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Jazz Articles about Elio Villafranca
Elio Villafranca, Azmari, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Gonzalo Rubalcaba & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
Seven days have flown by, and seven days were barely enough to go through another big pile of wonderful new and upcoming albums which we are featuring this week focusing on some captivating and forward looking projects, and several new albums that bring together jazz and the musical traditions of Cuba and Puerto Rico.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Adrian Younge, Tony Allen “Don't Believe the Dancers" Tony ...
read moreElio Villafranca: Cinque
by Maurizio Zerbo
Questo doppio CD è dedicato alla memoria di Joseph Cinque, che nel 1839 capeggiò la rivolta degli schiavi africani imbarcati sulla nave Amistad con destinazione Cuba e le sue piantagioni di zucchero. È un progetto ambizioso sulla diaspora africana in cui la narrazione vocale delle vicende storiche ben si combina ad un sontuoso apparato musicale, articolato in una suite di cinque movimenti. A fare da trait d'union, l'ancestrale retroterra ritmico della regione congolese, su cui vengono di volta in volta ...
read moreA conversation with Elio Villafranca
by Lorens Chuno
Pianist and composer, Elio Villafranca's new album, Cinque is the product of an earnest and careful execution of creativity. This album seamlessly educates and entertains, and in the same breath invites the listener to introspect. Join me as I talk with the Cuban pianist about Cinque, Cuba, Childish Gambino, and other carefully related topics. Cinque features Elio Villafranca on piano, Vincent Herring on alto & soprano sax, flute, Greg Tardy on tenor sax, clarinet, ...
read moreElio Villafranca: Five Islands & A Revolt
by John Ephland
The setting was Systems Two, a well-known, state-of-the-art recording studio in Brooklyn. The sessions, occurring over five days in May (7-11) 2017, were set up to record Cuban pianist/composer Elio Villafranca's sixth album, the elaborate and thoroughly rehearsed double-CD Cinque (artistShare), the music previously performed in shows at Lincoln Center in 2015. Present at Lincoln Center and at Systems Two was a well-coordinated team of musicians, including Steve Turre (trombone, conch shells), Greg Tardy (tenor saxophone, clarinet), Vincent ...
read moreJazz at Lincoln Center: The Search for Original African Music
by Nick Catalano
Although jazz emerged as an art form around the turn of the Twentieth century in the southern United States, its roots extend backward over several centuries. The music largely developed from a synthesis of many African and European forms that was achieved through the institution of slavery. Blacks were captured or purchased from specific “factory" areas in West Africa--the Portuguese took from Senegal and transported to Brazil, the English plundered the Ashantis of the Gold Coast and sold them in ...
read moreThe Caribbean Tinge: Live from Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola
by Steve Bryant
Ever since the jazz was created in the clubs and dancehalls of New Orleans, there was always a significant influence from the Caribbean region, specifically from Cuba. The island, which was just a ferry ride from the port city, had such a significant effect on the development of the music that Jelly Roll Morton always spoke of the importance of Afro-Cuban based rhythms (the Spanish Tinge) in creating and performing this nascent music. However, it was the arrival of a ...
read moreElio Villafranca and Arturo Stable: Dos Y Mas
by Dan Bilawsky
Pianist Elio Villafranca and percussionist Arturo Stable have the world at their fingertips. They originally hail from Cuba, where they received classical training and soaked in the sounds of the people before coming Stateside. But they don't limit their vision to their mutual point of origin. Spain, the Middle East and Africa, along with the sounds of their homeland, come into view on Dos Y Mas as these two meld their minds and marry their musical intentions to create a ...
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