Mat Brooker – La Puesta Del Sol

Mat Brooker wields a spanish guitar to create a vibrant display of contemporary latin fusion. Bounding from the furious staccato rhythms of flamenco to the cigar soaked sounds of Buenavista, this is expressive music that celebrates life.

A rousing set at 2014 Illawarra Folk Festival led one MC to declare him “the Jimi Hendrix of spanish guitar”.

The past year has seen Mat performing throughout the east coast from Brisbane to Bulli, in support of his debut album ‘La Puesta Del Sol’ (meaning sunset). Tracks from the album have been picked up by numerous independent radio stations nationwide.

Mat is also a keen busker, often seizing the opportunity to perform his soulful gypsy flamenco guitar face to face on the streets. Get your fiesta groove on and enjoy!

The debut album on compact disc is brimming with beautiful Spanish guitar with influences from Latin, Flamenco, Cuban and more.

CD Description – “La Puesta Del Sol”

Soulful gypsy flamenco guitar comes pouring out of Mat Brooker’s debut album. Accompanied by percussion & bass, this is uplifting latin instrumental music that brings the flavours of the world to you!

The mood ranges from joyous to reflective, with an emphasis on expressive, passionate playing.

Most songs were written during improvisation sessions at a Spanish restaurant in the seaside town of Port Macquarie. Every Sunday night at sunset, Mat would play guitar for the restaurant guests (and large numbers of passers by) as the sun set behind the mountains. These improvised pieces developed into some semblance of structure to become material for the album.

This fusion style of playing is at home in the Nuevo flamenco genre, incorporating strong Latin & flamenco influence alongside jazz & world.

CD Review by Chris Spencer

Mat Brooker describes himself on Facebook as a Latin fusion guitarist, performing a mixture of nouveau flamenco, Latin, rumba and world music on Spanish guitar.

He hails from Port Macquarie and this is his debut album.

End of review!

Well that was just an overview! By the way, “La Puesta del sol” translates as The sunset.

Despite being an album of solo guitar, the album runs the gamut of styles within his chosen genre.

There are no credits for assisting musicians, although on some songs such as “Whispers”, I presume that Brooker is double tracked to give the impression that more than one guitarist is playing at the same time.

(There is also some electric bass and percussion on other tracks).

Most of the songs are upbeat, such as the opening tune “Seconds Away”, or “Yellowbird” which is quite rhythmic.

“Sun Child” is restrained, delicate.

“Cafe Cortado” features the bass guitar and percussion, but still allows Mat to shine on the intricate picking of the melody.

“Storm Rising” starts out with a moody introduction, before moving into a drone underpinning some atmospheric chords and melody.

In contrast “Gardenia”is uplifting; “Demexicali” is an example of Spanish flamenco which slowly builds up the tension as we anticipate when he will break into the faster section.

The title track varies the tempo, alternating between picking and strummed chords.

Tracks I preferred more than others include the last track “Depths” which is in a different style to most of the other tracks, and the opener “Seconds Away”.

This album will be a must-buy for fans of acoustic Latin guitar playing, others might like to have a listen to samples of his music via the web before committing to purchase. Recommended.