{"id":321983,"date":"2025-04-29T18:53:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T22:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=321983"},"modified":"2025-04-29T21:32:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T01:32:40","slug":"ten-albums-to-celebrate-international-jazz-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/culture\/music-culture\/ten-albums-to-celebrate-international-jazz-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten albums to celebrate International Jazz Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost three months after the <\/span>40th edition of the Jazz Plaza International Festival<\/b><\/a> and on the eve of International Jazz Day on April 30, Havana still seems bathed in the free winds of this versatile genre.<\/span><\/p>\n

From those days and nights, we are left with the aftertaste of Afro-Cuban jazz, timba, and traditional Cuban music rhythms, blended with blues, soul, and folk sounds from different latitudes\u2014a myriad of emotions renewed with each jazz improvisation. And, of course, thanks to the album and the music of the authors contained therein, the journey never ends.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is something confessional about listening to an album. Note by note, song by song, we build an emotional edifice that can collapse on the third track or stand strong, sturdy, for the rest of our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Any analysis that attempts to portray Jazz Plaza\u2019s past may prove insufficient, as 40 years of shared creation make it difficult to accurately summarize, although some presences are unavoidable.<\/span><\/p>\n

What can best tell what that was like are the valuable recordings. If you want to know what the most recent edition of the jazz festival in Cuba sounded like, you only have to turn to them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Grande-Terre<\/i><\/b>. Roy Hargrove\u2019s Crisol (2024)<\/b><\/h3>\n

This album is a sensational discovery for any jazz lover. <\/span>Roy Hargrove<\/span><\/a> passed away in 2018, at the age of 49. He left behind a colossal body of work as a trumpeter and composer; however, it is said that he didn\u2019t leave much on record.<\/span><\/p>\n

His intense creative work was recognized with <\/span>two Grammy Awards<\/span><\/a>, and we are still learning about new releases today. An example of this is this material, recorded in 1998 and released in late 2024. His widow and the foundation she heads, <\/span>Hargrove Legacy<\/span><\/a>, have been instrumental in this endeavor, rescuing and assessing unreleased material and extracting big band arrangements from the notes and recordings left by the notable musician.<\/span><\/p>\n

It turns out that after winning his first Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Performance with <\/span>Habana<\/span><\/i> \u2014 this album was the result of the trumpeter\u2019s first visit to the Cuban capital in 1996 and <\/span>his meeting with Chucho Vald\u00e9s<\/span><\/a>, a prelude to several collaborations between the two \u2014 Hargrove proposed to the members of his Crisol that they record a new album during a trip to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.<\/span><\/p>\n

He asked each of them to write two arrangements, and with that, they went into the studio. This is what <\/span>Gabriel Hern\u00e1ndez<\/b><\/a>, who joined that Crisol to replace Chucho and played with Roy Hargrove for a decade, told me during the days of Jazz Plaza 40. \u201cYou listen to this album and travel back in time; it\u2019s wonderful,\u201d the renowned Cuban pianist, who has lived in Mexico for more than 30 years, assured me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Grande-Terre<\/span><\/i> (Verve Records, 2024) is a one-hour journey. Roy Hargrove\u2019s trumpet shines with its unmistakable tone, accompanied by a troupe of excellent artists, both Cuban and American. \u201cRhumba Roy,\u201d by Gabriel Hern\u00e1ndez, opens the door to this album of marked Afro-Cuban influence, imbued with bebop and naturalness.<\/span><\/p>\n

From the ballad \u201cAnother Time\u201d to his clear look at the mother continent with \u201cEthiopia,\u201d or the savory flavor unleashed in <\/span>Cedar Walton<\/span><\/a>\u2019s \u201cAfreaka,\u201d the album inhabits emotional spaces that contemporary jazz has been able to portray in its sounds and the power of percussion. Cuban legend Jos\u00e9 Luis Quintana \u201cChanguito\u201d can be heard as part of the ensemble.<\/span><\/p>\n

Roy Hargrove sings \u201cLake Danse\u201d and \u201cKamala\u2019s Dance\u201d (dedicated to his daughter, born that same year) and closes with his \u201cPriorities,\u201d amidst Abaku\u00e1 chants and in a musical trance of excellence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Completing the roster are Sherman Irby on alto sax, Gerald Cannon on bass, Willie Jones III and Julio Barreto on drums, Ed Cherry on guitar, and Larry Willis on piano; Jacques Schwarz-Bart on tenor sax, and Frank Lacy on trumpet.<\/span><\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know why it took so long for this material to see the light of day or why its author never published it during his lifetime. The truth is, according to Hargrove Legacy, the trumpeter lived in an intense creative frenzy, between jamming, studio work, and diverse experiences surrounding jazz. Everything seems to indicate that there is more to be discovered about Roy Hargrove and the influence of Afro-Cuban sounds in his compositional work. This album is a testament to that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Album cover.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Drums La Habana<\/i><\/b>. Oliver Vald\u00e9s and Rodney Barreto (2010)<\/b><\/h3>\n

Formed in the heat of jamming at Jazz Plaza from a very young age, Oliver Vald\u00e9s and Rodney Barreto proved themselves to be top-notch drummers. From this CD\/DVD, their debut album together, they showed the public that they wouldn\u2019t settle for a limited space in music. They wanted to explore, to go beyond, everything their talent and experience could allow.<\/span><\/p>\n

Drums La Habana<\/span><\/i> (Bis Music, 2010) was a fine introduction, and we celebrated its 15th anniversary during the recently concluded Cuban Jazz Festival. Clearly, time has not passed for nothing, and it has broadened the musical discourse of both performers, imbuing them with undeniable versatility. They reissued the same concert contained in this album, which was released fifteen years ago, and demonstrated that their creative dialogue is solid, collaborative, natural, and enriching.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From the outset, Vald\u00e9s and Barreto tell us they\u2019re writing their own story: you just have to get into the game, feel that sound produced by the typing of the typewriters from which they are able to create music.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then the creation takes place, the party begins. First, Oliver and Rodney, face to face, in a percussion interview, an appetizer for the extravaganza that will follow.<\/span><\/p>\n

Oliver Vald\u00e9s chooses a quintet to showcase his creations, and Rodney Barreto prefers to move between trio and quartet \u2014 on the DVD \u2014 along with friends who come and go on stage, such as Robertico Carcass\u00e9s and Tony Rodr\u00edguez on piano, Carlos Miyares on saxophone, Juan Carlos Mar\u00edn \u201cEl trombon\u00f3n de Santa Amalia,\u201d and Yandy Mart\u00ednez on bass.<\/span><\/p>\n

Between \u201cLatin Twins\u201d and a cover of <\/span>Jaco Pastorius<\/span><\/a>\u2019s \u201cHavona,\u201d this album is a celebration of friendship.<\/span><\/p>\n