Fri, Dec 10: Newvelle Records albums by Frank Kimbrough, Aruán Ortiz, and Steve Cardenas available digitally and streaming

Three classic Newvelle Vinyl Only releases now available digitally and streaming

Friday December 10th, Newvelle Records is proud to release three previously "vinyl only" records.  Frank Kimbrough's masterpiece "Meantime" is the first record Newvelle Released and remains an inspiration for the type of music we want to produce.  Aruan Ortiz's "Cuban Nocturne" from our Second Season is a deeply personal love letter to the music that shaped this world class musician.  Steve Cardenas' "Charlie and Paul" is a tribute to two great friends, mentors and band mates of Steve Cardenas, Charlie Haden and Paul Motion, featuring a stellar quartet of musicians who were close to both icons.

Frank Kimbrough's "Meantime"

Aruan Ortiz's "Cuban Nocturne"

Steve Cardenas' "Charlie and Paul"

Clockwise from top: 1) Aruan Ortiz, Steve Cardenas, Engineers Marc Urselli and Lou Holzman, Thomas Morgan, Matt Wilson,Steve Cardenas and Loren Stillman, Frank Kimbrough.

Hailed as a "testament to Aruán Ortiz's musicianship, and a historical tribute to Cuban classical music" by Audiophile Audition, "Cuban Nocturne's" nine tracks are each a reflection on the music that saturated the artist's childhood while growing up in Cuba. Featuring interpretations and improvisations on compositions from giants of Cuban classical music like Romeu and Lecuona, Aruán's work is clean, romantic, and crystalline. The title track exemplifies the pianist's skill at balancing and synthesizing the elements of his musical identity. Ortiz has been an active figure in the progressive jazz and avant-garde scene in the US for two decades and is considered "one of the most creative and original composers in the world" (The Art Music Lounge). 

Frank Kimbrough's passing in December 2020 sent shockwaves through the New York jazz community – bandmates, students, friends, and collaborators alike. Available digitally for the very first time, Meantime is a testament to the artist's style: lyrical, melodic, focused on tone, and completely direct. He's joined here by Andrew Zimmerman on tenor saxophone, Chris Van Voorst Van Beest on bass, R.J. Miller on drums, and Riley Mulherkar on trumpet. Originally recorded in 2015 on vinyl for Newvelle Records, the album is the acclaimed label's very first pressing. Featuring "sound [that] is beautifully crisp" according to The New York Times, Meantime includes a mix of original compositions and interpretations across nine tracks. "Alabama Song," the classic Kurt Weil composition, kicks off the record, presenting Zimmerman's masterfully pure presentation of the melody, carried by Kimbrough in a gripping solo.

Steve Cardenas' 2017 tribute to the music of the great Charlie Haden and Paul Motian is now available digitally for the very first time. Charlie & Paul, originally recorded on vinyl for Newvelle Records, presents a beautiful focus on Haden and Motian's original compositions that seems to shimmer off the music. Hailed for its incredible acoustics by Audiophile Audition, the album features Cardenas on guitar, Loren Stillman on alto saxophone, Thomas Morgan on bass, and Matt Willson on drums. All of these musicians were featured in Haden and Motian's bands, perhaps explaining the clarity in their tone and approach toward these songs. "There in a Dream" is an unreleased track from the original record written by Charlie Haden.

Frank Kimbrough's "Meantime"

Aruan Ortiz's "Cuban Nocturne"

Steve Cardenas' "Charlie and Paul"

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James Brandon Lewis Quartet with Aruán Ortiz, Brad Jones and Chad Taylor - Code of Being (October 15, 2021 Intakt Records)

The charismatic saxophonist and composer James Brandon Lewis is the musician of the moment in the broad field of contemporary jazz. With Code of Being, James Brandon Lewis now presents his second album. The debut CD Molecular, which Lewis recorded with his quartet in 2020 just a few months before Lockdown, was roundly acclaimed as one of the most exciting releases in 2020 (Intakt CD 350). Code of Being is a powerful work consisting of eight compositions by James Brandon Lewis. Beautiful melodies are responsible for the magic of the songs. 

