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Aquarelle Guitar Quartet

Michael Baker, Vasilis Bessas, James Jervis, Rory Russell

Faultless in Every Aspect......Warmth, Dynamism and Emotion
Matt Clark - The York Press, , 12/7/11

Harrogate International Summer Festival, Wesley Chapel, Harrogate

WHILE Harrogate’s feral youths were making a nuisance of themselves outside the Wesley Chapel, inside three of the town’s young lads restored the audience’s faith in teenagers.
 
They had been chosen to open last Saturday’s concert by members of Manchester’s Aquarelle Guitar Quartet from a master-class held earlier in the day.
 
All were fine musicians and they will cherish this fleeting moment in the limelight – until it is their turn to headline the stage.
 
Then the main act came on and showed just how great the rift between budding guitarists and these gifted musicians is.
 
Hailed as the next big thing to hit the classical music scene, Aquarelle Guitar Quartet was faultless in every aspect. Technically all four are superb but crucially that doesn’t get in the way of warmth, dynamism and emotion in the performance.
 
The quartet isn’t afraid to take on a challenge either. [Luigi Boccherini's (arr. Jeremy Sparks) Introduction & Fandango] was astonishing. 

Then the interpretation of jazz guitarist David Pritchard’s eclectic Stairs and one of the Brandenburg concertos were both sublime.
 
The Aquarelle musicians are artists in residence for the festival and return on Saturday, when they play St Wilfrid’s Church with friends Craig Ogden, guitar, Andy Scott, saxophone, David Hassell, percussion, Sally Johnson, soprano, and Louise Thompson, harp.
 
To sample their work ahead of the 8pm concert, their new album Dances is a fine, mesmerising introduction.
 

The Playing Here is Positively Electric
William Yeoman - Gramophone, Oct 2010

Chandos: Dances CHAN 10609 
Four become one is a sequence of dances with a Latin American tinge.
 
A fine follow-up to the equally dance-orientated "Spirit of Brazil" (5/09), "Dances" sees young UK ensemble the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet exploring the dance in a slightly wider context - though the flavour is still very much of the Latin variety.
 
Egberto Gismonti is again represented, this time by Baiáo Malandro, arranged by AGQ member James Jervis for four guitars, and while the original version’s synthesiser has been dropped the playing here is positively electric, as it is in the following rumba, Hasta Alicia Baila by Eduardo Martin. Andy Scott’s Seven Dances and “No Looking Back”, here receiving its premiere recording, leaps about like a (jazz) cat on a hot tin roof (in a good way) while allowing moments of respite such as the Ennio Marricone-inspired “Film”.
 
The AGQ can undoubtedly swing with the best of them - Biréli Lagrène’s Django tribute Made in France - yet in other works such as the Boccherini’s ubiquitous Fandango from the D major Guitar Quintet, the playing feels curiously score-bound despite the superlative ensemble and, for lack of a better term, instrumental prestidigitation.
 
So it is the boys can bring off a sparkling Tarantella (the one made famous by Inti-Illimani) while favouring perfection over a necessary calculated looseness in the traditional Malagueña Salerosa (in AGQ member Rory Russell’s superb arrangements).
 
Other highlights, and there are many, include a crisp yet expressive account of Piazolla’s la Muerte del ángel  and a sweetly simple rendition of Catriona McKay’s The Swan ’LK 243’ arranged by the AGQ’s Michael Baker.

After a First Hearing, I Felt as if I had Musically Travelled all over the World
Therese W Saba, - International Record Review, July/Aug 2010

Chandos: Dances CHAN 10609 
This is the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet’s second recording for Chandos and in some respects it is almost a continuation of their first, “Spirit of Brazil”, reviewed in June 2009. Despite the apparent popular nature of this release, they are all trained classical guitarists who studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester. Having said that, there is none of the rigidity which sometimes occurs when classical musicians play more popular repertoire. Their performances are meticulously prepared with excellent tone-quality and balance between the four instruments. Many of the arrangements, which use the resources of the guitars so well, have been made by members of the quartet.
 
‘Dances’ begins with James Jervis’s arrangement of Egberto Gismonti’s Baiáo Malandro. The dynamic range and tonal colours employed in the interpretation of this piece give a sense of a sonic third dimension, which one doesn’t expect from four guitars. Gismonti is a Brazilian jazz musician and composer, who, like Astor Piazolla, studied composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. Piazolla’s  Muerte del ángel , as with all his works, is in a tango rhythm, in an arrangement by Michael Baker. It is not so balanced as the other arrangements here, however, but if the others were not so outstanding, one would hardly have noticed. The strong rhythmic drive continues in Eduardo Martin’s Hasta Alicia Baila, written in a Cuban rhythm called a guaguancó. Effective percussion is provided by tapping on the wood of the guitar.
 
