Martin may be musically conservative, but he is probably the new king of melody on guitar, able to write lyrically in a distinguished and memorable way that can appease both popular and high art camps.

Angels in the Street. Eduardo MARTIN (b. 1956). Iliana Matos (guitar)
GPS 1030CD [64:31]

The review disc is interesting from a number of aspects but two in particular. All the music is from the pen of one composer: Cuban guitarist/composer Eduardo Martin. There are few modern composers for guitar who can maintain the attention of this reviewer through twenty-seven tracks of music constituting eight different compositions.

Eduardo Martin may be prolific and renowned as a guitarist, but it is quite evident from the liner-notes, the majority of which he wrote, that featured guitarist Iliana Matos is the artist the composer considers best equipped to play these compositions. The observation that 'it takes one to know one' is reflected in Martin's comments: 'She is a true artist, gifted with a magnificent technique. She possesses a clear and brilliant tone- while intimate and powerful - always used expressively. As the composer I feel very fortunate to listen to this album. I feel that in Iliana's hands my pieces reach a higher level. The authenticity of her interpretations, energizes, renews and recreates them.'

Eduardo Martin was born in 1956. He studied guitar with Jesus Ortega and composition with Ángel Vázquez Millares and Alfredo Dieznieto, graduating from the Instituto Superior de Arte de Cuba in 1985

As a concert guitarist he has toured throughout Latin-America and Europe and his discography exceeds fifteen recordings. As a composer he has won numerous awards and commissions including Radio France International Competition and the American Composer's Orchestra Festival. His works have been published in Europe, Cuba and the USA.

Eduardo Martin's compositions are strongly influenced by the music of his native Cuba, but he also provides insights into other important sources of influence. Preludio, Son y Allegro (2, 3, 4) has two major influences: popular music of Cuba and the works of J.S. Bach. It is from Bach's Preludio, Fugue and Allegro for Lute (BWV 998) that Martin derived much of his inspiration for this composition.

Written for Iliana Matos, the title track, Angels on the Street, was inspired by street musicians of different backgrounds, styles and cultures and in many parts of the world. 'These musicians give their heart and soul in every performance without rigid formality nor compromises for whoever is listening - true Angels who make their living in this way daily.'

To ensure the liner-notes by Eduardo Martin can be fully interpreted, a glossary of terms is included e.g. 'Son' (3) refers to a popular Cuban dance.

There are so many interesting and intriguing aspects of the music presented on this disc that a discrete review, dedicated exclusively to the music per se, would be justified.

Iliana Matos graduated from the Instituto de Arte Superior de Cuba in 1991. Among her guitar teachers we find such illustrious names as: Francisco Rosa, Gabriel Estarellas, Miguel Bonachea, and Jesús Ortega. The list of those in whose master class she has participated includes: Leo Brouwer, David Russell, Sharon Isbin, Tania Chagnot, and Costas Cotsiolis.
 
Ms. Matos made history by becoming the only woman to win the prestigious 'S.A.R La Infanta Doña Cristina' International Guitar Competition. She is currently studying with Ricardo Gallen at the Extremadura University for the first Master of Music in Classical Guitar. Iliana also maintains an active concert career

It has been noted that musicians often excel in interpretation of music from their mother country. The endorsements and accolades from Eduardo Martin are justified in every track of the review disc: compositions inspired by Cuban popular music, from the pen of a Cuban composer and played by a Cuban guitarist synergistically weave magic.

The music is not easy to define and one hears elements of folk, jazz and classical; given the aforementioned sources of inspiration this is not surprising.

Those familiar with jazz/hybrid guitarist Earl Klugh will hear echoes of his style in Inevitable (5) and Lobison (7).

Much of the music would be eminently suited to the sound track of a quality movie, and the last item, Para Sonar Contigo (26), reminds one of the Villa-Lobos composition, Sentimental Melody, written for the film Green Mansions. On my particular disc, track 23 (Octubre) has been worn out - a brief audition will explain why.

It should be noted that Iliana Matos' superb interpretive skills are not limited to Cuban music. Her rendition of the Chaconne from Bach's Suite for Solo Violin (BWV 1004) elicited the following observation: ' Her beautiful diction of the cantabile in the Andante section made history' - El Mercantil Valenciano Castellón,
1996.

Iliana Matos exhibits high musicality, a very refined technique, and a strong sense of rhythm. Listen to the Cuban dance Son del Barrio (26) to hear how she embraces these rhythms, combining them with percussive sounds made by striking the body of the guitar. Her beautiful tone is complemented by an instrument from the hands of luthier Paco Santiago Marin. For aficionados who may be interested, on this recording Iliana chose to use Hannabach Silver-special High Tension, Set 815 HT nylon strings.

It is with reluctance that I describe the work of a current generation guitarist as magnificent because it leaves little latitude for the future but on this occasion there is no other synonym that is more appropriate.

Regarding the future, one must recognise that fate and circumstance are not always kind to great artists. For all their magnificence, the names of past guitarists such as Angel Iglesias, Rey de la Torre and Jose Luis Gonzalez remain in relative obscurity.

