Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Manel Fortia: Despertar

3

Manel Fortia: Despertar

By

View read count
Manel Fortia: Despertar
Bassist Manel Fortia is from Barcelona, Spain, but between 2016 and 2020 he lived in New York City. His experiences in both cities are the building blocks of the music he composed for this trio album which combines elegant Mediterranean romance with bristling big city energy.

The solemn resonance of Fortia's bass plucking on the opening track, "Dormir," resembles the sound of the late, great bassist Charlie Haden, an admitted influence. Fortia's notes could be an alternative version of Haden's introduction to Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman," but here his sounds lead into a swirling stream of melancholy piano from Marco Mezquida and rattling percussion from drummer Raphaël Pannier. The rest of the album was largely inspired by Fortia's time in New York, with occasional looks back to Barcelona. Several tracks such as "Curcular" and "Cresecente" have a restless, fast-paced flow which marries Mezquida's urgent, melodic piano to pulsing bass and drum rhythms. "El dia despues" has a rumbling tango feel, with Fortia's bass eloquently growling against classically formal piano dramatics. "Espiritual" is a blues-gospel drag, dedicated to New York's Harlem district with bass bulging against soulful piano chords and slow-walking drums.

On the lushly melodramatic "Saudades," Fortia takes the lead, soloing against rippling waves of piano. "Simple" moves at a fast tempo like other tracks but this piece has Mezquida hammering out patterns of clipped, staccato notes in a piece which references flamenco, ragtime and Bill Evans while leaving room for a deep, swaying solo by Fortia. "Aires de libertad" is a Spanish-tinged ballad with Fortia, in full throbbing voice, leading the trio through a melancholy romantic dance.

Manel Fortia has composed a set of emotional, impressionistic music for this album which is realized wonderfully by his expressive bass playing and the excellent work of Mezquida and Pannier. The three of them make this album a thrilling listen.

Track Listing

Dormir; Circular; Saudades; Espiritual; El Dia Despues; Crescente; Aires de Libertad; Simple; Despertar.

Personnel

Album information

Title: Despertar | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Segell Microscopi

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.