This Melbourne-based duo comprises renowned Australian guitarist and composer Doug de Vries and emerging guitarist and composer Maximillian Rudd. The pair unite through a long friendship and shared love of Brazilian music. Together they have teamed up to produce their first major project, a new arrangement and performance of a major three-movement work by acclaimed Brazilian composer Maurício Carrilho. The work, originally a concerto for orchestra and guitar, is here reimagined as a duo of seven-string guitars. The first movement, Lapa, is a lively choro and ode to the rambunctious nightclub district in Rio de Janeiro. The second movement, Madrugada, is a lush waltz and a nod to the great choro composer Pixinguinha. The third celebrates the southern Brazilian way of life, and is a cracking chamamé, a characteristic dance of the River Plate area (which takes in southern Brazil, Uruguay and northeast Argentina). In the hands of de Vries, who arranged the first two movements, and Rudd, who arranged the third movement, the work takes on a new life through a collaboration that draws on deep expertise and appreciation of Brazilian music. Watch all three movements on YouTube.
Other projects de Vries and Rudd have collaborated on include a series of lockdown duets and a Melbourne Choro Club roda de choro recorded remotely.