The four exceptional musicians, each with personalities of their own, create an urgent ensem ble sound, moving through a broad palette of sound-colours, rhythms and moods, charged with energy. With a profound sense for lyrical melodies, tonal concision and dynamics, the quartet develop a spirited interplay, reacting to the tiniest atmospheric oscillations on the sound and groove level. “This is captivating music which it is hard to resist, especially the melodies with their thematic beauty.," writes Florian Keller in the liner notes.

1. Resonance

2. Archimedean

3. Every Atom Glows

4. Per 4

5. Code of Being

6. Where is Hella

7. Per 5

8. Tessera

James Brandon Lewis: Tenor Saxophone

Aruán Ortiz: Piano

Brad Jones: Bass

Chad Taylor: Drums

All compositions by James Brandon Lewis (James Brandon Lewis Music/ascap).

Recorded on May 16 and 17 2021 by Michael Brändli at Hardstudios Winterthur. Mixed and mastered in July 2021 by Michael Brändli at Hardstudios Winterthur, Switzerland.

Cover art and graphic design: Paul Bieri, Berlin.

Photo: Palma Fiacco, unerhört!-Festival Special Edition, Rote Fabrik, Zürich, May 15, 2021.

Liner notes: Florian Keller.

Produced and published by Intakt Records.

PREORDER

Ivo Perelman - Brass & Ivory Tales (Fundacja Słuchaj)

Great saxophonist, improviser Ivo Perelman celebrates its 60th birthday this year. Brass & Ivory tales - 9 CDs box-set is a gift for this phenomenal musician, great human being, and marvelous artist. Nine studio sessions with nine top and most creative pianists like Dave Burrell, Marilyn Crispell, Aruan Ortiz, Sylvie Courvoisier, Angelica Sanchez, Aaron Parks, Agusti Fernandez, Craig Taborn, and Vijay Iyer in a beautiful box with liner notes from Grammy Award Winner writer Neil Tesser

IVO PERELMAN - BRASS & IVORY TALES

CD 1: Tale One with Dave Burrell

CD 2: Tale Two with Marilyn Crispell

CD 3: Tale Three with Aruán Ortiz

CD 4: Tale Four with Aaron Parks

CD 5: Tale Five with Sylvie Courvoisier

CD 6: Tale Six with Agustí Fernández

CD 7: Tale Seven with Craig Taborn

CD 8: Tale Eight with Angelica Sanchez

CD 9: Tale Nine with Vijay Iyer

CD1: Tale One - Ivo Perelman with Dave Burrell

01. Chapter One 37.09

02. Chapter Two 20.02

Total Time: 57.11

Ivo Perelman – tenor saxophone

Dave Burell – piano

Ivo Perelman ivomusic/ ASCAP, Dave Burrell Lanikai Sounds Publ. Company (BMI)

Recorded January 2020

CD2: Tale Two – Ivo Perelman with Marilyn Crispell

1. Chapter One 6.56

2. Chapter Two 5.12

3. Chapter Three 7.46

4. Chapter Four 2.55

5. Chapter Five 5.23

6. Chapter Six 3.23

7. Chapter Seven 6.35

8. Chapter Eight 7.41

9. Chapter Nine 6.51

Total Time: 52.42

Ivo Perelman – tenor saxophone

Marilyn Crispell – piano

Ivo Perelman ivomusic/ ASCAP, Marilyn Crispell Crispell Publishing/BMI

Recorded March 2014

CD3: Tale Three – Ivo Perelman with Aruán Ortiz

1. Chapter One 9.25

2. Chapter Two 3.21

3. Chapter Three 4.02

4. Chapter Four 11.01

5. Chapter Five 10.36

6. Chapter Six 10.15

7. Chapter Seven 7.02

Total Time: 55.40

Ivo Perelman – tenor saxophone

Aruán Ortiz – piano

Ivo Perelman ivomusic/ ASCAP, Aruan Ortiz Naurazitro Music/SESAC

Recorded December 2017

CD4: Tale Four – Ivo Perelman with Aaron Parks

1. Chapter One 19.14

2. Chapter Two 10.16

3. Chapter Three 10.12

Total Time: 39.42

Ivo Perelman – tenor saxophone

Aaron Parks – piano

Ivo Perelman ivomusic/ ASCAP, Aaron Parks Invisible Cinema Music (BMI)

