Canto das Aguas was released on August 1st with its formal public debut occuring in the Philips SACD booth at the Clube do Бudio e Vнdeo Hi-Fi Show 2002 that was held at the American Chamber of Commerce this past weekend (August 2nd – 4th) in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

A Look at Andre Geraissati and The Album
Andre Geraissati is a well known acoustic guitar player, both in the United States and Europe as well as in Brazil. In 1981 he created the Group D’Alma, along with two fellow acoustic guitar players. This group enjoyed success playing the college circuit.

In 1984, Geraissati decided to pursue a solo career. He took part in a number of jazz festivals in the United States and Europe and was selected as one of the world’s best acoustic guitar players by Guitar Player Magazine for two years in a row (1985 and 1986).

Geraissati is known for creating a palette of musical colors from his acoustic guitar. His playing is called “sonically bold”.

Eron Silva at Cavi Records tells us “I consider this analogy the synthesis of Andrй Geraissati’s work. Everything is in constant movement, self-regenerating towards the infinite. Canto das Бguas (loosely, “Waters Song”) is the perfect title for this record, beside being one of the most beautiful tracks in it. It opens and closes the recording, in a solo version, and then is accompanied by percussion, keyboards and bass. I hope you are a bold and resolute sailor, for this will enable you to explore, during many listening sessions, all the facets in the fascinating musical world of Andrй Geraissati.”

Goals of the Project
In talking about this album, Cavi Records officials tell us that “our goal is to introduce the audiophile community to the richness, rhythmic and genre diversity of Brazilian instrumental music, while employing recording techniques and technologies that match the quality of our musicians. Recording this album in Direct Stream Digitial (DSD) for release on a hybrid SACD disc represented a significant leap forward. This recording is the first in Latin America to employ this cutting edge technology. With the new Cavi Records label, we have met our goal of pursuing Innovation and Quality Excellence in every aspect of our products.”

The recording was made entirely in real time, without any equalization, compression or editing. The sound of every instrument was picked up individually, with one microphone per instrument. Two additional microphones were used for room ambience.

The Recording & Mastering Process
Canto das Aguas was recorded at Reference Studio in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Reference Studio feels that they are “the best equipped recording and mastering studio for audiophile recordings in Latin America”. Power in the studio is totally regenerated by PS Audio Power Plant units (PS 300 and PS 600), all power cords in every piece of equipment in the studio are also from PS Audio (Lab Cable 2). Cabling for the microphone, analog and digital sources are from Van den Hul. A/D, D/D and D/A conversions were made with dCS converters. Pre amps used in the studio were made by Manley Labs.

Other equipment at Reference Studios used on this recording include amplification by Bryston 14BST and Bow Technologies as well as Dynaudio monitors (Craft, 1.3 SE and 3.3). The microphones employed were Schoeps CMC 5U (for all the acoustic guitars), CADI-VX2 (for ambience), Neuman KM84 and U87A for the basses and AKG 414 Buls for percussion.

The album was recorded directly to the Sonic Solution HD3 mastering station. From there, it was saved in 24 bit/192khz format and then sent to David Glasser at Airshow Mastering Studios in Boulder, Colorado. Glasser coverted the master to DSD and edited and authored the album using the Sony Sonoma DSD Editing station.

Listening to the Finished Product
All of the people involved with the initial Cavi Records album are pleased with the finished product. Cavi Records says that playing this SACD on a good quality system will provide “a faithful reproduction of every vertical layer of music, from the front to back of the soundstage, the placement of the musicians/instruments, their precise outline and focus, the good breath around each of them, micro dynamics detail, outstanding timbre and tonal balance, and an extraordinary and virtuoso performance by all the musicians playing.”

Recording Engineer Homero Lotito tells me that “DSD technology was used throughout the production of this album. The result is an SACD of incredible transparency and allegiance to the performance of Andres Geraissati and the musicians on this album.”

According to the staff at Airshow Mastering, the final SACD is very impressive. They told me that this SACD “is a beautiful record, very open sounding.”

Musicians
Acoustic Guitars: Andrй Geraissati
Percussion: Renato Martins
Bass: Josй Alexandre Carvalho
Keyboards: Homero Lotito

Album Selections
1. Agreste
2. Fazenda
3. Canto das Aguas
4. Sempre
5. Banzo
6. Kenya
7. Sol nas maos
8. Palavras
9. Benguela
10. Canto Combo
11. Paz

Album Credits
Recorded and mixed at Reference Studio, Sгo Paulo, Brazil from May 18-25, 2002
Artistic Direction and Production: Fernando Andrette and Andrй Geraissati
Recording Engineers: Homero Lotito, Luciney de Lima and Fernando Andrette
Mixing and Mastering: Fernando Andrette, Andrй Geraissati and Homero Lotito
Executive Production: Fernando Andrette, Victor Mirol and Ronan Junqueira
DSD Mastering and Authoring: David Glasser, Airshow Mastering, Boulder, Colorado, USA