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Manuel Valera New Cuban Express Big Band: Distancia
by Angelo Leonardi
L'evoluzione espressiva del cosiddetto latin jazz è ormai palpabile, sia nelle opere dei solisti che dei bandleader. La schiera dei musicisti centro e sud-americani che abbracciano la complessità del jazz contemporaneo senza dimenticare la ricchezza ritmica e timbrica delle musiche latine, è consistente in strumentisti come Fabian Almazan, Alfredo Rodriguez, Vitor Goncalves, Edward Simon, Dayramir Gonzalez che in arrangiatori come Guillermo Klein, Dafnis Prieto e , appunto, Manuel Valera. Da non confondere con l'omonimo sassofonista cubano (di ...
Continue ReadingBig Ears for Big Sounds
by David Brown
This week, I've had big ears for some big sounds. And now you can too. Playlist Thelonious Monk “Esistrophy (Theme)" from Live at the It Club-Complete (Columbia) 00:30 Stan Kenton “Prollouge" from Kenton's West Side Story (Capital Records) 02:00 Don Ellis Orchestra “Turkish Bath" from Electric Bath (Columbia) 06:05 Chick Web and his Orchestra “Heebie Jeebies" from Jammin' for the Jackpot: Big Bands and Territory Bands of the 30s (New World Records) 16:33 Yu Nishiyama “Honorary Whites" from ...
Continue ReadingReleases From Manuel Valera, Lisa Hilton, Tord Gustavsen And Joel Frahm Plus More
by Bob Osborne
On this week's show newly recorded releases from Manuel Valera, Lisa Hilton, Tord Gustavsen and Joel Frahm. As well as those archive recordings, just released for the first time, from Barry Deister and Ian Carr, music from Enrico Rava (2005) and some classic live Soft Machine (1970), which has just been repackaged and rereleased. Playlist Show Intro 00:00 Manuel Valera New Cuban Express Big Band “Gemini" from Distancia (Greenleaf) 00:51 Lisa Hilton “Ernie's Blues" from Life is Beautiful ...
Continue ReadingBerta Moreno Afro-Jazz Soul Project: Tumaini
by Troy Dostert
Tenor saxophonist Berta Moreno released her promising debut, Little Steps, in 2017. It signaled her debt to forbears such as Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson, and displayed an impressive command of bop language. Tumaini, her engaging follow-up, moves in a rather different direction. Time well-spent in Kenya gave Moreno a wider focus for her compositions, as she adroitly melds jazz, R&B and Afro-Latin idioms into an enjoyable musical synthesis. “Tumaini" is a Swahili word for “hope," and there ...
Continue ReadingNew Big Band Music and Experimental Sounds
by Bob Osborne
On this show big ensembles dominate with the new albums on Greenleaf from Manuel Valera and Mike Fahie. There's also the experimental side of jazz with fresh sounds from Vintage Astronaut and Zing!. This is all balanced out with some fascinating improvised music from Cooper-Moore and Stephen Gauci and Kaze & Ikue Mori. Playlist Manuel Valera New Cuban Express Big Band “El Enemigo Brutal" from Jose Marti En Nueva York (Greenleaf) 00:00 Mike Fahie Jazz Orchestra “La fille ...
Continue ReadingManuel Valera New Cuban Express Big Band: José Martí En Nueva York
by Angelo Leonardi
Chi segue i protagonisti contemporanei del cosiddetto latin jazz conosce bene Manuel Valera. Nel 1995 il pianista ha lasciato la natia Havana per trasferirsi negli Stati Uniti, prima a Miami e poi a New York dove ha studiato alla New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Dal 2004 s'è progressivamente imposto come una figura artistica di rilievo: leader di propri gruppi (alcuni album con varie formazioni, uno dei quali nominato al Grammy come miglior disco di jazz latino), compositore anche ...
Continue ReadingManuel Valera: The Planets
by Mike Jurkovic
Cuban-born pianist Manuel Valera is not unknown to jazz-heads who make it their business to listen and champion. But, since his acclaimed 2004 debut Forma Nueva, a couple of Grammy nods, and last year's quietly brilliant The Seasons, Valera's name and exciting blend of culture, tradition, and progression has spread deservedly like wildfire through the larger audience. The Planets ramps up the forward rate of spread. Ranging fiercely across the 88s like peak McCoy Tyner--fanciful, fluid chromatic runs ...
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