Sketches
Frameworks, 2022
9/10
A classical guitarist, educator and entrepreneur who calls San Francisco home, Robert O’Connor Miller offers us a debut solo recording of music from Brazil, as well as some jazz fueled pieces to finish out the highly engaging body of work.
Pixinguinha’s work opens the listen with 3 movements, where Miller’s precise and warm playing fuels the intimate landscape, and “Aqua & Vinho” and “Frevo” follow with both calm and frisky playing that’s as meticulous as it is memorable.
In the middle, Ernesto Nazareth’s “Eponina”, one of the best tracks, flows with so much beauty and cultured playing in its timeless, absorbing delivery, while Simone Iannarelli’s “3 Miles Sketches” unfolds with very complicated and sometimes firm techniques that are often hypnotic in their nature.
Dusan Bogdanovic’s “Blues And Seven Variations” exits the listen, and it’s full of swift and harmonic progressions that enthrall the listen and finish the listen far too soon.
An extremely focused and exciting first solo album, Miller covers a wide expanse of ideas and techniques here, and it sure does illustrate his inestimable control over his instrument.
Travels well with: Plinio Fernandes- Saudade; Christian Li- The Four Seasons