Harold López-Nussa – Un Día Cualquiera (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 47:24 minutes | 894 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Booklet, Front Cover | © Mack Avenue Records
Un Día Cualquiera is a forceful statement from a Cuban musician leading his tight-knit Cuban band, recorded in the U.S. (at WGBH Studios in Boston, Mass.), and influenced by music from both countries in ways that transcend narrow notions of “Latin jazz.” The album nods to classic Cuban composers and musicians but it focuses mostly on pianist Harold López-Nussa’s original compositions and his distinctive trio concept. These compositions are mostly new, save for one or two, such as the opener, “Cimarrón,” which are older pieces reinvented for the present moment.
In just a decade, Cuban artist Harold Lopez Nussa has established himself as one of the most talented Latin jazz pianists of his generation. This new album, made in trio with his brother and drummer Ruy Adrian and bassist Gaston Joya, creates a perspective between the origins of Cuban music and his own creations. Indeed, he covers Ernesto Lecuona’s (1895-1963) Danza de los Ñáñigos, which is based on elements from Afro-Cuban rituals, and his Y la Negra Bailaba, which creates a bridge between son and danzón. The pianist’s smooth and dynamic style elegantly reshapes Cesar Portillo de la Luz’s famous bolero Contigo En La Distancia, which features in the repertoire of Caetano Veloso, Christina Aguilera, and even Omara Portuando, a version that Harold Lopez Nussa knows very well, having played it alongside Portuando on tour around the world. He also officially pays tribute to the great Cuban pianist Bebo Valdes with Una Tarde Cualquiera en Paris. Whether he strides along the spicy roadways of Cuban rhythms or expresses his taste for a form of French impressionism inherited from Ravel in Ma Petite dans la boulangerie, Harold Lopez Nussa reaffirms with strong support from his swinging crew his freedom and inexhaustible verve as an improviser. – Benjamin MiNiMuM
Tracklist:
1. Cimarrón 03:51
2. Danza de los Ñañigos 04:29
3. Una Tarde Cualquiera En Paris (to Bebo Valdes) 04:48
4. Preludio (to Jose Juan) 03:28
5. Elegua 05:06
6. Hialeah 03:32
7. Ma petite dans la Boulangerie 03:56
8. Y la Negra Bailaba 04:01
9. Conga Total / El Cumbanchero 03:39
10. Contigo en la Distancia 05:47
11. Mi Son Cerra’o 04:47
Personnel:
HAROLD LÓPEZ-NUSSA, piano
GASTON JOYA, bass
RUY ADRIAN LÓPEZ-NUSSA, drums, percussion
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