Jazz Articles about Dafnis Prieto

Dafnis Prieto: Absolute Quintet

by R. Emmet Sweeney
May 14, 2006

Dafnis Prieto's latest release on the upstart Zoho label is The Absolute Quintet, a startlingly eclectic and occasionally maddening album. He creates strange shapes and shifting moods, which are handled adroitly by his bandmates in a unique bass-less setup. Violin and cello scrape against sax and organ, with Prieto's all-over drumming attempting to forge some unity. Prieto traces his influences back from Cuban culture to European chamber music and African percussion, and he seems to have assimilated them whole. These ...

Dafnis Prieto: Absolute Quintet

by Mark F. Turner
May 9, 2006

Dafnis Prieto is not an ordinary drummer and Absolute Quintet is not a typical Latin jazz recording. Prieto knows the Cuban clave rhythms and is aware of the music's heritage. Yes, he plays fiercely, with an array of tools from his kit. Sure, he's got the juice, with quickness, precision and inventiveness. But if you listen closely, there are many other elements brewing on this, his second release as a leader. Like 2005's About The Monks, the ...

Yosvany Terry Cabrera: Metamorphosis

by AAJ Staff
April 23, 2006

Intersections between Afro-Cuban music and jazz tend to be characteristically raw and visceral, drum-heavy and tilted toward bodily motion. This particular flavor of Latin jazz very rarely approaches the level of cosmopolitan integration, intellectual consistency and postmodern literacy that marks Metamorphosis. 34 year-old saxophonist Yosvany Terry Cabrera, who grew up in Camaguey, Cuba, wrote seven of the eight pieces on the record, for which he provides helpful background in the extended bilingual liner notes. His compositions effectively mirror his leadership, ...

Yosvany Terry: Metamorphosis

by James Taylor
April 21, 2006

Yosvany Terry Cabrera has been turning heads in the New York jazz community since he arrived in the city in 1999. The Cuban-born musician's stateside debut will be the first introduction to this rising star for many, however. Metamorphosis is a stellar debut from a talented young saxophonist and master chekere player whose credentials speak for themselves and whose compositions are fresh and vibrant.Frequent collaborators Avishai Cohen (trumpet), Mike Moreno (guitars), Venezuelan-born Luis Perdoma (piano) and Dafnis Prieto ...

Yosvany Terry Cabrera: Metamorphosis

by Matt Cibula
April 8, 2006

When I was a teenager in Oregon, I used to listen to lots of fusion and jazz-funk on a great radio station out of Portland. I didn't exactly go around telling anyone this, but I liked it just fine all the same. I felt a little better later, when all that stuff got sampled by hip-hop producers and I realized that there had been a lot of little Bob James nerds like me.

I say this because this album by ...

Dafnis Prieto: About The Monks

by Russ Musto
February 26, 2005

Dafnis Prieto is easily the most impressive young drummer to come on the jazz scene during the past decade. Possessing awesome virtuosity and astonishing versatility, Prieto has made important contributions since arriving from Cuba to the music of a broad range of leaders, from Eddie Palmieri and Chucho Valdes, to Steve Coleman and Henry Threadgill, to Claudia Acu'a and Michel Camilo. On About The Monks , his debut as leader, he's joined by veteran trumpeter Brian Lynch and fellow recent ...

Dafnis Prieto: About the Monks

by Mark F. Turner
January 28, 2005

If you're curious about new directions in Latin jazz, then let percussionist Dafnis Prieto's About the Monks point the way. Upon arriving from Cuba in 1999, Prieto has been a key performer with some heavy names, like avant-garde saxophonist Henry Threadgill and Latin heavyweights Eddie Palmieri, Chucho Valdes, and Michael Camillo. Not just your typical Afro-Cuban drummer, Prieto combines cultural rhythms with mainstream and free jazz styles that speak of a fresh outlook similar to other younger jazz artists, such ...