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Jazz Articles about Mauricio Herrera

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Album Review

Patricia Brennan: More Touch

Read "More Touch" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


It's uncanny how More Touch, vibraphonist Patricia Brennan's scarily good follow-up to her head-turning debut Maquishti (Valley of Search, 2021) follows one around all day. Its essence is in the air, in the room, in the conversation. It sneaks around the corner and races down the stairs, out into the street, and breaks into any and all of the machinations that drive the day. Born of its own fevered animation, the music on More Touchis brazen. Atmospheric yet ...

7
Album Review

Michael Eckroth Group: Plena

Read "Plena" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Michael Eckroth had clear goals in mind for this project--"to create music that was lyrical, modern, true to its Afro-Latin roots, but never purist in its approach"--and he's accomplished his mission with gusto. Through Plena, this Grammy-nominated pianist/composer delivers a program of original music that, while acknowledging folkloric traditions, doesn't buy into their formal strictures and structures. Instead, Eckroth deals in forward-thinking offshoots and branch realities that beautifully extend on--and past--those points. Essentially working with two different ...

10
Album Review

Robby Ameen: Diluvio

Read "Diluvio" reviewed by Jack Bowers


It's a given that wherever Grammy-winning drummer Robby Ameen goes, irrepressible rhythm is sure to follow. Diluvio, Ameen's third album as leader of his own ensemble, is clearly no exception to the rule. Ameen's half-dozen compositions are intrepid and lively, and even Gerry Mulligan's “Line for Lyons" and John Coltrane's “Impressions," which seal the album, are given bright rhythmic makeovers in keeping with the leader's metrical frame of mind. To lend color and variety, Ameen employs a ...

7
Album Review

Aruán Ortiz with Andrew Cyrille & Mauricio Herrera: Inside Rhythmic Falls

Read "Inside Rhythmic Falls" reviewed by John Sharpe


Cuban pianist Aruan Ortiz' fifth release for the Swiss Intakt label sits midway between his solo Cub(an)ism (2017) and dates by his Trio such as Live In Zurich (2018). In spite of the title, while there is a greater rhythmic impulse than on the unaccompanied session, the interaction largely pulls back from the intoxicating momentum of the latter. The presence of veteran master drummer Andrew Cyrille guarantees a certain degree of metrical adventure. But even with the addition of fellow ...

15
Album Review

Robby Ameen: Diluvio

Read "Diluvio" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Perhaps it's a flood of rhythm that the title and cover art refer to on this third leader outing from drumming dynamo Robby Ameen. A heavy hitter in Afro-Cuban circles for decades, Ameen's frangible linear Latin funk workouts, intricate rhythmic roadmapping, song-serving chops and good taste have earned him an overwhelmingly positive reputation. Everybody from musical polymath Ruben Blades to flutist Dave Valentin and pianist Eddie Palmieri to trombonist Conrad Herwig has called on Ameen multiple times over the years, ...

2
Album Review

Aruán Ortiz: Inside Rhythmic Falls

Read "Inside Rhythmic Falls" reviewed by Giuseppe Segala


Affacciata sul mare dei Caraibi, Santiago de Cuba fa sentinella alle province orientali dell'isola, di cui è capoluogo. Quell'area, appunto chiamata Oriente, che serba un profondo aroma di Africa e nel contempo è teatro del sincretismo culturale con gli altri continenti: la formidabile mescolanza di umori e colori, di ritmi e movenze che hanno reso unico il teatro caraibico. Antica capitale di Cuba, Santiago conta oggi quasi mezzo milione di abitanti, di cui il 33 per cento neri e il ...

19
Album Review

Aruán Ortiz with Andrew Cyrille and Mauricio Herrera: Inside Rhythmic Falls

Read "Inside Rhythmic Falls" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


Cuban-born pianist and composer Aruán Ortiz is constantly evolving, experimenting and injecting new elements into his craft. Inside Rhythmic Falls is his third trio album, each with impressive but different lineups. His previous trio release, Live In Zürich (Intakt Records, 2018), with bassist Brad Jones and Chicago Underground mainstay Chad Taylor on drums and mbira, saw Ortiz mixing his original compositions with the likes of Ornette Coleman and Chopin. Inside Rhythmic Falls takes yet another turn. Drummer Andrew ...


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