Albert Vila: Levity

Spanish jazz guitarist Albert Vila has been around. His biography includes studies in Barcelona, Amsterdam, Manhattan and Brussels. His discography has quintet, quartet, trio and duet dates. So, this solo album represents a significant departure. The approach was conceived during the heaviest time of the pandemic, making it one of many documents created during those times when public performance was difficult at best and gathering a group together was even more challenging.

Vila took his approach to solo guitar playing all the way back to basics: no overdubbing, looping or the sort of chord-melody improvisation with bass lines associated with Joe Pass or Martin Taylor. Vila simply arranged a wide variety of songs (several of them not usually regarded as jazz standards) for the guitar. The arrangements often sound as much like a classical guitar approach as a jazz guitar one, an aspect of Vila's playing only suggested by his group recordings. It keeps the emphasis firmly on the songs themselves rather than any virtuosic display.

"Eleanor Rigby" opens the set with a bright take on the Beatles ballad. Vila's rubato introduction hints at the melody before playing the song itself. When he solos he allows himself some room to stretch out, then concludes with an extended chordal section rather than restating the theme. Antonio Carlos Jobim's haunting bossa nova "A Felicidade" provides ample ground for more explicit jazz harmony. In contrast, George Shearing's "Lullaby of Birdland" is played very freely, and it sounds like it could be a lullaby for once.

Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" is certainly one of the most uncommon song choices here. After a respectful rendition of the beautiful melody (including a bit of creative re-harmonization), Vila plays a fantasia on the tune, concluding with a reprise of Marley's original introduction. Nick Drake's "River Man" provides another haunting modern song. If not exactly a standard, Vila's version suggests that maybe it should be. The album closes with the title tune, Vila's only composition. A pretty short coda, it concludes with cascading harmonics.