VIDEOS: Yamandu Costa LIVE at GSI - plus Review & Photos

Let’s be honest – here at GSI and in Los Angeles in general, we meet and hear a lot of incredible guitar players, both from seasoned professionals and the best up-and-coming young talents, and though we haven’t seen absolutely everything, we definitely get exposed to a fair share of great musicians. However, even from our very lucky vantage point, we can still be taken by surprise once in a while… and candidly admit we’re still floating from last week’s concert featuring the legendary Yamandu Costa.

We were honored to host the Brazilian master for his premier Los Angeles performance. He delivered a jubilant set of his unique blend of mainly Brazilian and South American influenced music, in a powerful and equally mesmerizing fashion. To say he is virtuosic could be an understatement as we watched him whirl between written composition and wildly energetic improvisation – sometimes hard to tell where one started and the other ended if one wasn’t familiar with the repertoire. Between his almost inaudible pianissimo to his hammering fortes, his dynamics catapulted the audience as though on a roller coaster through the evening, keeping us on the edge of our seats at every turn. He often supplemented the guitar playing with humming, singing and in one piece – whistling! Possibly the best whistler any of us have ever heard – no joke!

The icing on the cake was when he invited Richard Scofano, a very talented bandoneon player, up for the final pieces in his set, where they played in perfect sync, music that they had never rehearsed or performed with each other before. Watching this interaction of musicians at the top of their game was a sublime experience and felt as though we were observing a private conversation between the two.

For now, enjoy some of these photos from the evening, but don’t worry, videos will be coming soon!

— JohnPaul Trotter, GSI Sales Manager