MUSIC REVIEW : William Davila in Recital at Southwest Museum

Beginning with a first half of standard fare, followed by a latter half dedicated to works written within the last decade, a solo recital by guitarist William Davila provided laudable moments interspersed with less remarkable efforts in the Sprague Gallery at Southwest Museum.

Davila is an accomplished guitarist, but often overly aggressive, sometimes allowing his tone to sound over-plucked. Flamboyantly beginning each set immediately upon sitting down--without tuning--also created conspicuous problems.

Of the new works presented Thursday evening, Deon Nielsen Price’s engaging “Alma Jubilate” shone above the others in its sophistication and innovation. Borrowing repetitive, tonal ideas from the Minimalist school, the ambitious concoction uses pitch materials from the overtone series in combination with simple rhythms. Beverly Grigsby’s “Serenade” fittingly provided lyrical elegance, while three jazzy etudes by James Wyble offered examples of considerable virtuosity, though lacking memorable expressivity. In encore, Davila performed his own New Age improvisatory work, “Inner Landscapes,” which innocuously meanders around a pop chord progression and drone.

Also presented were Marshall Bialosky’s “Sor-ing,” an uncomplicated juxtaposition of snippets from two minuets by Fernando Sor, and Andrea Saparoff’s ponderous “Seria en Re,” three sparsely textured but dissonant studies.

The first half of the program included pieces from the Renaissance and early 20th Century. Of these, two preludes by Villa-Lobos best demonstrated Davila’s talents as both a commanding and sensitive performer.

Other notable efforts included variations by Gaspar Sanz, Sor and Antonio de Cabezon on the Folia--a common melody and harmonic progression used in the Baroque era. Moreno-Torroba’s virtuosic “Nocturno” also provided Davila an exemplary showpiece.