The brilliant, kaleidoscopic Brazilian composer Egberto Gismonti has made his first album for ECM in 12 years, Saudações. It’s a double-exposure of where he is now. The first disc presents an orchestral piece… The second is totally different: an hour-plus of stunning guitar duets on original music with his son, Alexandre Gismonti. … This is Mr. Gismonti’s original style, rigorous, percussive, deep, harmony-rich, half of it tied to Brazilian popular music and the dance impulse, all of it singable.
Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
In European sonata or symphony form, Sertoes Veredas could also be construed in terms of a Brazilian waltz or choro, the images of common everyday things and experiences given a kind of magisterial, sometimes transformative treatment. … The 70-minute suite gives us another window into this genius of Brazil, who has been creating original, memorable music for more than 35 years. …
Disc two, Duetos de Violoes, returns us to a more familiar format. … Gismonti duets with son Alexandre in a program of 10 originals. … The connections between Duetos de Violoes and Sertoes Veredas are there: some of Saudações’ fun comes from discovering them.
John Ephland, Downbeat
Saudações kick starts his discography in superb fashion, and what makes the news all the sweeter for Gismonti fans is that it’s a double album. Disc one features Gismonti the orchestral composer, taking a 70-minute journey through his native Brazil in an ambitious seven-part suite entitled ‘Sertões Veredas: Tribute to Miscegenation’. Embracing various aspects of Brazilian culture and history, it receives a compelling performance by Cuba’s all-women orchestra, Camerata Romeu… The suite serves to illustrate Gismonti’s particular genius in being able to channel an array of musical reference points… and yet remain unmistakably himself. Featuring Gismonti’s gifted son Alexandre, disc two presents an outstanding programme of guitar duets and solos.
Peter Quinn, Jazzwise
Eine Reise durch Brasilien, und Egberto Gismonti klingt dabei fast so, als wäre nichts weiter geschehen in all der Zeit, außer dass sein Gitarrenspiel noch großartiger, seine Musik komplexer klingt als je zuvor. … Die Orchester-Suite „Sertoes Vereda“ will als Reise durch Landschaft, Geschichte und Kultur Brasiliens verstanden werden und spiegelt gleichzeitig Gismontis Arbeit und Werk wider als seine Fusion von europäischer und brasilianischer Musik, insbesondere indianischer Folklore und Jazz. … Es ist eine Musik, die mit den Gegensätzen ihres gigantischen Ursprungslandes spielt und die vielfältigen Einflüsse, denen das Land schon immer ausgesetzt war, aufsaugt und zu etwas Eigenem verdaut.
Hans-Jürgen Lenhart, Jazzthetik