Recorded March 2020

CD5 Tale Five – Ivo Pereleman with Sylvie Courvoisier

1. Chapter One 3.32

2. Chapter Two 3.04

3. Chapter Three 5.04

4. Chapter Four 5.45

5. Chapter Five 4.33

6. Chapter Six 5.28

7. Chapter Seven 5.29

8. Chapter Eight 7.41

9. Chapter Nive 2.39

10. Chapter Ten 5.17

11. Chapter Eleven 5.55

Total Time: 54.26

Ivo Perelman – tenor saxophone

Sylvie Courvoisier – piano

Ivo Perelman ivomusic/ ASCAP, Sylvie Courvoisier Sylvie COURVOISIER MUSIC ASCAP 560146375

Recorded March 2018

CD6 Tale Six – Ivo Perelman with Agustí Fernández

1. Chapter One 8.45

2. Chapter Two 6.11

3. Chapter Three 8.28

4. Chapter Four 4.02

5. Chapter Five 5.28

6. Chapter Six 7.21

7. Chapter Seven 6.23

8. Chapter Eight 2.11

9. Chapter Nine 5.02

Total Time: 54.10

Ivo Perelman – tenor saxophone

Agustí Fernández– piano

Ivo Perelman ivomusic/ ASCAP, Agustí Fernández SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores de España)

Recorded July 2017

CD7 Tale Seven – Ivo Perelman with Craig Taborn

1. Chapter One 26.20

2. Chapter Two 4.40

3. Chapter Three 5.22

4. Chapter Four 19.52

5. Chapter Five 8.37

Total Time: 65.01

Ivo Perelman – tenor saxophone

Craig Taborn – piano

Ivo Perelman ivomusic/ ASCAP, Craig Taborn LightMadeLighter Publishing BMI

Recorded June 2021

CD8 Tale Eight – Ivo Perelman with Angelica Sanchez

1. Chapter One 3.35

2. Chapter Two 3.04

3. Chapter Three 5.47

4. Chapter Four 7.40

5. Chapter Five 8.18

6. Chapter Six 8.33

7. Chapter Seven 6.38

8. Chapter Eight 7.45

9. Chapter Nine 9.51

Total Time: 61.29

Ivo Perelman – tenor saxophone

Angelica Sanchez – piano

Ivo Perelman ivomusic/ ASCAP, Angelica Sanchez Sancha Music/ Sesac

Recorded June 2021

CD9 Tale Nine – Ivo Perelman with Vijay Iyer

1. Chapter One 17.10

2. Chapter Two 3.36

3. Chapter Three 25.27

4. Chapter Four 14.26

5. Chapter Five 2.28

Total Time: 63.16

Ivo Perelman – tenor saxophone

Vijay Iyer – piano

Ivo Perelman ivomusic/ ASCAP, Vijay Iyer Sonocentric Publishing (ASCAP) administered by Kobalt Music

Recorded May 2021

PREORDER

Don Byron & Aruán Ortiz - Random Dances and (A)tonalities (INTAKT RECORDS October 19, 2018)

Ortiz, who grew up in Santiago, Cuba, and has lived in the U. S. since 2002, is among the most creative pianists on jazz's landscape. As a boy he was performing Cuban popular music. His studies broadened to include jazz, first in Europe, finally New York, where he now lives.

In Byron, Ortiz has found an unparalleled clarinetist, whose classical training and exquisite technique anchor a career spanning an unusually broad range of music that nevertheless reflects a focused line of musical inquiry. Byron was born in The Bronx, into a musical family of Antiguan descent. Some of his work has involved highly refined repertory ensembles devoted to early jazz, gospel or klezmer music. Other works assert unfettered new musical routes owing to no one style.

"Random Dances and (A)tonalities" reveals the imaginative leaps of two free-thinking minds. In both, we feel an implied swing, gentle yet with conviction, and shared values of erudition and compassion. We sense a clearly documented moment between two masterly musicians. 

