A concert of Julio Resende is a feast for the senses. The way he plays the piano, especially in this Solo record, takes us not only into the history of fado and one of its biggest names, Amalia, but also to one of the references of the Portuguese guitar, is like reviewing the master Carlos Paredes, only in the piano, running his thousand fingers masterfully through the keys. Simply brilliant and not to be missed.
Why three jazz albums later, you decide to do an album with only songs from Amalia? And at this point in your career?
Júlio Resende: I'm not a discontinuity, is a continuity. It is normal that after a pianist in his career wants to do a solo album. There is in the history of pianist that tradition. I also wanted to make mine as personal as possible and to that extent, I was increasingly involved with the fado, was increasingly obvious that I could think of it alone and when I decided to make the album, I remembered that both solo means soil and the land where I come from is Portugal, where it was engrossed and increasingly made sense to think of a solo album from fado and the songs I knew by memory, that are part of my land and I have been taught by Amalia to hear her sing.
How did you choose the themes and what was the process for creating the guidelines for music?
JR: Above all, I wanted to learn to play the themes as if he had to sing at the piano, or the piano is singing and I try to sing with the piano. I'm not the voice is the instrument. The absence of the words in this musical project is something that has to be replaced, this was the hardest part to learn the songs and sing them at the piano as if we had heard a voice. The second part was imagining my voyage around these same themes.
In concert, organized by the Society of development of Madeira, however, the concert had some jazz and improvisational sound.
JR: Of course, the whole concert is improvised in that there is nothing written.
So, all concerts are played differently?
JR: Yes, although there is an arrangement and there is a song we all know. I try to keep them stable even if it is not repeated in the same way. Soon, I will play a new concert and do not know what will happen. I know I'm going to play some of these themes and some will be noticeable, but I have not written anything, I do not know how it will be in the begining, what will be in the middle and how it will end. I do not predict, just try to let me go, but there is a base that is fado.
It's hard to imitate the Portuguese guitar to the piano in technical terms?
JR: It's not hard. The Portuguese built a guitar language of fado that we identified as the language of Portuguese musical style. I tried to assimilate the instrument in my performance and how I think the piano. But the idea was not to imitate the guitar because it is inimitable, each instrument has its own characteristics, so it just inspired me.
Looking at your previous discographic work, what Solo brings you personally?
JR: I think it's my most personal work, and the biggest challenge I faced and put myself and I will continue to think about it and demand at every concert this challenge because it is a way of thinking about this genre, in this case the fado, little seen or little thought and to that extent I had to think from scratch.
And forward?
JR: I have several projects, some unfinished, but I just like to talk about when it's all ready.
www.julioresende.com
