Mista Savona – Havana Meets Kingston

Havana Meets Kingston
Title: Havana Meets Kingston

Artist: Mista Savona

Label: VP

Formats: CD, LP, MP3

Release date: November 3, 2017

 

 

As title states, Havana Meets Kingston is an album that highlights the intersection and cultural exchange of musical practices between the islands of Cuba and Jamaica. The artists present new renditions of classic Jamaican and Cuban songs such as “Chan Chan,” “El Cuarto De Tule,” “Candela,” “Vibracion Positive” (Positive Vibration), “Row Fisherman Row,” and “100 Pounds of Collie” while fusing reggae and dancehall together with the son Cubano.

Producer Mista Savona brings together an extraordinary cast of Cuban and Jamaican musicians consisting of members from the Buena Vista Social Club (Barbarito Torres and Rolando Luna), the Afro-Cuban All Stars (Félix Baloy), Los Van Van (Changuito), Septeto Nacional Ignacio Piñeiros (Eugenio “El Raspa” Rodríquez), the Heptones (Leroy Sibbles), and major artists such as Prince Alla, Earl “Chinna” Smith, Sizzla, and many others.

Opening with “Chan Chan,” the listener is treated to an astounding interpretation which begins similarly to the original recording, before morphing into a reggae groove layered over the son rhythm. On “El Cuarto De Tula” we experience the meeting of Havana and Kingston through the blending of this Cuban song with Jamaican dancehall, and the contemporary vocal styles of Maikel Ante, El Medico, and Turbulence.

This album marks the beginning of this collaboration between Jamaican and Cuban artists, who have done a magnificent job in fusing musical traditions with contemporary culture. Another album is planned, as well as a feature length documentary.

Havana Meets Kingston is a must buy for anyone interested in Caribbean music, and more specifically the musical exchange between these two islands.

Reviewed by Jamaal Baptiste

 

Ilú Keké – Transmisión en la Eritá Meta

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Album: Transmisión en la Eritá Meta

Artist:  Ilú Keké

Label: Music Works NYC

Release date: August 10, 2017

Formats: CD, MP3

 

 

Ethnomusicologist Amanda Villepastour and Cuban producer Luis Bran have teamed up to bring the story of multi-generational religious drums, Ilú Keké, to a global audience. The 21-track album, titled Transmisión en la Eritá Meta, is a rich introduction to Yorùbá deity traditions conducted in the diasporic setting of Cidra. Resulting from the witnessed reminisces of the late Justiliano Pelladito, this musical project took both Villepastour and Bran on an iconic journey to uncover the history of Ilú Keké, one of the oldest remaining bàtá sets in the Matanzas region of Cuba.

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The musicality of the album is captivating, even to the novice. Detailed liner notes guide listeners through each selection, providing the history and purpose in addition to key visual images. Locations in and around Cidra feature as prominent backdrops for each track, adding to the presentation’s depth of cultural offering. Drifting between gritty field recordings and pristine studio production, Ilú Keké’s deep-rooted spiritual meaning is captured through powerful drumming that transmits sacred knowledge from the elders to following generations. Transmisión en la Eritá Meta ensures that Ilú Keké takes its rightful place in Cuba’s history of bàtá drumming.

Reviewed by Amy Aiyegbusi

 

 

 

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis – Live in Cuba

lincoln center jazz orchestra live in cuba._AA160_

Title: Live in Cuba

Artist: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

Label: Blue Engine Records

Formats: CD, MP3

Release date: August 21, 2015

 

It is perhaps Dizzy Gillespie who is most often credited with introducing Cuban influences into the mainstream jazz repertoire, in large part through his signature Afro-Cuban tunes such as “A Night in Tunisia,” “Manteca,” and “Things to Come.”  An energetic version of the last of these is included on Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s latest release Live in Cuba, and perhaps best exemplifies the aim of this particular release from the house band at Lincoln Center, an institution that benefited greatly from Gillespie’s involvement at its inception, even naming their signature nightclub “Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola.”  The first release by Blue Engine records, Lincoln Center’s in-house label, the 2-disc set Live in Cuba calls attention to the relationships between jazz and Cuban music and documents an historic set of concerts made possible by President Obama’s easing of travel restrictions between the US and Cuba.