If circumstances are kind to Iliana Matos, she has sufficient of all credentials necessary to take her place in the annals of guitar as one of its truly gifted and outstanding exponents. Zane Turner.

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" It's been 80 years since Heitor Villa-Lobos rejuvenated classical guitar music with his compositions, breathing a rhythm and gravitas never heard before his time. Composer Eduardo Martin, perhaps best known from the LAGQ's rendering of "Hasta Alicia Baila" and "La Trampa," proves not only his stewardship for Villa-Lobos' spirit, but for also truly drawing it into the 21st century with writing "Angels in the Street." The only limiting factor for a piece such as "Angels?" -- to find a performer who possesses the virtuosity able to handle the technical act of precisely lifting the notes from daunting page to fretboard, and to do it with a panache and sensitivity which disguises the difficulty as only subliminal. Such an artist is Iliana Matos. Matos has a long history of concert awards including first prizes in the Vila de L'Olleria, Ciudad de Vélez-Málaga, S.A.R. La Infanta Doña Cristina, and Manuel M. Ponce International Guitar Competitions. And though Matos is a dark horse, it's impossible while listening to "Angels" to believe that her name will not someday ring the same peal of recognition as does Bream and Williams. "Preludio" begins with the same slumbering but expectant legato lines of Villa-Lobos' Prelude No. 4 in E minor, and also like that piece explodes into surprising glissades of arpeggiations. "Anunciacion" (from Martin's "En Cinco Lineas") has the floating and ethereal quality of a Ralph Towner composition. Not surprisingly, since both composer and performer are Cuban, Latin influences are prominent on some pieces ("Inevitable," "Son," "Son de Barrio," De La Rumba Son") and will reward fans of Egberto Gismonti. GSP Recordings seems to have a talent for ferreting out bright new classical guitar talent, and they've succeeded once more by making this collaboration between Eduardo Martin and Iliana Matos possible and accessible" .

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 Bridge Guitar Reviews © 2007.Henk te Veldhuis.

*Iliana Matos "Angels in the Street"  2007  GSP Records 
 "Iliana Matos is a skilled and accomplished guitar player from Cuba and a prize-winner of ten international guitar competitions in Europe, Cuba and the Americas. Iliana Matos has been featured as a soloist in concerts and festivals throughout Venezuela, Chile, Spain, France, and her native Cuba. She has received numerous awards for her interpretation of Spanish and Cuban music. The release of her CD "Angels in the Street" contains 27 compositions written by the famous composer/guitarist Eduardo Martin. Matos made an excellent repertoire choice with by creating a wonderful atmosphere and top-notch guitar techniques on her classical guitar. The opening piece "De La Rumba Son", has a wonderful melody line which will totally absorb a listener. The program continues with "Prelude Son y Allegro" with fast sound escapades and Matos is able to create an unique own sound. "Divertimentos Tropicales" with nice percussive elements added to these brilliant pennings. "En Cinco Lineas" has a an intriguing setup with an intimate yet challenging character. "Canciones del Calendario" is an unique project which illustrates the twelve months of the year, with the different seasonal nuances with a moving touch. The CD ends with "Para Sonar Contigo" an intimate and soothing piece with a flowing structure. Iliana Matos succeeded with "Angels in the Street" to deliver a CD which is as well brilliant with the exceptional well chosen repertoire choice as with her unique and modern approach to classical guitar music. Truly a masterwork".

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 All Media Guide.© 2007 James Manheim.

* "It's unusual right off the bat: a collaboration between a Cuban guitarist and a Cuban composer, recorded in the still officially Cuba-phobic United States. And, for all except Latin American listeners, the kind of collaboration represented here will be exotic. Is this "classical music?" Surely it is; both artists emerged from the world of conservatory training, and the music is notated and technically rigorous in ways that one associates with the classical tradition. Yet the notes by composer Eduardo Martín, except in a "Preludio, Son, y Allegro" specifically pointing toward Bach, speak of "a typical son," "a conga written for Iliana for this recording," "a romantic song." The beauty of this music is that in it, the distinction of classical and popular means very little: the resources of classical guitar are used in order to elaborate popular bases, and the classical and popular are woven into a language in which they are not easily dissociable. Most of the pieces are short, based on dances or brief melodies but filled in with complex passagework. The patterns are not only Cuban but range northward to the blues, southward to a variety of South American traditions in "Anunciación," and back in time to Bach in the marvelous "Preludio, Son, y Allegro." Guitarist Iliana Matos is a major unheralded talent, with clean articulation of rapid, hard passages and a winning way of drawing the listener in by slightly hanging back at a piece's beginning. This nicely recorded guitar disc could make an excellent way into a rich musical tradition that history has partially obscured in some countries.

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Guitare Diffusion © 2007

* "Une production captivante, où la maîtrise élégante de Iliana Matos donne vie à la musique attachante de Eduardo Martin qui, sous peu, enrichira les répertoires des récitalistes en quête de renouvellement".

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 Guitare Classique 2007.F.N.