One name, multiple pleasures

Magic was in the air Sunday afternoon in Long Beach. Aural magic, that is, in the first Southland appearance of Brazilian composer-guitarist-singer Guinga, in the enchanting visual environment of the Museum of Latin American Art.

Guinga, whose real name is Carlos Althier de Souza Lemos Escobar, is much admired in Brazil but little known in the U.S. That’s a shame, since his playing, in tandem with the superb guitarist Lula Galvao, would have been incredibly illuminating to anyone who plays the instrument.

But there was much more than scintillating guitar work in this extraordinary concert, easily one of the musical highlights of the year. Guinga’s music -- performed by a quartet that also included clarinetist Paulo Sergio Santos and trumpeter-fluegelhornist Jesse Sadoc -- embraces territory reaching from Villa-Lobos and Gershwin to Pixinguinha, Cole Porter and Jobim.

At its best, Guinga’s music virtually defined a new genre in which Brazilian roots rhythms, the complexities of European classical music, the free-flying improvisations of jazz and the infectious melodies and lush harmonies of the Great American Songbook era of pop song came together stunningly.

Guinga describes himself as “a composer, not a singer,” but his warm, affecting vocal rendering of his lovely song “Senhorinha” affirmed that he can easily handle both categories.

At 54, Guinga -- who continues, as he has for 30 years, to work two days a week as a dentist at his clinic in Rio -- deserves a far wider hearing. In an era darkened by a paucity of artistic innovation, he is a true original.