Jazz Articles about Victor Prieto

Victor Prieto: The Three Voices

by Dan McClenaghan
March 19, 2016

On the cover of his CD The Three Voices, Victor Prieto looks as if he's going to do something crazy with his accordions. He is a giant behind the big city skyline, towering over tall buildings. It's sort of like a “Godzilla of the squeeze boxes" scene. But the accordionist doesn't look like he's bent on Godzillian destruction; he, in fact, looks as if his intention is the spreading of musical joy. Prieto is New York City-based now--he ...

Chris Cheek / Victor Prieto: Rollo Coaster

by Martin Gladu
March 17, 2010

Chances are you have never heard the accordion played the way Victor Prieto plays it. Indeed, much like Toots Thielemans established the harmonica in the jazz lore huffing and puffing bop lines through his teeth, Prieto breaks the glass ceiling hovering above the crown of Cyrillus Demian's patented invention, squeezing improvised airs with a technical assurance that deserves more widespread recognition.Long known for catapulting the French valse musette, the Bohemian polka, the French-Canadian reels, and the festive music ...

Chris Cheek / Victor Prieto: Rollo Coaster

by Dan Bilawsky
March 7, 2010

While all musical settings present different challenges to those involved, duo recordings can often be the hardest to manage well. Repetitive textural elements, characteristic of the instruments on hand, can create a certain similarity across all tracks. Some musicians fall prey to wandering free improvisation, finding various degrees of success or failure, as they try to navigate these waters and avoid unpleasant encounters with the only other musical voice on the map. Thankfully, that is not the case with saxophonist ...

Chris Cheek / Victor Prieto: Rollo-Coaster

by Mark F. Turner
January 24, 2010

An odd couple of sorts, this union between accordion and saxophone is at once curious but proves a match made in heaven with Chris Cheek and Victor Prieto's collaborative release Rollo-Coaster. With great aplomb, they cover a wide scope of music from Tango to improvisational stints and other influences. Prieto, originally from Galicia, Spain, is fast becoming one of the premier accordionists in jazz, providing mastery and flair to recordings with singers Beat Kaestli and Tessa Souter, ...

Victor Prieto: Persistencia

by Marcia Hillman
July 1, 2006

On Victor Prieto's debut recording, the accomplished Spanish accordionist has chosen to approach his instrument in a new way. Aided by bassist Carlo DeRosa and drummer Allison Miller, Prieto included Egberto Gismonti's “Frevo, John Coltrane's “26-2 and Astor Piazzolla's “Libertango in a program with six original compositions. Starting with “Frevo, Prieto immediately dazzles with his fast fingering, switching from single notes to chords in rapid fashion. The group is equally at home playing the up-tempo material (like ...

Victor Prieto: Persistencia

by Tom Greenland
May 5, 2006

Originally from Orense, Spain, accordionist Victor Prieto brings old-world charm and a new-fangled approach to jazz. Prieto's debut CD release, Persistencia, featuring Carlo DeRosa on acoustic bass and Allison Miller on trap drums, showcases the leader's unique approach to harmony, melody, and tone, effectively translating the accordionist's unique jazz sensibility via an unusual instrumental vehicle.

The accordion's distinctive timbre often conjures up associations with Polish polka, German folk lieder, Viennese waltzes, French musette & cabaret chansons, North American Tex-Mex, Louisiana ...

Victor Prieto: Persistencia

by William Grim
May 3, 2006

Spanish-born jazz accordionist Victor Prieto is the most exciting such player to come on the scene since Eddie Monteiro. Melding Argentine and Brazilian influences with a bop sensibility, Prieto gives the lie to all of the nasty things that have been said over the years about the much-maligned squeezebox.

Backed by Rachel Z drummer Allison Miller and the extraordinarily gifted bassist Carlo DeRosa, Prieto presents a varied and virtuosic set of performances on Persistencia. The variety of tunes ...