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Chucho Valdes: New Conceptions

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Chucho Valdes: New Conceptions
Half in jest, perhaps, Chucho Valdes calls the music he's developing "Cubanglish," a synthesis of Afro-Cuban and American jazz sounds that is unparalleled. On New Conceptions, the sixty year old pianist works with his quartet plus some well-chosen guest artists, in a break from his big band, Irakere; and what you get here is a purer pared-down example of Chucho Valdes' genius.

Valdes combines a technical mastery of his instrument with an exuberant vision as clear as any. He's a keyboardist who can send a bursting bird flock glissando soaring with his right hand while his ground bound left hand nails a percussive beat. incorporating the results into a logically seamless arrangement. He's soloist who can churn along a hair's breadth away from a deconstruction of a melody, without – in breath-taking fashion – doing so. He's a joyous purveyor of a percussive approach without eschewing delicacy or finesse.

New Conceptions opens with "La Camparsa," Valdes pounding out a left handed rhythm figure behind a tart right hand melody, riding over the ever-bubbling percussion. The song closes with a flute solo by Jacinto Joaquin Olivero Galivan that puts a cool sweet frosting on the spicy composition. Valdes's incorporation of his guests on New Conceptions is a big plus: Maylin Sevila Brizuela's too-brief and achingly beautiful cello interlude on the dreamy, Bill Evans-like "Nanu"; Irving Luichel Acao Tierra's fiery tenor sax on Miles Davis's "Solar" – a song that, fifty years after Davis recorded it, still sounds edgy and forward-looking.

Back and forth between the Afro-Cuban and American jazz books, the disc closes with a homage to the Duke, "Homenaje A Ellington," which opens with a jaunty, Latinized "Satin Doll" and changes into a dark, churning "Caravan."

But the essence of the sound of New Conceptions is Chucho Valdes' unrestrained and joyous piano work against Yaroldy Abreu Robless Cuban percussion, a pairing that acts as a foundation for the entire set. There are cautions and hesitations – internal and external – against calling a new music offering a masterpiece or an instant classic. The test of time is required to be sure, but New Conceptions, I think, fits into that category. A sure early top ten disc.

Visit Blue Note Records at www.bluenote.com

Track Listing

La Comparsa, You Don't Know What Love Is, Los Guiros, Nanu, Solar, Sin Clave Pero Con Swing, Homenaje A Ellington

Personnel

Chucho Valdes--piano; Yaroldy Abrue Robles--congero, drums, shekere; Lazaro Rivero Alcaron-- bass; Ramses Rodriquez Baralt--trap drums. guests: Maylin Sevila Brizuela--cello; Jacinto JoaquinOlviero Gavilan--flute; Ramon Filin O'Reilly--alto saxophone; Irving Luichel Acao Tierra-- tenor saxophone

Album information

Title: New Conceptions | Year Released: 2003 | Record Label: Blue Note Records

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