I'm a sucker for classical guitar. The best players achieve a sound that bridges piano and harpsichord without abandoning the guitar itself. From the first phrases of this album, it's clear that Gabriele Leite has the chops. As a Brazilian, she is an heir to the Iberian history of the instrument itself.

Gabriele Leite Gunûncho (Rocinante Records)

This album travels a much wider track, however. She features pieces written by women composers from Brazil, Cuba and Scotland (and closes with herself). Lina Peres de Campos is a modern composer, but her pieces still fit easily to the accustomed style. Tania León's "Paisanos Semos!", on the other hand, is immediately arresting (and likely challenging for those coming in with set expectations. Leite deftly builds a road through the complex lines of the piece and finds just the right path. Not quite experimental, but surely breathtaking.

Leite's take on pieces by Chiquinha Gonzaga (a Brazilian composer active about 100 years ago) and Thea Musgrave (the aforementioned Scot) are similarly deft and informed. And her own three-piece suite (which clocks in at less than three minutes in total) adds a satisfying summation.

The sixteen pieces here clock in a just over half an hour. I think one of the reasons I like classical solo guitar music is that the pieces are often quite short. This set is a nice counterpoint to Tim Brady's recent electric set. Both are outstanding, and both find new ways to breathe life into the guitar. Leite's journey through women composers of the last century is educational without being didactic. She's breathing life into music that's not often heard, and her touch is exquisite. This is music that inhabits.

Jon Worley