{"id":136126,"date":"2023-04-18T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=136126"},"modified":"2023-05-31T20:24:13","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T03:24:13","slug":"irene-gomez-songs-of-my-life-canciones-de-mi-vida-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/irene-gomez-songs-of-my-life-canciones-de-mi-vida-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Irene G\u00f3mez’s ‘Songs of My Life\/Canciones de mi Vida’ is an Intriguing Nylon-String Mix of Beatles, Brel, and Schubert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Blair Jackson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nimble and expressive Colombian classical guitarist Irene G\u00f3mez has always played a diverse repertoire, as befits a musician whose varied guitar education included programs in her native country, in France, and at Juilliard in New York, where she studied with Sharon Isbin. Her last album, 2010\u2019s excellent Estudios y fantasias para guitarra<\/a><\/em>, ranged from pieces by early guitar masters Fernando Sor and Matteo Carcassi to modern more composers like Heitor Villa-Lobos and Leo Brouwer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

G\u00f3mez\u2019s latest, Songs of My Life<\/a><\/em>, is her most eclectic collection yet, leaning heavily, though not exclusively, on 20th-century songwriters, rather than composers of instrumental music: John Lennon and Paul McCartney (\u201cYesterday,\u201d \u201cMichelle,\u201d and \u201cHere, There and Everywhere\u201d), Belgian Jacques Brel (\u201cNe me quitte pas\u201d), Argentine Carlos Gardel  (\u201cVolver\u201d), and French singer Barbara (\u201cG\u00f6ttingen\u201d). Add in Colombian Rafael Campo Vives (\u201cFantasia caribe sobre el tema \u2018La gota fria\u2019\u201d) and 19th-century Austrian composer Franz Schubert (piano pieces \u201cSt\u00e4ndchen\u201d and \u201cDie Post\u201d), and you\u2019ve got a program overflowing with sumptuous melodies played with tremendous feeling and sensitivity on G\u00f3mez\u2019s luminous-sounding 1992 Contreras guitar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Irene G\u00f3mez<\/strong>
Songs of My Life\/Canciones de mi Vida<\/em><\/strong>
(Self-released)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t let the appearance of so many well-known pop songs fool you into thinking these are just simple tunes. Each becomes a splendid showcase for G\u00f3mez\u2019s fingerpicking artistry because she has chosen to play the imaginative interpretations from some of classical guitar\u2019s greatest arrangers, including J.K. Mertz (the Schubert pieces), T\u014dru Takemitsu (Beatles songs), and Roland Dyens (Brel and Barbara). \u201cTo perform these arrangements was a surprising challenge,\u201d G\u00f3mez writes in the liner notes, noting it was challenging \u201cto unify and interpret recognized melodies combined with mysterious and complex harmonies. But in the end, the guitar, the instrument of all times and all genres, allowed this union.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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