Rachel Therrien: Mi Hogar II

Rachel Therrien is a Canadian composer and trumpet player who has been around for some time, though her name may be unfamiliar. Therrien's musical journey has taken her from Rimouski, Quebec to Havana, Cuba via New York City and Colombia. Her Latin Jazz Project is nothing if not arresting, and probably merits a name like avant-garde Latin jazz, although labels inevitably just confuse matters. Listen very carefully, because if Jerry Gonzalez, Freddie Hubbard and Chicago all seem to stroll through this recording, well, they do. If a listener is addicted to counting and rhythmic subtleties, there is, yes, a clave, at least sometimes, even if Therrien and her bandmates are not rehearsing the obvious. Therrien is an extraordinary player and musician, labels and convention notwithstanding. And Mi Hogar II is an exceptionally interesting production, one that repays the thoughtful listening it requires.

Therrien is hardly a newcomer and certainly no overnight success. She has been recording since at least 2011, having paid big-band dues with The DIVA Jazz Orchestra and braved the wilder shores of post-Fidel Cuba (Therrien has even written a tune in honor of 1959 Cuban revolutionary Haydée Santamaría). Mi Hogar II opens, a bit deceptively, with a piece called "Fiestas Campesinas," apparently a 32-bar Romantic sonata for piano, only to charge off abruptly into hard-boppish territory with Therrien casually tearing off a rough-edged solo that leaves a listener momentarily stunned at both her chops and inventiveness. It must have been some party there in the campo, which sometimes happens. Therrien paints a picture worthy of Pedro Páramo or some other novel of the magical realism literature boom in Latin America, which makes a reader wonder, "What just happened?" "Orun" proceeds at a more leisurely pace, built around a repeated figure that opens into a sumptuous broad-toned trumpet excursion, closing around the same figure. "Back Home" is a Therrien composition that she says "captures the essence of this music [Newyorican Latin jazz], while celebrating its ongoing evolution" from New Orleans and beyond. "Sueños de Cambios" is a ballad featuring flügelhorn and Elizabeth Rodriguez on violin. "Mambo Chucho Influenciado" is a polyrhythmic piece with Therrien doing fiddle lines on trumpet over a montuno "blending traditional Latin rhythms with contemporary jazz elements." It is quite a tour de force, as is the vocal, "Beauty Free" which, in its chorus, proclaims "busco la libertad" (I seek freedom).

And that sums up the recording admirably: It is free from the usual constraints and clichés of style, genre or tradition while remaining recognizably Latin jazz. The production is a treat on every level, from graphics to compositions.