Emilio Reyna: Los Niños Perdidos

If one were to use this recording for a blindfold test, it would be interesting to see what emerged. Pianist (composer?) has an affinity for minor harmonies and repeated figures. Somewhere, deep in the background, there are echoes of Maiden Voyage (Blue Note, 1965). Band is all good players, post-bop, for sure.

So, what if the pianist turned out to be one Emilio Reyna, resident in the City of Mexico (as it is presently labeled), himself Mexican, as are apparently all the instrumentalists as well? Reyna, who trained in Jazz Composition and Performance at McGill in Montreal, has played at several international venues, and with people like Phil Grenadier. He is not very well known in the United States, which is a pity. Somehow, it seems unlikely that anyone would identify the musicians as specifically "Mexican," whatever that means.

This is not a long recording, but it is an interesting and provocative. one. Aside from the usual "what influences are here" and "what are we hearing," Reyna values setting a mood, specifically brooding, and not flashy displays of technique. Perhaps the title track "Los Niños Perdidos" which features both alto and tenor sax solos and a brighter mood than much of the rest, is a natural starting place. It probably incorporates more suspended chords, a la Herbie Hancock, than some of the other tunes. So, it sounds correspondingly less dark. "Los Límites de mi Lenguaje son los Límites de mi Mundo" follows a similar pattern; this is a tune where the "Maiden Voyage" influence really comes through. It is not a copy, for sure, but the influences are hard to miss. These tunes are very much a backdrop for the saxophones to blow against. Santiago Von Sternenfels and Diego Franco both play quite nicely.

The mood of the recording may well reflect its title, "Los Niños Perdidos" which alludes to a well-known folktale ("The Lost Children") in Mexico (not to mention a central street in the City of México) which has all the storybook elements: murder, mayhem, destruction, unhappy marriage: the sorts of things that gloomy folktales generally provide. It would be nice to hear what Reyna could do with some of the more canonical material, but that is, of course, what future recordings are for. These are all originals, and mark Reyna out as a composer of some promise.