(From the liner notes by Larry Blumenfeld)

Don Byron stammt aus der Bronx, New York. Aruán Ortiz ist in Santiago de Cuba aufgewachsen. In New York haben sich die beiden getroffen. Byron, der weltbekannte Klarinettist, der für die Labels Nonesuch und Blue Note erfolgreiche Platten aufgenommen hat, lud den jüngeren Pianisten in seine Quartett ein. Dann kam es zu einer Duo-Europatournee und auf Einladung von Intakt Records zu Aufnahmen in Zürich.

Der kubanische Pianist Aruán Ortiz, als Rising Star gefeiert und für die für Intakt Records aufgenommene Solo-Platte "Cub(an)isme" von der amerikanischen Jazzzeitschrift "Downbeat" mit der begehrten und selten verliehenen 5-Sterne-Rezension ausgezeichnet, findet in Don Byron einen passenden Partner. "Ich schätze seine Kühnheit ohne künstlerische Grenzen. Er ist ein Innovator zwischen Jazz, Klassik, Karibik und Klezmer", sagt Ortiz über Byron. 

Auf diesem Album finden sich die wunderschönen Zwiegespräche zweier herausragender Instrumentalisten und Improvisatoren, die tief in der Tradion des Jazz verwurzelt sind. "Wir hören einen impliziten Swing", schreibt Larry Blumenfeld in den Liner Notes, "sanft, aber mit Überzeugung. Wir spüren einen klar dokumentierten Augenblick 

zwischen zwei meisterhaften Musikern".

Don Byron, Clarinet, Saxophone

Aruán Ortiz, Piano

1 Tete's Blues (A. Ortiz) 6:38

2 Black and Tan Fantasy (Duke Ellington) 5:37

3 Musica Callada: Book 1, V. ([M.M.] crochet = 54) (Federico Mompou) 6:53

4 Joe Btfsplk (D. Byron) 5:44

5 Numbers (A. Ortiz) 6:04

6 Dolphy's Dance (Geri Allen) 4:11

7 Violin Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002, II. Double (J. S. Bach/arr. D. Byron) 2:43

8 Delphian Nuptials (D. Byron) 4:35

9 Arabesques of a Geometrical Rose (Spring) (A. Ortiz) 7:11

10 Impressions on a Golden Theme (D. Byron/A. Ortiz) 5:55

Recorded December 7, 8, 2017, by Martin Pearson at Radio Studio, Zürich.

In cooperation with Radio SRF 2 Kultur. Mixed January 30, 2018, by Michael Brändli at Hardstudios Winterthur.

Mastered by Michael Brändli at Hardstudios Winterthur.

Cover art: Willi Schoder. Graphic design: Jonas Schoder. Liner notes: Larry Blumenfeld, Thomas Staudter.

Photos: Francesca Pfeffer, Jimmy Katz. Executive production by Florian Keller.

Produced and published by Intakt Records, Patrik Landolt.

Aruán Ortiz's "Cuban Nocturne" Shipping Now (NEW VELLE RECORDS)

NEW VELLE

We are very proud to be shipping our fifth record of our Second Season.

Jazz pianist's Aruán Ortiz's Cuban Nocturne is a beautiful tribute to the music that started Arúan on his musical journey.

Cuban Nocturne

"These songs became a reflection on the music that saturated Aruán’s childhood, a repertoire for the most part, perhaps surprisingly, he has never played before.  As Aruán weds his singular genius for improvisation to the classical repertoire of his homeland, what emerges is an investigation of selfhood.  It’s the sound of a man balancing and synthesizing the elements of his musical identity." excerpted from the liner notes by Elan Mehler

Our last record in our Second Season set is from legendary bassist Rufus Reid.  This is an original set of music from Rufus featuring his trio along side of the acclaimed "Sirius Quartet."  Rufus's writing for strings is startling in its originality and beauty. 

Season Three is now available for pre-order!  We are so excited about this line up next year.  Skulli Sverrisson and Bill Frisell, Steve Cardenas, Lionel Loueke, Andrew Zimmerman, Francisco Mela, Jason Palmer...featuring Dave Douglas, Thomas Morgan, Kris Davis, Kevin Hays and many more.... 

