latin jazz piano

[reidmc]

Three of our favorite Minnesota musicians, by way of Cuba, Ethiopia and Detroit City, USA. Don't miss the tune at 2:33

 

[video:youtube]

 

[Josh Paxton]

Nachito is friggin' incredible. I had the opportunity to hang with him a bit when Cubanismo was recording in New Orleans years ago, and he was a great guy, generous with his time and knowledge. MPLS is lucky to have him.

[Dave Pierce]

Ummm. Yeah.

 

I think I should just quit playing now? Yeah. That's it.

 

Amazing stuff!

 

--Dave

[Tuggy]

You're not alone Dave, I've just quit playing too

Incredible chops there.

[Meisenhower]

Bad ass playing all around! Kevin Washington is also a killer cat on the kit!

[cnegrad]

Smokin!

[Bobadohshe]

Sick chops! Reminds me of Chucho. Sounds great.

[Bobadohshe]

...And that tune at 2:33 is stooopid! His feel is awesome. Love how he picks the cowbell stick up right when he starts his gliss.

[MalH]

Am I the only one left a bit cold by this? A bit like early Gonzalo Rubalcaba - in need of maturity to tame the chops. I love what such technique can lead to though.

[cnegrad]

It's the nature of the idiom. It's just like asking why rock guitars are loud...

[Dave Ferris]

Am I the only one left a bit cold by this?

 

No......

[MonksDream]

Am I the only one left a bit cold by this?

Nope, lots of flash and not much feel. Great chops though.

[cnegrad]

Maybe a lifetime of playing endless montunos pushes a Latin player towards a more mechanical result, if they're not aware of it?

[kanker.]

Maybe a lifetime of playing endless montunos pushes a Latin player towards a more mechanical result, if they're not aware of it?

Thing is, a proper montuno has a SICK groove to it

[cnegrad]

Maybe a lifetime of playing endless montunos pushes a Latin player towards a more mechanical result, if they're not aware of it?

Thing is, a proper montuno has a SICK groove to it

True dat. But I wonder if the "sick groove" is more a function of the push-and-pull of multiple players than any one player on his own.

[Michelle ggurl]

It's not the nature of the idiom. There are plenty of Latin-piano players, who play Latin jazz, and who also have a fabulous feel.

 

Chucho Valdes - flashy, but deep musicality at the same time. Also his dad, Bebo.

 

Eddie Palmieri - quirky, and somewhat inconsistent. Associated with salsa too, but a very important figure in Latin jazz.

 

Michel Camilo - Dominican pianist with a great sense of jazz and happening band, always. Often does stuff in trio format, so very much an inspiration to me.

 

Otmaro Ruiz - Plays beutifully.

 

And a friend of mine, expert Latin musicologist who in my mind, is all about feel: Rebeca Mauleon.

 

Search for audio or video clips on any of these cats. See if any or all are more to your liking. FWIW I am not a big fan of Gonzalo ... I respect his chops deeply, but his music just doesn't find its way in my playlist for heavy rotation like some of these other players' music does.

 

EDIT: Also, what I heard here so far is nice, I like it. It doesn't leave me cold, so maybe for those of you who don't like it, perhaps you just aren't a fan of Latin jazz. I hear more Michel Camilo, and Chucho than anything else, so far, as influence. Still, it's a sum of parts, so maybe you will find something you like in the artists I mentioned above. The intro solo has a lot of typical idiomatic soloing devices. It's heavy on percussion; piano playing in this idiom is very percussive.

[ProfD]

First, this is just another example of cats flying without a net. No backing tracks.

 

Also, I seriously doubt they employed tricks of the trade i.e. post editing to piece that performance together.

 

Cats are very much capable of playing live music at a high level. Excellent chops all of them.

[Michelle ggurl]

Also, I seriously doubt they employed tricks of the trade i.e. post editing to piece that performance together.

 

Is that a reference to my phrase "idiomatic devices"? If so, to clarify, I'm not talking about technological wizardry in post-production. I'm talking about the player's style of improvising with licks, phrases, both melodic and rhythmic, that are common in piano solos in Latin jazz piano. I use the word "device" because the player isn't necessarily playing someone else's lick, note for note. But he is using stylings that are recognizable as coming from an amalgam of players. He is speaking the language, in other words.

[ProfD]

Also, I seriously doubt they employed tricks of the trade i.e. post editing to piece that performance together.

 

Is that a reference to my phrase "idiomatic devices"? If so, to clarify, I'm not talking about technological wizardry in post-production. I'm talking about the player's style of improvising with licks, phrases, both melodic and rhythmic, that are common in piano solos in Latin jazz piano. I use the word "device" because the player isn't necessarily playing someone else's lick, note for note. But he is using stylings that are recognizable as coming from an amalgam of players. He is speaking the language, in other words.

No Michelle. That comment ties back to the 'Backing Tracks... No Mistakes Allowed' thread.

[Michelle ggurl]

Oh, OK, cool, LOL. I was wondering if I was starting to talk gibberish no one understands. I'll settle for speaking gibberish that IS understood.

[Dave Ferris]

 

Michel Camilo - Dominican pianist with a great sense of jazz and happening band, always. Often does stuff in trio format, so very much an inspiration to me.

