NEW RELEASE: Violinist and Violist Leonor Falcón's 'IMAGA MONDO VOL. II' is out March 11, 2022 (Falcon Gumba Records)

Leonor Falcón casts a new spell with her sophomore album Imaga Mondo Vol. II due out March 11th, 2022 via Falcon Gumba Records

“Falcón’s ambitious and idiosyncratic debut reveals that she has the potential to craft a unique musical approach”

– Troy Dostert / All About Jazz

In 2017 when New York-based violinist and violist Leonor Falcón released her debut album as a leader Imaga Mondo (Imaginary World in Esperanto language), the stylistic diversity, DIY-production style and peculiar concept of the recording served to establish her as an iconoclastic composer and bandleader.  Falcón’s resume reveals a musician with a broad skill set.  A veteran string section player equally adept on viola and violin, she can be heard often in the string sections of such bandleaders as Camila Meza, Linda Oh, Akua Dixon, Karl Berger and Arturo O’Farrill among others. Falcón is also a key member of Sarah Bernstein’s Veer string quartet as well as Mimi Jones’s Black Madonna ensemble. 

That open embrace of various musical traditions and styles was a staple of the first iteration of Imaga Mondo and continues on the second volume, Imaga Mondo Vol. II, which is slated for release on March 11, 2022 on Falcon Gumba Records. “The natural evolution of my life as a musician has required me to participate in so many different situations that I don’t feel an allegiance to just one genre or way of making music,” Falcón explains. “I love to explore a variety of approaches.” This approach is fully realized on her sophomore album, which further catapults the seasoned string player to new heights. 

Imaga Mondo Vol. II features the three core ensemble members that graced her first: Christof Knoche on bass clarinet and alto sax, Juanma Trujillo on guitar, and Juan Pablo Carletti on drums and percussion. “It’s a very comfortable situation for me because they really understand my music,” reflects Falcón, who also praised that they are not “passive in the process”. A major difference between this and its predecessor is the addition of bassist Zachary Swanson, who fits like a glove with the rest of the group. “On the first record and during our live shows, Juanma and Christof took a lot of responsibility for the bass function in the tunes. With this new music I wanted to give them more choices. Zach is someone that I’ve loved playing with over the years and right away he seamlessly integrated with the band.”

L-R: Zach Swanson, Juan Pablo Carletti, Leonor Falcón, Christof Knoche, Juanma Trujillo

all courtesy of the artist

The album opens up with an assertive phrase from Falcón’s viola on “Improv I”, displaying her deep and hefty tone almost, likened to a call to action to the rest of the band to which they respond immediately. Just like that, the listener is plunged into Falcón’s impressive imaginary world. The second track, “Para Emilio”, finds the band already in stark contrast to the introduction with a particularly lyrical melody. Written by Falcón shortly after she found out that she was pregnant with her first child, Emilio, this track is one of the album’s most personal. “Expecting during a pandemic was a transformative experience. It made me question many things including the way I’ve been approaching music so far.” 

From that point onward, Imaga Mondo Vol. II takes listeners on a journey through a variety of moods and contexts. Pieces like “Cursing Parrots” and “A” find the band rocking out in intense explorations using electronics, while the ruminative “The Monks” or “Ballad for a Hawk” showcase the acoustic possibilities of the ensemble. All in all, the whole album has a rich orchestrational quality, producing a sound that appears more complex than the sum of its parts. 

“Falcón’s music seeks more inside than outside, creating its own folklore and borrowing it at the same time,” says Carletti of the bandleader. In no piece is this borrowed folklore more evident than on the closer “Nita” a song that begins with an ethereal ambient aesthetic before quickly morphing into a cross between an Argentine chacarera and a Mexican son jarocho while still remaining in harmony with the rest of the album. “That piece is such a typical creation for Leonor. She didn’t set out to write a folk tune but upon playing it it immediately felt right to go there, and it’s really beautiful. She just synthesizes all the music she loves and it comes out of her with no agenda or pretension,” explains guitarist Trujillo. Indeed, the maturity in this music lies in the fact that Falcón has brought these compositions to life without any ostentation, and the musicians give themselves to the music without ego. This music isn’t trying to impress, but rather enrich. 

Track Listing

1. Improv I – 4:09

2. Para Emilio – 5:11

3. Cursing Parrots – 8:21

4. The Monks – 7:15 

5. A – 6:21

6. Ballad for a Hawk 

7. Improv II – 4:58

8. Nita – 5:32

All compositions by Leonor Falcón

Leonor Falcón: Viola & Compositions

Christof Knoche: Bass Clarinet & Alto Sax

Juanma Trujillo: Guitars

Zachary Swanson: Bass

Juan Pablo Carletti: Drums & Percussion

Falcon Gumba Records Publishing (ASCAP)

Recorded by Chris Gilroy at Douglass Recording studios

Mixed by Juanma Trujillo

Mastered by Eivind Opsvik at Greenwood Underground

Artwork by Flóres Soláno

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Guitarist Juanma Trujillo’s New Album ÍMPETU is due out October 1, 2021 via Falcon Gumba

Guitarist and Composer Juanma Trujillo Presents Ímpetu, New Album Out October 1, 2021 via Falcon Gumba

Falcon Gumba Records is thrilled to announce the release of Ímpetu, the latest album from Venezuelan-born, New York-based guitarist and composer Juanma Trujillo. To be released on October 1st 2021, Ímpetu represents an important period of the prolific bandleader’s career. Motivated by the passing of both of his grandfathers, Trujillo takes the listener through a mesmerizing suite of original music on this spell-binding release which features saxophonist Hery Paz, pianist Santiago Leibson and drummer Robin Baytas. 

