Articles

Francisco Mela: Ancestros

by Karl Ackermann
November 18, 2018

One of the many fine musicians coming out of Cuba, Francisco Mela is an accomplished drummer/percussionist and composer. On Ancestros, his debut on the vinyl-only subscription label Newvelle, he has contributed seven original compositions to a collection that includes covers from Andrew Hill and Paul Motian. The album name--and its title track--are appropriated from Mela's prior release Fe (Self-produced, 2016). On two of Mela's previous releases, Melao (Ayva Musica, 2006) and Tree of Life (Half Note, 2011), progressive jazz shares ...

Francisco Mela & The Crash Trio: Fe

by James Nadal
August 30, 2016

Since departing Cuba to study at Berklee in 2000, drummer Francisco Mela has been on a meteoric trajectory throughout the jazz dominion. In 2005 he joined the Joe Lovano Quartet, and in 2009 the McCoy Tyner Trio, all the while releasing three critically acclaimed albums as leader. Fe is his first venture with The Crash Trio, a dynamic showcase of poly-rhythmic drumming and propulsive modernism. Fe translates into faith, and this is Mela's homage to his late parents, ...

Francisco Mela & Cuban Safari: Tree Of Life

by Dan Bilawsky
September 12, 2011

A safari, in essence, is all about the idea of an encounter between the tamed, usually in the form of adventure-seeking humans, and the wild, which they aim to explore. The same could be said for the music that drummer Francisco Mela creates with Cuban Safari on Tree Of Life. For his third solo outing, the Cuban-born drummer, best known for his work as part of the two drummer-and-bass team that anchors saxophonist Joe Lovano's Us Five outfit, assembled a ...

Francisco Mela: Cirio

by Martin Longley
December 17, 2008

Subtitled “Live At The Blue Note," this hour-long set was recorded in September of 2007, drummer Francisco Mela surrounded by players with profiles much higher than his own. This is some statement, regarding the New York-based Cuban's skills. Mark Turner (tenor sax), Lionel Loueke (guitar), Jason Moran (piano) and Larry Grenadier (bass) are all allowed ample soloing time within Mela's highly organic compositions. Even though abstraction is a dominant force, the core nature of this music is mainstream. Mela can ...

Francisco Mela: Cirio: Live at the Blue Note

by J Hunter
October 30, 2008

Unlike many who started out at the Berklee School of Music--doing more time in the clubs than the classroom--Francisco Mela skipped the step of Berklee and went straight into the Boston club scene, working with the likes of Danilo Perez (who'd urged Mela to move from Cuba to Beantown in the first place), Roy Haynes, and fellow countryman Gonzalo Rubalcaba. So while the hype surrounding Cirio is worthy of Generation Y2K lions like Aaron Parks and Christian Scott, both Mela's ...

Francisco Mela: Cirio

by Mark F. Turner
October 13, 2008

Cirio is evidence that Francisco Mela marches and plays to the beat of a different drummer. Combining artistic influences of his Cuban upbringing with modern jazz, the youthful Boston based drummer/composer has studied at Berkley, toured with pianist Kenny Barron and performed with saxophonist Jane Bunnett's Grammy nominated “Spirits of Havana Band."

Francisco Mela: Melao

by Russ Musto
August 26, 2006

Cuban-born, New York-based drummer Francisco Mela's debut as leader introduces an important new creative talent to the international jazz scene. As its title implies--literally, melao is the Spanish word for the dark syrup concocted from cane sugar; figuratively, it describes any potent mixture of varied ingredients--the disc is a musical mélange of Mela compositions with a constantly changing cast of players.

That group includes tenor saxophonists Anat Cohen, George Garzone and Joe Lovano, guitarists Lionel Loueke and Nir Felder, pianist ...