The music of Guinga by hand and guitar Roland Hoffmann

The now 73-year-old Carlos Althier de Souza Lemos Escobar, as his full name is, is a classical guitarist, composer and songwriter. Guinga, the one-word nickname by which he chose to be known, is highly respected and esteemed by his compatriots. In addition to his obvious gifts, the rich and “generous” melodiousness of his compositions and his supreme craftsmanship, they also admire and appreciate that he does not limit himself or allow himself to be squeezed… by force into any kind of musical “tightness”.

With a solid foundation in his classical education, Guinga from a very early age dealt with traditional Brazilian music and also incorporated elements of it in the most natural and spontaneous way in his compositions. The latter move in a very wide range of textures and styles, just as the lyrics of his songs cover a wide thematic variety. If that wasn’t enough in his live performances, he constantly changes the parameters of his music, mutating the melodies, using completely different rhythms than the original ones and often replacing the performing/vocal parts with instrumentals. Always with a very intense improvisational mood that reveals his love for jazz as well.

The German Roland Hoffmann and his sister Ilka form an accomplished and award-winning classical guitar duo. He focuses mainly on the flamenco and latin tradition of the classical guitar and spends a large part of his time in our country writing and participating executively in the music of several theater performances. On ‘Roland Hoffmann plays Guinga’, just released by independent label Polyphoniki Records, he plays a number of Guinga’s compositions. Following his “teachings”, he duly changes them by adapting them to his style but also by giving them his personal stamp.

He plays several of them solo, but the differences are much more visible in his guitar duets with his sister Ilka and his brother Giorgos Kaugas. This is even more true in his collaborations with the two other musicians on the album, the German saxophonist Reiner Witzel and the classical percussionist, who specialized in vibraphone and jazz almost from the start, Vangelis Paraskevaidis. In these special cases the album takes a decisive turn towards Latin jazz.

“Roland Hoffmann plays Guinga” is a very interesting and at the same time enjoyable record. Roland Hoffmann makes known to the Greek – perhaps also to the European – public an authentic, “cool” and very beautiful music and with it its creator, the great Guinga. Perhaps the most important thing is that she does it in the same “fresh” and refreshing way that she deserves and Guinga would like. Give yourself a gift too by letting her “caress” your sense of hearing.