Jazz Articles about Rafael Toral

About Rafael Toral

Album Review

Jazz has a difficult time wrestling with its own history. All genres do, but jazz, specifically in the lethargic modern era, cannot but find itself somewhat directionless. Rock, pop, and electronica all advertise their frontrunners as “the next big thing" or “revolutionary," or otherwise contain a je ne sais quoi found nowhere else but in the artist or song in question. Certainly, very few of these promises are ever kept, but publicity around jazz frequently goes the opposite route. The ...

Album Review

Pedro Melo Alves: Conundrum Vol. 1 - Itself Through Disappearance

Read "Conundrum Vol. 1 - Itself Through Disappearance" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
August 23, 2024

Great rock drummers are often ignored. One never pays attention to them during a performance because they are excellent, like Rolling Stones stalwart {Charlie Watts. If, however, they are not up to scratch, one definitely will notice. The same and more so can be said for jazz and improvising drummers. Talent, imagination and creativity are at a premium in this domain. Pedro Melo Alves is an excellent example of what an inventive and expressive drummer can be. Alves can be ...

Album Review

Space Quartet: Directions

Read "Directions" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
July 7, 2021

Listen closely to Directions by Rafael Toral's Space Quartet and try to ignore the voice in your head of June Tyson chanting, “space is the place, space is the place." While this is an instrumental production and Toral was born more than fifty years after Sun Ra, a similar aura permeates these six tracks. It's not that Toral is dealing with the evolution of big band music through the lens of Afrofuturism, like Sun Ra's early use of synthesizers and ...