Guitarist Giovan Guido can make you believe in the Land of Cargessol.
The title of Guido's latest album, the Land of Cargessol is also a fairy-tale world created by singer Stephanie Petrequin, inspired by a tune they wrote together. In the Land of Cargessol, there lived a foolishly brave horseman named Elias, who confronted the unconquerable dragon Nesames and bragged that he could destroy him in battle. Nesames, finding the threat so imbecilic, let loose an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Fueled by his massive ego, Nesames couldn't stop giggling; in fact, he cackled so much that he ended up choking to death. “It's based on the meaning of believing and positive thinking that helps us overcome the biggest obstacles," Guido explained.
Guido is an award-winning jazz musician who exhibits the bold self-confidence of his hero Elias on Land of Cargessol, a spellbinding ride of fingerpicking derring-do and flamenco majesty. Guido's masterful command with the guitar is deeply hypnotic, emotionally involving, and technically precise. Guido started playing the guitar at the age of eight; his fingerpicking style came later. “Like most picking guitarists, fingerstyle was to me an auxiliary style, but things started changing on February 2009 when I was offered to play flamenco as an opening act for a flamenco show at Brooklyn College," Guido said. “When asked if I play flamenco, I used to answer that I play my own style of flamenco as I would play that style with a pick. But flamenco, besides being a dance, is strictly fingerstyle guitar music; the truth was that I didn't really play flamenco. When I said yes to that gig, I had about one week to get ready; well, I couldn't say no to a gig offer as I needed the money. In that week I practiced intensively like I never did, watching and listening mainly to Paco de Lucia."
However, to Guido his lifelong affection for the fingerpicking style has little to do with financial concerns; it's simply a matter of personal taste. “The contact of the fingers with the strings" is something that Guido enjoys. “I also love the sound of a classical guitar," Guido added. “Its best sound is when it's played fingerstyle."
The title of Guido's latest album, the Land of Cargessol is also a fairy-tale world created by singer Stephanie Petrequin, inspired by a tune they wrote together. In the Land of Cargessol, there lived a foolishly brave horseman named Elias, who confronted the unconquerable dragon Nesames and bragged that he could destroy him in battle. Nesames, finding the threat so imbecilic, let loose an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Fueled by his massive ego, Nesames couldn't stop giggling; in fact, he cackled so much that he ended up choking to death. “It's based on the meaning of believing and positive thinking that helps us overcome the biggest obstacles," Guido explained.
Guido is an award-winning jazz musician who exhibits the bold self-confidence of his hero Elias on Land of Cargessol, a spellbinding ride of fingerpicking derring-do and flamenco majesty. Guido's masterful command with the guitar is deeply hypnotic, emotionally involving, and technically precise. Guido started playing the guitar at the age of eight; his fingerpicking style came later. “Like most picking guitarists, fingerstyle was to me an auxiliary style, but things started changing on February 2009 when I was offered to play flamenco as an opening act for a flamenco show at Brooklyn College," Guido said. “When asked if I play flamenco, I used to answer that I play my own style of flamenco as I would play that style with a pick. But flamenco, besides being a dance, is strictly fingerstyle guitar music; the truth was that I didn't really play flamenco. When I said yes to that gig, I had about one week to get ready; well, I couldn't say no to a gig offer as I needed the money. In that week I practiced intensively like I never did, watching and listening mainly to Paco de Lucia."
However, to Guido his lifelong affection for the fingerpicking style has little to do with financial concerns; it's simply a matter of personal taste. “The contact of the fingers with the strings" is something that Guido enjoys. “I also love the sound of a classical guitar," Guido added. “Its best sound is when it's played fingerstyle."
