World of Pixinguinha

Hamilton de Holanda is a fantastically accomplished musician. As a player of the bandolin (15-stringed lute) there are probably none finer. However, his music work tends to be far too clean; polished to the point of sterility. This is his take on the Rio musician and composer Pixinguinha, who composed heartfelt popular songs in the middle of the last century and is considered one of the all-time greats – particularly in the field of choro music. Here Holanda and an impressive gang, including Chucho Valdéz and Wynton Marsalis, add many, many notes and twiddly jazz bits to simple, beautiful songs such as ‘Lamentos’. You can compare it with Pixinguinha's original on YouTube; the differences are telling.

What's frustrating is that when they do tone down the virtuoso stuff as they do on ‘Rosa’ (one of Pixinguinha's most celebrated hits), it reveals a beautiful, nostalgic tune unadorned by any tedious filigree of jazziness. ‘Yao’, similarly almost hits a proper groove. If more of the album could have been like that, with the musicians perhaps asking themselves whether each note was actually necessary, this could have been a terrific album. As it is, it occasionally works but is mostly unbearable.