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Valentin Caamaño: Green With Envy
by James Nadal
Nearly forty years after his death, guitarist Grant Green is finally receiving the credit and recognition which eluded him during his lifetime. Besides having a distinctive and identifiable style, Green was the most prolific artist on the Blue Note label during the 1960's. His '61 recording of Green Street, contains the track Green With Envy, selected by Spanish guitarist Valentin Caamaño as the title for his sophomore release. Caamaño took great steps to present this record as a sincere tribute, ...
read moreAlfonso Calvo Septet: Sea Ahead
by James Nadal
From the burgeoning and prolific Spanish jazz scene comes another quality production on the progressive Free Code label, based out of Galicia. Continuing this musical momentum is local bassist Alfonso Calvo, who formed a septet to showcase his compositional and leadership skills on Sea Ahead. Calvo was motivated from his recent association with Marcos Pin's “Broken Artist," and expands upon the septet foundation with a sophisticated realization. He recorded in a quartet format in 2014, releasing “No Name," with the ...
read moreMarcos Pin: Broken Artist
by James Nadal
Santiago de Compostela, Spain, is famous for the religious pilgrimage, but in the jazz world it is gaining a reputation as a breeding ground for premier musicians. A host of piano players make the area home, so guitarist Marcos Pin easily stands out in the crowd. The hard bop influenced Broken Artist is his tenth release as leader, representing a focused trajectory and commitment to craft. This project is based around six compositions which depict a day in ...
read moreTelmo Fernandez Organ Trio: The Soul Jazz Beat Vol. 1
by Bruce Lindsay
The Telmo Fernández Organ Trio is a bit of a throwback--to the classic hard bop organ trios of yore. The title of the trio's first album, The Soul Jazz Beat Vol. 1, tells it like it is--a soulful, jazzy, collection that's high on melody and groove, a head-shaking and hip-swinging sort of album, low on pretention but filled with sheer joy. Guitarist Fernández leads the trio alongside drummer Jose Luis Gómez and ex-pat British organist Phil Wilkinson. Fernández ...
read moreTelmo Fernandez and Marcos Pin: Take A Second
by Bruce Lindsay
As the name suggests, Take A Second is number two in guitarist Marcos Pin's Duology series. Pin's long-term plan is to record a series of ten albums in duet with a range of musicians. As plans go, it's not the most complicated ever hatched, but the two albums that have so far seen daylight suggest that it's certainly a plan worth putting into practice. Pin recorded his first Duology album, Session 1 (Free Code Jazz Records, 2014) with ...
read moreValentin Caamaño Trio: The Joy
by Bruce Lindsay
Sometimes album titles have an air of mystery, an enigmatic collection of words that seemingly bear no relevance to anything, especially the music. No such problem with The Joy, from the Valentin Caamaño Trio. From the cheerily welcoming swing of Charlie Parker's “Yardbird Suite" to the relaxed beauty of Thelonious Monk's “Pannonica" this is an album that, to paraphrase Lord Byron and Otis B Driftwood, lets joy be unconfined.On The Joy guitarist Caamaño, from Santiago de Compostela in ...
read moreGio Yáñez: Zero Point Energy
by Bruce Lindsay
Guitarist Gio Yáñez makes his debut as a bandleader and recording artist with Zero Point Energy. He leads an impressive group of Spanish and Portuguese musicians on a set of original compositions that draw on contemporary jazz and rock as well as on the music of Galicia, where the guitarist began his studies with players such as Marcos Pin and Manolo Gutierrez. There's a mid-album triumvirate of song titles that suggest more than a hint of doom-laden angst--"Please ...
read moreMarcos Pin and Yago Vazquez: Marcos Pin: Duology
by Mike Oppenheim
Duology: Session 1 features the duet playing of guitarist Marcos Pin and pianist Yago Vazquez. The album is a tour through some of the most popular jazz standards. The duo format and individual talents of Pin and Vazquez bring a life and energy to the tunes, revealing the depth and potential in even the most frequently heard standards.The album consists of Charlie Parker's “Donna Lee" and “Dewey Square," Thelonious Monk's “Blue Monk," Jerome Kern's ever-present “All the Things ...
read moreMarcos Pin: Duology Session 1
by Hrayr Attarian
Galician guitarist Marcos Pin is no stranger to ambitious projects. His Barbanza (Free Code Jazz Records, 2012) was a cinematic, expansive large ensemble work that fused modal jazz orchestration with his native musical heritage. His Duology is much more intimate yet no less challenging an undertaking. It will consist of ten separate sessions, each a duet with a like-minded colleague. The first of these is with pianist Yago Vàzquez who perfectly complements Pin on a series of five standards the ...
read moreManuel Gutierrez: Illa Da Lua
by Bruce Lindsay
Manuel Gutierrez has built up a sizeable discography, but he's not previously released an album under his own name. Illa Da Lua is his debut as leader, but it's worth noting that the cover gives equal prominence to his rhythm section partners, bassist Tom Warburton and drummer Dani Dominguez. It's a fair share of the credits, for while Gutierrez wrote all of the tunes, this is very much a collaborative recording.The 40 year old Spanish pianist has long ...
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