), pretty much summarized my feelings at that time.
That’s why I wanted to dedicate my first recording to the repertoire that I usually played in the « parrandas » (musical meetings) in Venezuela, aware that it would be a little different, because I was now playing an instrument of slightly different manufacturing, with a technique and expressive resources that I had learned in Europe.
When I presented this work in Venezuela I had some apprehension, not knowing what would be the reaction of colleagues and of the public in the country, accustomed to certain sounds and well-defined styles. Fortunately, my recording was very well received and I was reassured not to betray but rather to inspire Venezuelan mandolinists with new sounds and interpretations.
Ricardo Sandoval
The composers of the pieces are as follows:
1 Sapito lipon / Francisco (Chico) Eloy
2 Pena Tabua / Altamiro Carrilho
3 Aires de Mochima / Román Calzadilla
4 El Pollo / Ismael Querales
5 Nostalgia / Gerson Garcia
6 Apoteosis / Juan Pablo Ceballos
7 Diablesa / Juan Pablo Ceballos
8 Colinas de Sabaneta / Juan Esteban Garcia
9 Un secundo de lucero / Ismael Querales
10 Mercedes – el Parrandero / Daniel Mayz
11 Valse Corse / René Vallecalle
12 Entrada a Cumanacoa / Daniel Mayz
13 Cinco Companeros / Alfredo da Rocha Viana Filho (Pixinguinha)
14 El Porfiao – El Frutero / Alberto Muñoz-Cruz Felipe Iriarte
Cover painting by Vanessa Fanuele.