The best time to listen to Benji Kaplan’s Meditações no Violão is on a quiet, Sunday morning as I’m doing now. An album of self-penned songs inspired by the Brazilian form he loved from childhood and studied intensely both at Brazil and his native NYC, the title is Portuguese for meditations on the guitar, a title that befits this solo acoustic guitar project. His songs are very faithful representations of the more traditional Brazilian music form, especially the beautiful, passionate and complex music from the north east part of the country, and his guitar playing is convincingly indigenous to this style of music. “In Memory Of Luke” (video below), “Choro Em Fado” and “Truffaut” are standouts among a slate of fourteen solid compositions. The nimble technique on numbers like “Introspective” is worth checking out as well.
Meditações no Violão was self-released on August 2. Visit Benji Kaplan’s website.
[amazon_enhanced asin=”B00550L0O0″ /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B00104B71Q” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B00550L11M” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B00550L64O” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B00550L2QQ” /]
- Wolf Eyes + Anthony Braxton – ‘live at pioneer works, 26 october 2023’ (2025) - January 30, 2025
- Steve Smith and Vital Information, “Don’t Stop Believin'” (2025): One Track Mind - January 29, 2025
- Keiji Haino + Natsuki Tamura – ‘What Happened There?’ (2025) - January 15, 2025
