Rodrigo y Gabriela are two Mexican guitarists who’ve carved some measure of success in—of all places—Ireland with their peculiar style of open minded acoustic latin instrumental music (if this is what you call the duo’s yet undefined ‘genre’). Not to be mistaken for a couple, much less siblings, they do share the experience of having wielded axes (of the electric variety) for a homegrown thrash metal band during the early 90’s. When that gig didn’t pan out after several years of dues paying and Spinal Tap-ish foibles, the two quickly decamped to Europe, where they traveled across Scandinavia with less cumbersome Spanish guitars in tow, performing gigs for a little pocket money. Lo and behold, once they reached Ireland, the pair found an audience. In fact, owing to the imaginative melodies that animates their compositions, they count themselves among the (very) few Latin music artists to ever top the Irish charts, an achievement that makes this second album of theirs, titled “11:11,” infinitely more poignant.

Their musicianship blessed with a fluidity that could only come from consummate professionals, the fingers of this pair glide across fretboards as these produce the notes for the magical album opener “Hanuman.” Yet no matter how ‘latin’ they sound, Rodrigo y Gabriela have stated in public that they don’t want to see their CDs shelved in the “world music” section of record stores, a trait that becomes apparent on such instrumentals as the funky “Buster Voodoo” which weaves the barest percussion into the pair’s musical fabric. On more solemn instrumentals as “Logos” and album closer “Chac Mool” Rodrigo y Gabriela capture the soundtrack to our idle thoughts. Not letting themselves be boxed inside any particular style—they aren’t a Mariachi band, for chrissakes–the pair simply enjoy themselves with improvisation for the spirited “Santo Domingo” and “Hora Zero.” The sensuality of traditional Mexican/Spanish guitar play comes alive on the galloping “Savitri,” where the exotic allure of lands touched by Castillan culture fires the imagination.

For “Atman” this talented twosome finally put an electric guitar solo between them more than a decade after having junked their own aspirations with the instrument. It’s here where renowned jazz fusion soloist and legendary Testament shredder Alex Sckolnick makes a cameo with the fluid licks that have become his signature. This album has more twists and turns to it than the confusing urban sprawl of Mexico City. To nobody’s surprise, Rodrigo y Gabriela are highly recommended to those whose music taste borders on the eclectic.

Myspace.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 25th, 2009 at 1:29 pm and is filed under Reviewz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.