Fragments of a Dream
is a collaboration between the Andean cultural troupe
Inti-Illimani
,
classical
guitarist
John Williams
, and
flamenco
Paco Pena
, spawned from a number of ad-lib performances between the various musicians in London. Those performances were essentially
performing as usual, with guest solos by the guitarists. This album, however, was written specifically with the collaboration in mind. As such, there is a distinct weaving of styles. The flutes and small strings of
are often backed rhythmically by some careful guitar plucking. Conversely, there are passages of
guitar with punctuation provided by the Andean instruments. It's a decently soft affair either way, not necessarily making heavy use of the Andean motives, but incorporating the Andean style into the larger set of a hybridized music. The horns sometimes act as punctuation to short runs of Andean-based sound, and sometimes play in a largely
context. The charangos and violins do much the same. The core instruments from both stylistic sides only make the crossing from time to time, usually playing in a normal manner and letting the context affect the manner in which they're heard. As such, it makes a nice twist on the usual
guitar repertoire, but probably isn't really the right choice for those looking for a piece of
world fusion
. Interesting, but largely bland. ~ Adam Greenberg