What does music sound like when it remembers and imagines, or when it grieves and consoles? Throughout Ímpetu, Juanma Trujillo meditates on these questions with uncommon delicacy and grace, inviting the listener into an intimate and at times melancholic space. The recent losses of his maternal and paternal grandfathers, Rogerio and Rubito, led him to honor their memories. As two men who did not share the burdens of their experiences openly, they left only the traces of their struggles behind, which Juanma transforms here into a program of serious but unsentimental music.

“Both of my grandfathers were born in Venezuela in the late 1920s which was a period of profound transformation in the country,” explains Trujillo. “For people who grew up in rural areas, like my grandfathers, moving to the capital (Caracas) in pursuit of a better life must really have felt like moving to a different planet. I wanted to write music that would convey that journey and how in some ways mirrors my own journey in life.” The title, Ímpetu, which translates to impetus, was inspired by the strength shown by these two important figures. 

For this sophomore release, Trujillo employs the talents of three close peers who play his compositions with effortless grace. Featured on saxophone, bass clarinet and flute is Cuban musician Hery Paz, who is a frequent collaborator of Trujillo’s. Notably, Paz and Trujillo are two-thirds of the MPT trio along with Francisco Mela; their debut album Volume 1 was released on 577 Records earlier this year to wide-spread critical acclaim. “I admire Hery’s capacity to inject lyricism into any musical context. He does it in a very beautiful way in which he never sounds corny”, Trujillo muses. Paz generates a wild intensity playing tenor saxophone on standout tunes “2rs” and “Rosario” while creating thrilling moments as a flutist on “Adaure” and the lyrical duet “Llanto”.

“Occasionally heavy, but with a calculated deftness, the Venezuelan player is equal parts Sonny Sharrock and David Pajo in his daring guitar lines…The guitarist’s playing is totally novel and utterly batshit, yet effortless in its majesty”

– Cal Cashin, The Quietus 

The Argentinian pianist Santiago Leibson brings an acute approach to the music, adding full orchestral density in the contemplative “La Unión” as well as adding rich textures with the Wurlitzer in “2rs” and “Nieto”. Trujillo notes “As a guitarist, it’s often tricky to play with pianists, but with Santiago, I always feel total comfort and ease in playing how I would normally play while he finds amazing ways to support me that won’t diminish his own role in the music”. 

There’s a broad duality in the playing of drummer Robin Baytas, who brings a vigorous intensity to the compositions “2rs” and “Rosario” while almost disappearing into the music as a colorist on “Adaure”. “My music can go to a lot of different places with someone like Robin playing drums,” says Trujillo. “You can entrust him with anything you would want a drummer to do like playing great time or shaping the music dynamically but he can also do so much more. He’s a musician with an expansive mind.”

Photos of Juanma Trujillo by Kenneth Jimenez

Throughout, Trujillo plays with deep restraint both on acoustic and electric. “Both of my grandfathers loved the acoustic guitar, all the while I was growing up making louder music playing electric, so I wanted the tunes “Adaure” and “La union”, which are the names of the towns they grew up in, to be played acoustic as a reference to that preference.” Conversely, the compositions that take inspiration from Trujillo’s perspective are played on electric. These musical choices act as a narrative device – they, and grandson are represented as characters in the music. 

Within the liner notes, noted saxophonist and composer Kevin Sun writes that “Juanma cherishes that which lingers over the merely captivating or shocking, knowing that, in music as in life, it is more meaningful to affect and to coalesce than to stimulate or to fracture. Ímpetu is a testament to these durable values and to the memories of his grandfathers, and we commune with these artists as we receive this musical tribute, its humility, and its beauty.”

The final track “Llanto” showcases a delicate duet with Trujillo on acoustic guitar and Paz on flute, its reflective mood brings the entire trajectory of the suite to an end on a subdued note. “I’ve always been attracted to unconventional arcs in recordings, the idea is to present the entire document as a cohesive whole, to serve the story I’m trying to tell”. Indeed, Ímpetu features a potent narrative component that’s almost cinematic in scope, while at the same time showcasing the work of a seasoned ensemble that can address myriad aesthetics without losing its identity. 

“…Trujillo’s evocative versatility gives this set a calm center even when the music gets stormy”

– Jerome Wilson, All About Jazz

1. Nieto (Intro) – 3:54

2. Adaure – 7:14

3. 2RS – 5:55

4. La Unión – 9:51

5. Rosario – 7:38

6. Llanto (Outro) – 2:57

Juanma Trujillo - Guitar

Hery Paz - Saxophone, Bass Clarinet & Flute

Santiago Leibson - Piano & Wurlitzer

Robin Baytas - Drums & Percussion

All music composed by Juanma Trujillo (Adaure Publishing, BMI)

Recorded by Chris Gilroy at Douglass Recording

Assistant Engineer - Amogh Agarwal

Mixed by Juanma Trujillo

Mastered by Eivind Opsvik at Greenwood Underground

Artwork and Design by Flóres Soláno

Videography by Kenneth Jimenez

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