David Russell - Aire Latino: Latin Music for Guitar (2004)

Aire Latino is a collection of a variety of works drawn from the extensive corpus of classical guitar literature created by Argentine, Paraguayan, Brazilian, and Mexican composers. One would expect from such a diverse range of sources that these recordings would represent a patchwork of styles, but this is not so; the music is carefully chosen and sequenced in a way that emphasizes unanimity of approach over diversity. It is an extremely pleasant disc to listen to, is very well recorded, and is superbly played by guitarist David Russell.

From the standpoint of repertoire, there are several composers here who don't sound familiar, such as Jorge Morel, Carlos Payés, and Eduardo Falú. These pieces stand out in a program that is in the whole extraordinary, and the listener feels a debt of gratitude to David Russell for the introduction to these composers. Here is even a piece by Paraguayan composer Pablo Escobar, who unfortunately shares his name with a notorious Colombian drug king, but his music is no less enjoyable for that! Aire Latino covers all the bases in terms of providing an overview of a distinct instrumental style through means of a collection, and acquits itself on all counts. This is the finest multi-composer collection of south of the border classical guitar music in a long time; Telarc and David Russell are to be congratulated.

Review by Uncle Dave Lewis