This set contains both new compositions as well as recordings of tunes by household names in jazz, including Gillespie and Duke Ellington.  Several numbers beg listeners’ close attention, including “2/3’s Adventure,” composed and arranged by the orchestra’s bassist Carlos Henriquez and which alternates between Afro-Cuban rhythms and medium-up swing, showcasing the skills of pianist Dan Nimmer, trumpeter Marcus Printup, and Henriquez as they blow at various moments throughout the course of the complex arrangement, which features several shout choruses and abrupt changes in the song’s rhythmic propulsion.  Drummer Ali Jackson’s beautiful arrangement of the Latin standard “Como Fue” is also included, with legendary Cuban pianist and singer Bobby Carcasses leading the band on vocals.  Another highlight of this 2-disc set is “Limbo Jazz,” a medium-tempo number by Duke Ellington, featuring trumpeter Ryan Kisor providing muted trumpet punctuation and a laid-back solo on the Latin-tinged number, and a bebop-inflected solo by baritone saxophonist Joe Temperley.

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Live in Cuba is a compelling document of the loosening of trade restrictions between Cuba and the US, as well as a compelling case study of the continuing vitality of Afro-Cuban jazz.  The wealth and quality of the arrangements on these discs are certainly up to the high standards of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and this album is a thoroughly enjoyable set by one of the top big bands in the world.

Listen on Spotify here.

Reviewed by Matthew Alley

Singin’ Sepia

Title: Singin’ Sepia
Artists: Tania León, comp.; Various performers
Label: Bridge Records
Catalog No.: 9231
Release date: March 4, 2008

If one had to use a single word word to describe Tania León’s music it would have to be “movement”: movement found in the tempo and rhythmic figures, movement between musical lines, and movement between contrasting timbres and textures. Movement is a salient feature in the works presented in Singin’ Sepia, an accurate representation of León’s compositional style and pallet. As a young musician in Cuba, León listened to traditional and popular dance music, and collaborated with popular music and jazz performers and composers such as Paquito D’Rivera. After moving to New York City she started her professional career in the U.S., working with dance companies and co-founding the Dance Theater of Harlem. Thus it comes as no surprise that movement is such an important feature in her works.

One should not, however, expect to hear replicas of Cuban clave and guguanco patterns, or quotes of jazz and soul melodies in León’s music. León extracts the essence from these musical traditions and uses this essence as part of her compositional pallet, which includes atonality, pointillist techniques, interlocking rhythms, ostinati, extended instrumental and vocal techniques, and electro-acoustic elements. León mixes the familiar with the unfamiliar, meeting and exceeding the listener’s expectations. Due to the variety of compositional techniques and styles León’s music defies categorization, and she would not have it any other way. As mentioned by Jason Stanyek in the accompanying liner notes, “avoiding reductive categorizations has become León’s trademark.” Her stance on categories and labels extends from her works to her personal life and background, refusing to be labeled Afro-Cuban, Cuban-American, or any other hyphenated term. In León’s words, she is a citizen of the world, and she is inspired by diverse musical cultures.

León’s works are also the result of the dialogue between composer and performer. Most were commissioned by a performer or an ensemble, so León created these works with specific performers in mind. In fact, three of the six pieces recorded for this album were recorded by the artists who commissioned them (“Bailarín,” “Singin’ Sepia,” and “Axon”). Her style appeals to performers of new music from diverse backgrounds, such as David Starobin (guitarist and executive producer of Bridge Records), Tony Arnold (soprano), and Mari Kimura (electro-acoustic music composer and violinist).

The title work of the album, Singin’ Sepia, also shows León’s penchant for working with texts by contemporary poets, in this case Rita Dove. The work is a set of five songs for soprano, violin, clarinet and four-hand piano. León’s writing for each instrument (including the voice) consists of both idiomatic and extended techniques, producing five virtuosic parts that need to be perfectly synchronized in order to convey the contrasts between stillness and movement, and the interlocking rhythmic figures that create subtle, evanescent moments of groove. The performance offered in the album goes beyond presenting and achieving these moments, and delivers a nuanced and emotional rendition of León’s work.

Those of us familiar with León’s compositions will also find delight in her use of pre-recorded materials in “Axon,” for violin and interactive computer. In this work she quotes sections from “Batey” and “A la par” to construct the soundtrack with which violinist Mari Kimura (who commissioned the work) interacts.

Singin’ Sepia shows León’s flexibility and ability to compose for a variety of performing forces, ensembles and combination of instruments (“Horizons” was written for a full orchestra, while “Satiné” was written for two pianists), therefore the listener should not expect continuity in performing forces from piece to piece. The album is a sample of León’s style, which would be difficult to present in concert to a live audience. However, the idea of movement, whether it is actual movement, its anticipation or interruption, cuts across all of the works presented in the album, and every piece is characterized by her ample use of a wide variety of musical styles and compositional techniques.

Posted by Marysol Quevedo