"If I’m beginning to sound like a broken record with my praise for the by-subscription releases from Newvelle Records, blame the people responsible for these LPs, which consistently rise to the top in terms of music and sound."  Guy Lemcoe, The Audio Beat

Season Two:

John Patitucci Trio Featuring Yotam Silberstein and Rogerio Boccato  

Kevin Hays and Lionel Loueke Duo 

Jon Cowherd Quartet featuring Steve Cardenas, Tony Scherr and Brian Blade 

Chris Tordini Trio featuring Becca Stevens and Greg Ruggerio 

Aruán Ortiz revisiting the music of the great Cuban classical composers

Rufus Reid Trio with Steve Allee and Duduka Da Fonseca and featuring the Sirius Quartet 

All of our cover and interior photographs for Season Two come from the astonishing French Collective Tendance Floue.  Our Recording Engineer on all six records is the incomparable multi-Grammy winning Marc Urselli.  Mastering engineer is the brilliant Alex Deturk .  Jim Hoppin and Sarah Enid Hagey shot lovely video for us at these sessions.  All video editing is by the award-winning Ben Chace.  Jordan Kleinman shoots all our studio photos.  Our web team is run by French genius Aymeric Auberger.  Social Media management by Jessye Mehler.  Newvelle is run by:  Elan Mehler and Jean-Christophe Morisseau

Aruán Ortiz's breathtaking solo recording "Cub(an)ism" (INTAKT RECORDS 2017)

Cuban-born, Brooklyn-based pianist Aruán Ortiz explores the crossroads of Cuban tradition and Cubist abstraction on his breathtaking new album

Cub(an)ism, Ortiz’ first solo release since his little-known 1996 debut, takes inspiration from Afro-Cuban rhythms, jazz experimentation, and modern art

"[On Santiarican Blues Suite], Ortiz's pen shines in a new light, the music lyrical, dramatic, creating suspense." — John Ephland, DownBeat Magazine

"Ortiz belongs in the ballpark of time-bending piano experimenters such as... the late Paul Bley” — John Fordham, The Guardian

Born and raised in Santiago de Cuba, pianist Aruán Ortiz has consistently followed his vision of ever expanding musical horizons. Beginning with an exploration of Cuba’s musical heritage, Ortiz combines elements from a range of genres to form an unmistakable personal style with foundations in the polyrhythms of Afro-Cuban music. On his latest album, Cub(an)ism (out June 16 from Intakt Records), he brings that unique blend of modernism and tradition to the solo piano, offering an undiluted excursion into the crossroads of Cuban rhythms and Cubist abstraction.

Cub(an)ism arrives twenty years after Ortiz’ last solo album, his very different debut release, Impresión Tropical. Recorded in Spain when he was still in his early 20s, Impresión Tropical reveals the blend of influences that would come to mark Ortiz’s mature style in their nascent form, with Cuban rhythms formalized into contemporary classical structures and refracted through a modern jazz lens. His approach to that combination would become exponentially more complex in the coming decades, and Cub(an)ism finds them in full, expansive flower.

Ortiz’s compositions for solo piano release traditional sounds and forms from their original contexts, channel them and feed on them as free information within his genre-boundary-busting musical world, which, like tradition itself, is by definition constantly in movement, never following a firm set of rules. On Cub(an)ism, Afro-Haitian Gagá rhythms (see “Louverture op1. (Château de Joux)”) and the traditional genres of Afro-Cuban Rumba and Yambú form constantly permuting rhythmic frameworks for improvisation-heavy jazz modernism, leaving room for recollections of contemporary classical music, while specific toques of Tumba Francesa such as Yubá, approach the musical world of John Cage (see “Monochrome”). Ortiz’ intellectually playful keyboard art makes its way through an expansive musical cosmos in which the mathematical rigor of architectural structure and emotional freedom are interlocked (see “Sacred Chronology,” a piece based on the Fibonacci sequence).

Ortiz translates the current global catchphrase “everything connects” into a meaningful musical language. With a spiritual connection to his mentor Muhal Richard Abrams, Ortiz does not view music as one-dimensional; it must be placed in relationship to other art forms, particularly painting. The title Cub(an)ism represents a fundamental tribute to a key source of inspiration for Ortiz: the tradition-shattering art movement cubism, which like his music is essentially orientated on rhythm and dynamics.

