Manuel Valera Trio - The Planets (MAVO RECORDS April 6, 2018)

Is the latest commissioned piece by pianist and composer Manuel Valera. Commissioned by Chamber Music America/Doris Duke 2017 New Jazz Works program, the piece uses the solar system as inspiration and it’s harmonically and melodically based on Nicolas Slonimsky’s Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns. Each part of the suite aims at an impressionistic characterization of the astronomical qualities of each planet. In addition, Greek mythology’s gods (and Roman counterparts) particular energy and connection to the planets were also an inspiration in the process. i.e. Mars: The God of War, Jupiter: The God of the Sky.

People have been looking at the planets and stars for millennia. The planets in many ways hold the secrets to the things that we here in earth are forever curious about. Such as the big bang theory and many other elements of our history. The mystery of what we know and don’t know about the planets is one of the inspirations for the piece and by using and developing the material from Slonimsky’s Thesaurus, Valera creates harmonic and melodic sequences that have as much in common with Arnold Schonberg as they do with John Coltrane’s compositions. Slonimsky’s book has been a source of influence for composers such as Coltrane, Allan Holdsworth and Frank Zappa. Valera has been working and developing the concepts from the Theausrus from the past 15 years in New York and The Planets marks a new period in Valera’s deepening and never-ending studying and understanding of Slonimsky’s masterpiece. — Manuel Valera

1 Sun Prelude I 1:43

2 I. Mercury: The Messenger 4:54

3 Sun Prelude II 2:10

4 II. Venus: Peace 3:23

5 Intro to Earth 1:32

6 III. Earth: The History of Us 4:32

7 IV. Mars: Ancient Warrior 5:18

8 Sun Prelude III 1:10

9 V. Jupiter: Joyous Thunder 5:17

10 VI. Saturn: The Wise One 4:51

11 VII. Uranus: Morphing Skies 5:49

12 VII. Neptune: Prophet of the Seas 5:49

13 Llora 4:20

14 Mona Lisa's and Mad Hatters 5:01

Manuel Valera - piano & composition

Hans Glawischnig - bass

E.J. Strickland - drums

Manuel Valera Trio - The Seasons (MAVO RECORDS 2017)

Was there a closet ‘renaissance man’ just waiting to jump out of Manuel Valera? Probably so, but although his recording of The Seasons references Vivaldi’s eternal series of four concerti making up The Four Seasons there is little to link the two works other than the title of Valera’s suite. This centrepiece of the recording is a series of four single-movement pieces and Manuel Valera’s playing is spirited and eloquently ornamented and serves its referenced mentor well. It ends there, however. “The Seasons” is a dark suite where the composer (and performer/pianist and his trio) visits several states of mind that change from expectation then hopeful, melancholic and finally foreboding, capturing the mood of the times, as it were, in the Americas and, indeed, the world. As such it is not only the single most ambitious work by Manuel Valera, but certainly his most breathtaking performance.

Within the framework of The Seasons are seven other pieces of varying mood and scale. Not all of them are composed by Manuel Valera, but they all signify changing times in the life and times of the pianist. Valera has always seemed to lean into the idiom of Jazz as he sought to forge the distinctive of his own. In his idiosyncratic and exploratory style his music has become thematically more challenging and boldly expressive, slipping the Afro-Cuban mooring ever so gently with each new recording. At its heart his music will always retain that cultural topography but now Manuel Valera seems less beholden to inner clave. This ‘breaking free’ to express himself may lead him back to his roots at any time; who can tell? For now, however Valera is putting on another skin. And he does wear this one rather well.

There is an easy swing in all of the work on The Seasons. It is clear from the ever-so-spritely song, “Opening” that this music is going to demand the listener’s undivided attention. Turn away and you might miss something extraordinary. With characteristically expressive pianism, Manuel Valera reveals a profoundly thoughtful side to his music. “In the Eye of the Beholder”, for instance, is framed with rhapsodic harmonic and rhythmic elements around which the riveting expressiveness of the melody takes flight. “Tres Palabras”, the only Cuban song is at once dreamy, yet crisply modern, complex yet rich in space and silence. In dramatic contrast is movement IV of “The Seasons – Winter”, in which there is an almost unbearable, icy tenderness that leads, in turn, to “What is This Thing Called Love”, a perfect vehicle to set up the album finale, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”.

In solo performances there is absolutely no room for error and this is much the same with duos and trios. However, Manuel Valera has assembled two extraordinary virtuoso players: Hans Glawischnig on bass and E.J Strickland on drums. Both musicians deliver harmony and rhythm with relaxed grace and total lack of vanity; for they are musicians who just happen to play bass and drums respectively. And while both Glawischnig and Strickland are dazzling virtuosos they conjure tonal colours and expression through eye-popping articulation and deeply-felt emotion. It’s almost impossible to think how this performance would have sounded with other musicians on board and it is fortunate, indeed, that this is not the case.

Opening

In the Eye of the Beholder

Tres Palabras

Hopeful

In My Life

MOV I-Spring

MOV II- Summer

MOV III-Fall

MOV IV-Winter

What Is This Thing Called Love

Hallelujah

Manuel Valera: piano

Hans Glawischnig: acoustic bass

E.J. Strickland: drums