 

Otmaro Ruiz - Plays beutifully.

 

Otmaro is a long time friend. I love and respect his playing and writing.

 

I also like MC a lot too. I tend to gravitate towards his later recordings, his touch seems more refined. His early stuff was a little frantic at times for me, maybe too fushiony.

 

This fellow Nachito is obviously an amazing piano player. I just don't care too much for his touch and again that kinda frantic, too on top of the beat/time feel of the whole trio. I'm having a harder time these days with electric bass as well.

[marino]

Otmaro is a long time friend. I love and respect his playing and writing.

Hi Dave - say hello to Otmaro from me if you see him! I've met him here in Rome, where he played an out-of-this-world concert with Bob Sheppard. With Latin fire and stunning virtuosity, but also phrasing, musicality, expression.

To my ears, the latter qualities are a bit lacking in the video - but of course these are great musicians. Probably, like Gonzalo, they need a few years to bring their musicality at the same level of their instrumental skills.

And yeah, for the little I've played latin jazz, I find that playing *always* in two-bar patterns could condition your feel for improvisation. Also, the percussionists do everything in their power to throw you out of time! So it's understandable that one could develop a 'competitive' attitude.

But - then again - these are great performers. It's a pleasure to listen to them... just not for long periods of time.

 

 

[Dave Ferris]

Otmaro is a long time friend. I love and respect his playing and writing.

Hi Dave - say hello to Otmaro from me if you see him! I've met him here in Rome, where he played an out-of-this-world concert with Bob Sheppard. .

 

 

So I guess everyone else was busy and he had to settle with Bob....oh well

 

Seriously, as I've written before here, Bob's probably the greatest musician I've ever had the privilege to play with.

 

Next time I see Otmaro I will say hi Carlo.

[Joe Muscara]

And a friend of mine, expert Latin musicologist who in my mind, is all about feel: Rebeca Mauleon.

Ah! Thanks to another thread here, I recently found out that she literally wrote the book on this stuff. Cool that you know her. I hope to learn this kind of music once I get to it, you know? Unfortunately, it's just more stuff on the list to learn, though.

[yannis D]

Great chops, time to quit playing the piano!

Jokes aside, this guy has a tremendous technique, but he's too much into it - maybe he will become more "musical" with time, forget about his chops and built a little more his performance.

BTW when i saw Rubalcaba, more than 15 years ago, he seemed to play more to the abstract kind of ultra modern jazz than anything else (or too flashy). You could understand that he had great chops, but at the same time he was more into the compositional aspect of the performance. Apparently he made a great leap from his previous virtouosic years.

[yannis D]

...BTW, Herrera played Rachmaninoff 2nd at age 12...His technique and hand position is very much similar to a classical virtouoso - in the jazz world i've only seen this in Hiromi, Michel Camillo and very few others... Very impressive.

[MonksDream]

GG - I don't think coldness is in the nature of the idiom at all! In fact, quite the opposite. I love Latin / Afro-Cuban piano! That wonderful sense of time always gets me going, even here. Latin players never forget the piano IS a percussion instrument, and the style is the better for it. Nachito impresses me but I don't hear anything different enough from those others you mention to make me seek out more of his stuff.

 

BTW - Have you ever heard Elmer Ferrer? I worked a few of his shows in '09 and he blew me away!

[marino]

...BTW, Herrera played Rachmaninoff 2nd at age 12...

:freak:

 

 

[Michelle ggurl]

GG - I don't think coldness is in the nature of the idiom at all! In fact, quite the opposite. I love Latin / Afro-Cuban piano! That wonderful sense of time always gets me going, even here. Latin players never forget the piano IS a percussion instrument, and the style is the better for it. Nachito impresses me but I don't hear anything different enough from those others you mention to make me seek out more of his stuff.

 

BTW - Have you ever heard Elmer Ferrer? I worked a few of his shows in '09 and he blew me away!

 

Right on, glad you feel that way ... Yeah, the name Elmer Ferrer sounds vaguely familiar ... but can't place any music in my memory with that name. I'll have to research and refresh. And I agree with your assessment of Nachito. Impressive, but I hear his influences more than I hear a unique personality. However, this is a short clip and it's hard to get a true sense of an artist with that brevity, I think. In such circumstances, I think artists tend to come off as either derivative but conforming to idiom, or unique but their credibility doesn't necessarily come through ... rather, it could sound like they don't "know their subject matter." I wonder what people would think of Eddie Palmieri or Thelonious Monk if they only took a 2-minute playing snippet off of YouTube to decide whether they like that artist and whether that artist conforms to the listener's idea of what music in the given genre should be. It's an interesting thought.

 

Dave, very cool that you know Otmaro! Yes, I do love his playing. I'd say tell him "hi" for me too, but that wouldn't matter because he doesn't know me.

[Josh Paxton]

ItAnd a friend of mine, expert Latin musicologist who in my mind, is all about feel: Rebeca Mauleon.

 

I've only heard a little of her playing, but from what I've heard, I dig the hell out of her. The first time I heard her "Descarga En Faux" was one of those literally jaw-dropping musical moments... one of the baddest grooves ever. And her books are great resources as well. Props to your friend!