Especially relevant in this context is the Cuban painter Wifredo Lam, whose masterpiece “The Jungle” is the inspiration for the signature track “Cuban Cubism.” Like Lam’s painting, Ortiz’ Cuban cubism is based on an original, multi-layered game of perception, and key cubist devices can be recognized in his painterly music. A major theme is sliced into jigsaw pieces which are hidden within the overall sense, as in “Passages,” in which phantom notes are emphasized that are not actually there. In the collage-like piecing-together of heterogeneous, geometric pieces, Ortiz’ penchant for architectural sound structures and the juxtaposition of rhythms and patterns can be heard. There is also a cubist sense of multiple perspectives and simultaneity in the sense of multiple views of an object, or a musical structure, heard in tracks such as “Passages” and “Intervals,” both based on a similar conceptual idea of melodic or rhythmic permutation from a different perspective each time.

Cub(an)ism is the result of an in-depth conversation with a range of musical idioms and styles, and various experiences from the phases of Ortiz’ life, in Cuba, Spain, France and the USA which have formed his eclectic concept of music. He began his musical career with the violin, switching to the viola at 10. His devotion for this instrument allowed him to win countless prizes and play several viola concertos with an orchestra when he was a teenager. The choice of piano only came at age nineteen, in 1992. Although Ortiz had been familiar with the instrument for years, in the early 1980s piano lessons were an obligatory part of a musical education in Cuba. When he finished his studies in classical music, he left the island for Barcelona where he transitioned from being an autodidactic jazz aficionado to the pursuit of a formal jazz degree.

His teachers included Horacio Fumero, who educated him on the historical evolution of jazz piano playing. Following the period in Spain when he recorded Impresión Tropical, he moved to Boston in 2002 to study at Berklee College of Music with teachers including Joanne Brackeen and Danilo Pérez. There he encountered the free jazz movement, which was to have a lasting influence. In 2008 Ortiz relocated to Brooklyn, the epicenter of innovative musical personalities, where he is based today.

In recent years, Ortiz has written music for jazz ensembles, orchestras, dance companies, chamber groups, and feature films. In 2012, he composed and conducted “Santiarican Blues Suite,” a five-part score that references a wide timeline of Cuban, Afro-Haitian, and contemporary classical vocabulary that received 4.5 stars from DownBeat Magazine. His most recent release, the acclaimed Hidden Voices, features an adventurous trio with bassist Eric Revis and drummer Gerald Cleaver, conjuring boundary-stretching music where Ortiz’ Afro-Cuban and jazz roots are implied, but not explicitly stated. Over the years he has received numerous accolades, including the Doris Duke Impact Award in 2014. He has also recorded collaboratively with bassist Michael Janisch and pianist/electtonic musician Bob Gluck, and played, toured, or recorded with Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington, Wadada Leo Smith, Don Byron, Greg Osby, Wallace Roney, Nicole Mitchell, Steve Turre, Cameron Brown, and Nasheet Waits, to name a few.

Aruán Ortiz's upcoming dates Spring / Summer 2016

"Aruán Ortiz... a creative force at least since the release of his debut album 20 years ago.  – Nate Chinen, NY Times

"a solid and unique new sound in today’s jazz world."  – Matthew Fiander, PopMatters

ARUÁN ORTIZ'S UPCOMING SUMMER SHOWS

May 16-22
Aruán Ortiz/Grete Skarpeid CD Release TOUR 
Osasalen, Voss, Norway 

May 25th
Adam Rudolph Trio at Stone
with Graham Haynes
Stone, NYC, 9pm

May 26th
Fay Victor Trio
with Marty Ehrlich on sax and AO on rhodes.
55 Bar, NYC, 7:30pm

June 17th-19th
Nicole Mitchell's Moments of Fatherhood CD Release party.
Constellation, Chicago, IL

June 30th
with Nasheet Wait's Equality Quartet featuring Darius Jones, Mark Helias
Ljubljana Jazz Festival, Slovenia 

July 2nd
Aruán Ortiz Trio "Hidden Voices" featuring Brad Jones and Gerald Cleaver/Randy Weston African Rhythm Quintet.
Montreux Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary

July 4th 
Aruán Ortiz Trio "Hidden Voices" featuring Brad Jones and Gerald Cleaver
Albinea Jazz Festival, ER, Italy

