Jorge Morel, revered classical guitarist and composer, dies at 89

[Judi Lynn]

Jorge Morel, a revered Argentine classical guitarist and composer. (Courtesy of Maurice J. Summerfield/Ashley Mark Publishing)

By Phil Davison
Feb. 14, 2021 at 10:57 a.m. CST

Jorge Morel, an influential Argentine classical guitarist and composer who added a vast repertoire to his instrument and performed to packed concerts around the world, died Feb. 10 at a hospital in Orlando. He was 89.
His daughter, Francesca Scibona, attributed the death to an apparent cardiac arrest. He had been living in Florida for about the past 10 years, having moved from his longtime home in the New York borough of Queens.

In addition to converting piano sonatas to guitar, Mr. Morel looked beyond a purist approach to classical composition. His songs — including “Pampero,” “Sonatina,” “Romance Criollo” and “Guitar Concerto” — reflected his roots, with Latin melodies, harmonies and rhythms from tango to samba. But they were also influenced by the jazz and other forms of music he embraced in his adopted hometown of New York.

Mr. Morel’s 1978 appearance at Manhattan’s Town Hall performance space dazzled New York Times music critic Joseph Horowitz, who called him an “extraordinarily suave guitarist [who] stylishly applies a broad range of color and dynamics, and scampers up and down the fingerboard with dazzling assurance.”

Horowitz highlighted Mr. Morel’s arrangement of Leonard Bernstein’s score to “West Side Story,” and said his take on the huapango rhythm of “America” was “ingeniously embroidered, and Mr. Morel’s performance was scintillating.”

More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jorge-morel-revered-classical-guitarist-and-composer-dies-at-89/2021/02/14/5ad75120-6d43-11eb-9f80-3d7646ce1bc0_story.html

A great video of Mr. Morel as a very young artist. I LOVE this music. Very nice comments beneath the video, too. I really wish I had heard his work earlier!

[abqtommy]

1. Thank you. I appreciate all things dealing with music. Mr. Morel was previoiusly an unknown

name to me. I appreciate the continuing education that you and DU provide!