Andy Scott’s Seven Dances, its premiere recording, maintains the rhythmic spirit of the Gismonti and Martin. Each of the seven dances draws its inspiration from jazz elements and composers such as John Scofield, Pat Metheny and Chick Corea. Scott’s pieces display the expressive range of the Quartet, from dramatically contrasting movements such as the mellow Ennio Morricone-inspired ‘Film’ to the aggressively vibrant final dance, appropriately names ‘Big!’. Scott’s Seven Dances are each very short, but in his longer No looking Back one hears him developing his musical ideas. He uses particular guitar techniques, such as harmonics and delicate rapid arpeggios, to build an atmosphere of unpredictable anticipation.
 
The sole purely classical piece is Boccherini’s Introduction and Fandango, originally written for guitar and string quartet. The Fandango, which fits in with the’ dance’ theme of the recording, is one of the most popular works in the classical guitar repertoire, and deservedly so. The Aquarelles convey the rhythmic excitement of this beautifully written work with precisely executed ornamentation; indeed, their interpretation has a regal spirit.
 
The two Macedonian dances transport us into a completely different world. One of the guitars has the role of percussion instrument, to tap out the slow, non-Western rhythm, which creates the basis for the mesmerizing oriental melodic line of Ajde Dali Anaes Pametis Milice. That atmosphere is broken by the faster and more declamatory Pajduska . The dream-like quality of Catriona McKay’s The Swan is well conveyed by the four guitarists until one is awoken rather rudely from the Gaelic dream by the Spanish Malagueña Salerosa which follows; it is played with full Spanish gusto and the essential high volumne. That spirit continues with an arrangement of the Tarantella, originally performed by the Latin American group Inti-Illimani Historico. After the wild Tarantella, where they demonstrate virtuosic playing speeds, the Aquarells bring the disc to a close with a very satisfying Made in France by the gypsy jazz guitarist Biréli Lagrène.
 
After a first hearing, I felt as if I had musically travelled all over the world and was more than ready to get back on the plane for another round-trip. The recording has a warm presence, rich tone and a real sense of depth; one feels surrounded by the sound.

BBC Magazine: Five Stars for both Performance and Recording
Rob Ainsley - BBC Music Magazine

Chandos: Spirit of Brazil, CHAN 10512 
The language of the guitar - huge, sometimes weird, vocabulary, and asymmetric, anti-pianistic grammar - is one that precious few big-name composers have remotely understood. Most good repertoire is by composer-guitarists. The burgeoning quartet genre offers great possibilities, but needs experienced writing and sharp ensemble to avoid sounding like jailer’s keys. So hooray: we get both in this instantly likeable tribute to the Brazilian sound.
 
The highlight is Roland Dyen’s Brésils, which comprises of six attractive pieces that expertly utilise guitar colours while paying homage to rainforest birds, Chôros-playing buskers, and the seductive sway of João Gilberto thrumming Jobim’s Girl from Ipanema.
 
Villa-Lobos’s familiar floating ‘Aria’ may not sustain on even four guitars convincingly enough for everyone; but from composing father and daughter Sérgio and Clarice Assad come vibrant, sometimes rock-explosive, album-tracks that mix carnival with cool. More well-textured popular appeal comes from Egberto Gismonti (hear the wistfully lovely duet Memória e Fado) and Paulo Bellinati.
 
With outstanding playing and infectious spirit, this is no mere nice guitar CD, but a luscious and lively general-appeal winner.
(Performance: 5 stars, Recording: 5 stars)

This Fantastic Foursome Conjure up both a Rainforest and a Rio Carnival
William Yeoman - Gramophone May 09

Chandos: Spirit of Brazil, CHAN 10512 
If, like me, you usually find anything more than two classical guitars a transgression of good taste and a guitar orchestra a complete abomination, this surprising new release from the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet will force you to revise your opinions.

Formed while its original members (of which two remain) were students at the Royal Northern College of Music, the AGQ is an award-winning ensemble that can easily stand alongside the likes of the excellent LA Guitar Quartet, whose 2007 release “LAGQ Brazil” (Telarc) perhaps inspired the younger quartet’s own “Spirit of Brazil” (it’s worth noting that the AGQ has received instruction from LA Guitar Quartet member Scott Tennant).