July 6th
Aruán Ortiz Trio "Hidden Voices" featuring Brad Jones and Gerald Cleaver
Rome, IT

July 9th
Aruán Ortiz Trio "Hidden Voices" featuring Brad Jones and Gerald Cleaver
North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam, NL

August 11th
Aruán Ortiz Trio "Hidden Voices" featuring Eric Revis and Gerald Cleaver
Blue Whale, Los Angeles, CA

August 12th
The evolution of Cuban Piano
Aruán Ortiz Trio "Hidden Voices" featuring Eric Revis and Gerald Cleaver/ Fabian Almazán Group
San Francisco Jazz Center, CA 

August 14th
Aruán Ortiz Solo,
Fresh Sound Music Series, San Diego, CA

★★★★★  Jazzism, Netherlands,  

★★★★ Downbeat Magazine, USA,  ★★★★  Jazzmagazine, France

★★★★  The Irish Times, Ireland,  ★★★★  Jazzwise, UK,  ★★★★  Jazz'n'more, Switzerland

Aruan Ortiz Trio "Hidden Voices" EPK 2016 from NauraZitro Music Productions on Vimeo.

Aruán Ortiz Trio - Hidden Voices (2016)

Label: Intakt Records

Source: Allaboutjazz (DAN MCCLENAGHAN)

The jazz piano trio comes in a wide spectrum of approaches, from the traditional—Red Garland, Tommy Flanagan—to the way out there avant-garde, like Cecil Taylor. When the subject of "Cuban pianists" comes up, some of the first names that come to mind are probably those who work in a traditional vein: Chucho Valdes, perhaps, or maybe Gonzalo Rubalcaba, both of whom work the percolating beauty of Latin rhythms to the hilt.

Aruan Ortiz—Cuban-born and now New York-based (after a stint in Madrid) pianist—leans away from the traditional end of the spectrum, in both classic jazz terms and the Latin approach. On Hidden Voices he teams up with bassist Eric Revis and drummer Gerald Cleaver, who are well versed in the avant-garde. The resulting music says that Ortiz has found two excellent compadres.
There's no doubt that these are improvisation heavy workouts. Latin grooves bubble covertly, and Ornette Coleman ("Open & Close/The Sphinx") and Thelonious Monk ("Skippy") are brilliantly covered—though the brilliance is of a dark and brooding hue. Oritz penned seven of the ten tunes. Tracing a finger along the piano trio spectrum, you'd slide past the traditionalists, beyond the edgy-but-still traditional guys and into Andrew Hill territory. Hill, with a series of brilliant Blue Note Records releases in the sixties, earned a reputation as an uncompromising individualist, rooted in tradition, but with branches that reached out into the deep blue sky where few of his contemporaries followed.

Not that Ortiz and company sound like Hill. They break their own ground, constructing loose musical architectures that stop short of the sometimes chaotic ramblings of Cecil Taylor, even simulating something akin to holy church bells on the trio's collective composition, "Joyful Noises," before the trio flays into Monk's "Skippy" with a Thelonious-onian elasticity and zest.


Track Listing: Fractal Sketches; Open & Close/The Sphinx; Caribbean Vortex/Hidden Voices; Analytical Symmetry; Arabesques of a Geometrical Rose (Spring); Arabesques of a Geometrical Rose (Summer); 17 Moments of Liam's Moments; Joyful Noises; Skippy; Uno, Dos y Tres Que Paso Mas Chevere. 

1. Fractal Sketches 06:28
2. Open & Close / The Sphinx 06:31
3. Caribbean Vortex / Hidden Voices 06:09
4. Analytical Symmetry 08:38
5. Arabesques of a Geometrical Rose (Spring) 03:15
6. Arabesques of a Geometrical Rose (Summer) 05:04   
7. 17 Moments of Liam’s Moments (or 18) 01:42
8. Joyful Noises 03:18
9. Skippy 05:03
10.Uno, dos y tres, que paso más chévere 02:42
    

Aruán Ortiz: Piano, Composition
Eric Revis: Bass
Gerald Cleaver: Drums
Arturo Stable and Enildo Rasúa: Claves (On “Caribbean Vortex/Hidden Voices”) 

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