On El Cuchi Bien Temperado: Music by Gustavo Leguizamón, guitarist Pablo Márquez tackles the bittersweet compositions of his fellow Argentinian Gustavo “ Cuchi” Leguizamón (1917-2000), a renowned guitarist and poet.
A man of many parts, “Cuchi” also happened to be a lawyer and teacher in the Argentinian town in which Pablo Márquez grew up. At first, the fledgling gutarist had no idea that the dance pieces known as zambas which he had known and sung as a boy had been composed by his teacher.
The composer considered anonymity as the ultimate accolade for an artist, implying that the musical heritage thus absorbs relatively new compositions. People, presumably, become so attached to them that the matter of the identity of their composer becomes immaterial. The Fields of Athenry is almost - not quite fully so - a case in point in this country.
The title “El Cuchi Bien Temperado “ - the well-tempered Cuchi - is an adaptation of Bach’s popular The Well-Tempered Clavier which employed all the key signatures available in music. Correspondingly, Márquez set himself the challenge of never repeating any key in the 17 pieces interpreted here. “It was my way of enriching the folk tradition, “ says the guitarist who was born in St Pedro de Jujuy in 1967.
Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky and Schoenberg all influenced the work of Leguizamón. There is somehow a sense too that he was well familiar with the work of Brazilians such as Luiz Bonfá. By turns wistful and opaque, the record moves beautifully between a palette of moods, much as its performer essays all the keys available to him. The CD booklet includes an interview with Márquez in French and English.
Paddy Kehoe
