Jazz Articles about Dafnis Prieto

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Dafnis Prieto: Taking the Soul for a Walk

by Martin Longley
June 14, 2008

Cuban drummer/percussionist Dafnis Prieto has been living in New York since 1999, making a significant mark on both the Latin and jazz scenes. Sometimes both spheres are tackled at the same time, as when Prieto appeared with Eddie Palmieri and Brian Lynch's quintet at Iridium in April, 2008. In his own work, such stylistic divisions are even harder to disentangle, but why would the listener need to perform such a task anyway? Prieto has evolved a highly ...

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Dafnis Prieto Sextet: Taking the Soul for a Walk

by Troy Collins
April 29, 2008

Since his arrival in New York in 1999, Cuban born drummer Dafnis Prieto has established himself as a prized sideman, having served alongside Latin jazz masters like Michel Camillo, Eddie Palmieri and Chucho Valdez, as well as modernists like Don Byron, Steve Coleman and Henry Threadgill.

His first album on his own Dafnison Music label, Taking The Soul For A Walk is his third release as a leader, following the Grammy nominated Absolute Quintet (Zoho, 2006) ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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, ...

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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 ...

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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 ...