A little night music theory...

Manha de Carnaval from Black Orpheus

This piece written by Baden Powell and featuring as theme in the film Black Orpheus is a personal fave. John McLaughlin's facility with the guitar is without question - using inversion, a dense calculated harmonic concept, he treats the guitar crossing into percussion and orchestral violin. Paco de Lucia's agility on the fretboard is frightening as his quadratic flamenco architectonic builds with a flash speed to points of diaphanous momentum, yet to me, his chops butcher the saudade of this song with the mezzoarabic duende of the Flamenco tradition of cante jondo - of Algeciras for the point of his journey.

For me, journeyman Larry Coryell takes the thunder, with his simple cycle in rondo form, descending series with respect and response to the holon of Brazilian harmonics.

With a considered proximity to the French Carnivalesque that intimates the arrival of Darius Milhaud and behind him, Satie, to my senses he just wins the song.

And the plain chant of the Blues traditions, he jags a blue note at the end of his solo which is simply autochtonous, off the swamp's bubble and outrageous.

That open flatness, the consistency of Americano panorama spoke to me through Larry, who's primarily a Manouche player.

And the ending flourish is sublime like the Iguazu Falls between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Sample that with warmth, friend.