Guayoyo Sketches  takes the listener on a journey throughout a day as expirienced through Venezuela's coffee culture. Each movement is inspired by a time of day and the kind of coffee that is typically drunk at that time. The whole piece constitutes a little sliver of Venezuelan life, a window through which to look at a culture, and a way for those Venezuelans who live abroad to remember a little bit about life back home. 

Coffee Glossary 

1. El guayoyo de la mañana 

Guayoyo is a weaker and less concentrated black coffee. It's often made my halving the amount of coffee added to the water, or by adding extra water to a pot if one has an unexpected visitor and needs to "stretch" the coffee. Because it is less strong, it is often drunk without sweetener. The first movement is titled "The morning's guayoyo" and it is depicts the process of waking up in the morning, that feeling of being the first person up in a house that seems alone. As the movement unfolds, there is a growing energy that simbolizes the first sips of the coffee taking effect. 

2. Guarapo de la hora del burro 

Guarapo is a black coffee thats is sweetened with papelón (a hard, unrefined whole cane sugar, also refered to as panela, or piloncillo depending of the region in Latin America, where the product is widespread). This second movement refers to "la hora del burro" which is a Venezuelan way of referring to that "2:30 feeling," that sense of sleepiness that hits in the middle of the afternoon. The music here is a gentle, but quirky waltz in the Venezuelan style. The regular feeling of 3 beats in a traditional waltz has been somewhat altered rhythmically. An acrobatic Trio follows before a brief echo of the waltz returns at the end of the movement. 

3. Cerrero de medianoche 

A cerrero is a very concentrated black coffee, without any sweetener. It is often made by doubling the ratio of coffee to water. It is very bitter and used to wake up after a long sleep, or to stay awake amidst the midnight exhaustion. In the finale, the cerrero is fueling an all-night work session. The music consists of off-kilter scales and groovy melodies that seem to come in and out of focus like the jittery thoughts of someone having a very strong cup of joe in the middle of the night. This caffeine-fueled adventure comes to a rousing and virtuosic finale where the various melodic and rhythmic elements come together for one powerful last sip.