Gustavo Cuchi Leguizam�n (1917-2000) was a unique figure in the musical culture of Argentina - a poet, composer, pianist and guitarist, a popular artist and a highly sophisticated musician. Here Pablo M�rquez pays homage with an album of Leguizam�n's pieces arranged for solo guitar.
Leguizam�n was born in Salta, a city in the foothills of the Andes and a seedbed for outstanding popular musicians. Though born in St Pedro de Jujuy (in 1967), Pablo M�rquez was raised in Salta and, aged 13, first encountered Leguizam�n there in his capacity as a history teacher: Cuchi was also a lawyer and teacher in addition to being one of Argentina's greatest musicians.
As a composer, Leguizam�n was an exceptional melodist and an adventurous traditionalist. The majority of his work consists of zambas, which M�rquez considers Salta's quintessential musical form. Leguizam�n brought a sense of harmonic freedom to these dance pieces, incorporating his melodic and harmonic ideas in Argentine traditional music, without ever losing its essence or strong sense of rootedness. A builder of bridges between art music and oral traditions, he was inspired by classical music, especially Beethoven and 20th century composers including Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky and Schoenberg.
The title of M�rquez's album makes reference to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, and the guitarist here similarly arranges Cuchi's music for all 24 major and minor keys. M�rquez says: To provide a wealth of colours I set myself the challenge of never repeating any key...It was my way of enriching folk practice, and also a reflection of my classical training in this encounter with traditional music.
This is the second ECM album for the Swiss-based Pablo M�rquez following his disc of music by Luys de Narvaez, 'Musica del Delphin', released in 2007, but further recordings are in preparation.
Personnel: Pablo M�rquez (guitar)