Whereas the LAGQ’s “Brazil” also features the talents of São Paulo-born jazz vocalist and composer Luciana Souza, Flautist Katisse Buckingham and percussionist Kevin Ricard to bring some extra colour and variety to the mix, the AGQ goes it alone, imitating percussion instruments such as the quica where necessary and generally having a ball. Listen to the compelling groove in the vibrant opening Bluezilian by Clarice Assad, daughter of Sergio of Assad Brothers fame (who is also represented here with his evocative Uarekena), or the sensitive, improvisatory phrasing in the moving Gismonti duet Memória e Fado which ends the disc. 

Then there are gems such as the successful arrangements of Villa-Lobos’s Bacbianas Brasileiras No 5 by former Aquarelle member Richard Safhill, and the incredible six-movement Brésils by Roland Dyens, in which the AGQ manage convincingly to sound like an Amazonian rainforest and a marching band at the Carnival de Rio. Guitarquartetphobes - your cure has arrived! 

Abundant Technique and Breath-taking Artistry
Robert Levett - International Record Review

Chandos: Spirit of Brazil, CHAN 10512 
I have to admit I never used to be a great fan of guitar quartets. One problem I had was the lethal combination of identical baritone range and lack of sustain; another was the less than inspiring musicianship often demonstrated by the players themselves. Then along came the superb Aquarelle Guitar Quartet (AGQ) to change all that.
 
The AGQ was formed while its members were studying at the Royal Northern College of Music with guitar tutors Craig Ogden and Gordon Crosskey. They had subsequently received instruction from Sérgio Assad, Oscar Ghiglia and the LA Guitar Quartet's Scott Tennant. Of the initial line-up Michael Baker and Vasilis Bessas remain, now joined by James Jervis and Rory Russell. I note that Jervis and Baker play Sheridan guitars: Paul Sheridan is a West Australian luthier who lives in the state's capital of Perth - as does Craig Ogden, who was born and raised in WA.   
 
Ogden it is who provides an introductory note to this superb recital disc by the AGQ, their first for Chandos, and I have to agree with him when he writes 'This disc reveals [the AGQ's] capacity to feel and shape music as one, and it is a fantastic showcase for their incredible virtuosity.'
 
'Spirit of Brazil' features music by Brazilian composers as well as those who are inspired by its music while moving easily through multiple styles. Sérgio Assad, one half of that great guitar duo the Assad Brothers, is at the heart of the disc with his brilliant Uarekena, which is named after an Amazonian tribe. The music shimmers with varying moods and colours, all of which are captured to perfection by the AGQ. Assad Senior is a wonderful composer for guitar, and his daughter here shows herself to be a chip off the old block with her first work for guitar quartet, Bluezilian, which opens the disc, and the more substantial Danças Nativas, written for the present performers. In the former, the AGQ seize on the funkiness and wild energy of the music with relish, while the latter's dreamy ‘Canção’ gives the performers a chance to show off its lyrical side. Energy aplenty, as well as a dazzling array of percussive and other effects, is to be found in Tunisian/French composer and guitarist Roland Dyen's six-movement portrait of Brazil, Brésil. From the sounds of the Amazonian rainforest in 'Da Natureza' through the rousing, festive Celestial March of 'Marchinha do Céu' to the vibrant 'Xaxare', this is a real tour de force which nevertheless maintains a certain lightness of touch that the AGQ tap into with a smiling, good-natured virtuosity.
 
Heitor Villa-Lobos was no mean guitarist himself, and former AGQ member Richard Safhill's arrangement of Villa-Lobo's Bachianas brasileiras no 5, originally for eight cellos and voice, is a fitting tribute to a man who wrote some of the finest classical guitar music in the repertoire. It's also a tribute to the AGQ's ability to energize a line despite the fast decay of the guitar's sound that the original vocal part made so ravishing. Villa-Lobos's busy, Debussian 'Brincadeira', from his string Quartet No. 1, as arranged by Jervis, provides an ideal foil.  
 
Two works by Brazilian jazz legend Egberto Gismonti bring a delicate, improvisatory touch to proceedings with Palhaço and Memória e Fado, the latter arranged and sensitively played by Baker and Bessas to end the disc, but not before the AGQ flare up in one last blaze of colour with Brazilian composer Paulo Bellinati's A Furiosa, a tribute to the Brazilian street musicians known as 'The Furious Ones'.
 
