Track Listing

1. Brisas
2. Milonga Blues
3. Con Migo
4. Melodia en Candombe
5. Atardecer
6. Agua y Aceite
7. Aero Rings
8. Todo Voce
9. Islands' Queen
10. Mi Cancion
11. Can't Reach
12. Septiembre Asi
13. El Gramillero
14. Figuras y Reflejos

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #370217 in Music
• Released on: 1998-03-10
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Uruguayan multi-instrumentalist, composer, and singer Hugo Fattoruso is perhaps best known to North American audiences as a member of Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento's band. But Fattoruso has been working for decades on intriguing fusions of jazz, Anglo pop, and Uruguayan music styles such as candombe (a drum-heavy African-rooted style) and murga (carnival music). His records with the Uruguayan trio Opa, recorded and released in the United States in the '70s and reissued in the '90s, are still fascinating, rich with possibilities. Homework, recorded both at his home in Montevideo and a New York studio, is disappointingly uneven. Some of the material is not fully realized. Other songs come across as weak stabs at pop. Still, Fattoruso is capable of smart, neotraditional songwriting, as in the delightful "Conmigo" or "Agua y Aceite." Also, the simple "Melodia de Candombe" and, especially, "El Gramillero" hint at the power, joy, and artistic potential of candombe. More of this would have been welcome. --Fernando Gonzalez

Jazz Times
[Fattoruso's] style reflects various influences: the music of Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, rock, jazz, and a pronounced Brazilian trust, particularly bossa nova and tropicalismo. All of these are distilled into a highly original sound, airy yet rhythmic and dense, that makes for a strongly appealing release.

Customer Reviews

Uruguayan harmonies and rhythms will amaze you
In the interest of full disclosure, I'm the artist's son. Nevertheless, I think you'll find Hugo's approach to harmony and melody refreshing, particularly in today's melodically-restrained world. The disc combines traditional Arfro-Uruguayan rhythms (known as candombe) with all sorts of synth and piano sounds, and is probably unlike anything you've heard elsewhere.

MUSICA HASTA EL FIN DEL MUNDO
I worked with Hugo Fatorusso in the Uruguayan film EL CHEVROLE (The Lifejacket)in February 97 in Montevideo. He composed its title song 'Che Chevrole' with his lontime friend Ruben Rada. They put it together against the clock, just before the song was needed as playback for the climatic scene of the movie. The song was an instant hit and Hugo's performance in the film is one of its highlights.

I am delighted with his music for this CD and I am glad he is still composing as I remember him as a dedicated musician. I have nothing but praise for him. Filming EL CHEVROLE was one of the most gruelling experiences ever. Fatorusso went through it with immense professionalism. As the producer of the film I tried very hard that his and other artists' contributions was not lost through lack of commitment. I put together a deal to post-produce it in London with the best available sound. The result is majestic. The film was released in Uruguay in October 98. It broke all box office records and it is now a classic. Bien hecho Fato!!

Jazzy candombe
 Hugo Fettoruso's HOMEWORK presents a fine achievement by one of the members of Grupo del Cuareim: yes, the candombe rhythm is present in HOMEWORK - but so is a more jazzy overlay and a number of elements not Candombe in nature.