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Chucho Vald: Briyumba Palo Congo
The pianist plays with a big forceful hand, as percussive as the drums. Blue Note describes the leader’s style: "Like McCoy Tyner, Valdés can evoke thunder-like chords punctuated by lighting-fast arpeggios and like Bill Evans, he can make the keyboard sing with a rainbow of impressionistic harmonic and melodic colors." A considerable amount of background information is available from http://www.bluenote.com .
"Caravan" is up-tempo and solid, while "Embraceable You" is performed minimally in lush ballad style. Similarly, Valdés’ ballad "Bolero" offers piano and bass the opportunity to transpose emotional sighs over light hand drum rhythms. "El Rumbón" and "Pónle la Clave," on the other hand, couple fierce fighting rhythms with the pianist’s powerful and confident keystroke combinations. The latter piece, a mambo in 7/4, is central to the album and highly representative of Valdés’ music. Highly Recommended.
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Jim Santella has been contributing CD reviews, concert reviews and DVD reviews to AAJ since 1997. His work has also appeared in Southland Blues, The L.A. Jazz Scene, and Cadence Magazine.
Track Listing
El Rumb
Personnel
Chucho Valdes
pianoChucho Vald
Album information
Title: Briyumba Palo Congo | Year Released: 1999 | Record Label: Blue Note Records
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