If one guitar quartet can give a traditional string quartet a run for its money in terms of abundant technique and breath-taking artistry, it is the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet.
 

This is a Very Fine Album Indeed
William Yeoman - Classical Guitar Magazine

Chandos: Spirit of Brazil, CHAN 10512 
I’ve elsewhere written of my undoubtedly irrational aversion to any classical guitar combination exceeding two – but with Spirit of Brazil, its first disc for the UK independent label Chandos, the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet has got me thinking differently. This is a very fine album indeed, with an attractive programme of music of genuine artistic merit (all too uncommon) played with flair, intelligence and an overall ensemble that both unifies and differentiates just where and when you want it to.
 
In addition to commentaries on each work, the booklet contains a well-deserved endorsement written by Craig Odgen, from whom the quartet received instruction along with Gordon Crosskey at the Royal Northern College of Music. The quartet has also benefited from the wisdom of Sérgio Assad, Oscar Ghiglia and the LA Guitar Quartet’s Scott Tennant, indeed that latter quartet’s LAGQ Brazil, released last year, may well have inspired AGQ’s foray into this exciting and colourful territory (there are only two overlaps: Clarice Assad’s Bluezilian and Bellianti’s well-known A Furiosa).
 
Bluezilian opens Spirit of Brazil in fine style, with Assad’s skilful blend of jazz, blues and Latin styles, giving the boys of AGQ an opportunity to show they can swing with the best of them while showing off a beautiful corporate tone – which quality becomes even more apparent in former AGQ member Richard Safhill’s fine arrangement of the aria from Villa Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No.5. James Jervis’s arrangement of the composer’s ‘Brincadeira’ from the String Quartet No. 1 is equally happy, the AGQ bring a crisp, tense energy to this quirky little piece.
 
A more extended work then follows with Clarice Assad’s three-movement Danças Nativas, written for the AGQ and here receiving its premiere recording. From the jazzy samba to the Jobim-inspired “Twisted Samba” through the tender simplicity of the ‘Reflective Canção’ to the busy flamboyance of ‘Mad Baiáo’, the AGQ relishes every vibrant, pulsating detail of this finely-crafted suite. Not even Egberto Gismonti’s beautiful Palhaço as transcribed by James Jervis can upstage it.
 
Assad père’s superb Uarekena provides an ideal  prelude to Roland Dyen’s sprawling, colourful evocation of Brazil, Brésils. This six movement work is a real tour-de-force, with dances such as the modinha, the bossa nova and the xaxado as beautifull utilised as the full resources of the guitar in movements like ‘Da Natureza’, in which the sounds of the Amazonian jungle are imitated, and the 'Marchinha do Céu', in which a marching band in the Carnival de Rio is likewise imitated. The AGQ has a lot of fun with this nevertheless seizing on the underlying melancholy in ;Chôro Legal’ and ‘Modinhazul’.
 
The infectious maxixe of Bellinati’s A Furiosa provides a final explosion of energy before Michael Baker and Vasilis Bessas, the two remaining members of the original AGQ, bring this supremely enjoyable disc to a wistful close with a duet arrangement for another Gismonti piece, Memória e Fado.
 

The Precision of Playing is Outstanding
Kate Lewis - Acoustic

Chandos: Spirit of Brazil, CHAN 10512 
This young quartet, formed at the Royal Northern College of Music, presents a broad collection of Brazilian pieces. The precision of playing is outstanding and covers a range of styles and moods, from string quartet pieces transferred to the guitar to 'A Furiosa', a piece written to celebrate Brazilian street music. This is a varied and extremely enjoyable piece of work encompassing elements of jazz and blues and incorporating interesting, and at times unpredictable, rhythms.

Muso Preview Spirit of Brazil CD from Chandos
Muso

Chandos: Spirit of Brazil, CHAN 10512 
The Aquarelle Guitar Quartet (AGQ) formed at the Royal Northern College of Music in 1999 and comprises Michael Baker, Vasilis Bessas, Rory Russell and James Jervis.
Described as the ‘next big thing in the classical guitar world’, the Manchester-based chamber group has performed at Wigmore Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields and the Bridgewater Hall, and on BBC Radio 3.
Spirit of Brazil is the quartet’s third release and its first on Chandos. It includes pieces by Heitor Villa-Lobos and Clarice Assad, a young Brazilian composer who AGQ commissioned. The CD also includes personable sleeve notes written by Baker and Russell themselves.

Promenade
Colin Cooper - Classical Guitar Magazine

"One of the most interesting and professional debuts in Britain during the last few years”