Written by Jim Eigo:
jim@jazzpromoservices.com
Gonzalo Rubalcaba – FÉ … Faith
5 Passion 5P-005
Street Date June 1, 2011
FÉ … Faith, the premiere release from Gonzalo Rubalcaba on
his newly founded independent 5Passion label, marks an important milestone in the
career of one of contemporary music's most compelling artists. Boasting an imposing
discography of more than 25 critically acclaimed albums as a leader (including a
dozen choice dates for Blue Note) featuring the virtuoso pianist in the company
of some of modern music's best players, it is Rubalcaba's distinctive keyboard work
that is the consistent hallmark of his prodigious talent. On FÉ … Faith
his incomparable sound, pristinely recorded and mastered, comes to the fore
in the creation of a truly impressive solo outing.
Guided by a long abiding faith in the Creator that has persistently informed his
life, Rubalcaba has produced a masterful work that is simultaneously introspective
and universal in its expression of his mind, heart and soul. His profound belief
"that we are all one, one with each other and one with God regardless of what we
call Him or Her" significantly informs his approach to music, which seeks to expunge
the divisions between the jazz, classical and popular genres that are essentially
the product of ultimately inconsequential labels. Drawing upon a wealth of musical
experiences that includes conservatory training in his native Cuba and countless
appearances on festival stages throughout the world, Rubalcaba here makes music
of intense beauty that knows no earthly constraints in its desire to reach a diversity
of people.
The fifteen tracks on FÉ … Faith clearly demonstrate Rubalcaba's musical
process, one in which the simple and the intricate are of equivalent importance
to the deliverance of his message. The opening "Derivado 1" serves as a stirring
ambient prelude to the music that follows, revealing the pianist's vibrant sound
within a terse improvisation stemming from a fragment of the composition that follows
– his "Maferefun Iya Lodde Me." On the Lucumi language titled song (praise
be to the orisha Ochun) the pianist thoughtfully develops the lyrical rhythmiccadence
of the sanctified three bata drum ensemble that is at the center of the sacred music
of the Cuban Santeria religion. The spiritual character of thepiece is evident in
the meditative mood that remains constant throughout its harmonic evolution.
Rubalcaba pays homage to John Coltrane with his bright "Improvisation 2 (based
on Coltrane)." Utilizing the chord changes of tenor master's "Giant Steps" as
a starting point, he runs through a gamut of rhythmic, harmonic and melodic variations
that demonstrate his virtuoso technique while revealing a perceptive insight into
the expansive nature of the oft-celebrated song, allowing him to summon myriad emotions
from its familiar notes.
"Derivado 2" is a second, longer sound piece derived from a reharmonized
fragment of "Maferefun Iya Lodde Me." Rubalcaba's intensely controlled sense of
touch and his masterful command of the piano's pedals are on full display here as
he utilizes silence, space and overtones to create an otherworldly atmosphere.
Rubalcaba pays tribute to mentor Dizzy Gillespie on "Con Alma 1," the first
of two readings of the trumpet master's classic song that the pianist first played
as a duo with its composer in concert in Cuba in 1985. Opening with ominously dark
rhythmic chords in the piano's lower register, he promptly moves to instrument's
middle to thoughtfully investigate the familiar melody, in accordance with its title's
English meaning, "with soul."
"Preludio Corto # 2 (Tu amor era Falso)" by the 20th Century
Cuban composer Alejandro Garcia Carturla, hearkens back to Rubalcaba's early conservatory
training. Carturla, considered to be (along with and his contemporary Amadeo Roldán)
one of the progenitors of modern Cuban symphonic music, eschewed the division between
art music and popular music and often utilized indigenous AfroCuban rhythms in his
pieces, thus making him an important lasting influence on Rubalcaba, who performs
his predecessor's progressive composition with appropriately reverent modernity.
Rubalcaba calls Miles Davis and Bill Evans' "Blue In Green" simply "an amazing
piece of music." On the first of two interpretations of the masterpiece, the pianist
mines the melodicism of its modal structure to articulate a variety of moods, from
pensive to lively, as he modulates his touch and tempo.
"Oro" by Rubalcaba is one of the date's brightest highlights. Like "Maferefun
Iya Lodde Me" it is inspired by the character of Santeria music and the rhythmic
complexity of the bata drum ensemble. Here the pianist utilizes complex counterpoint
as a principal aspect of the piece, in which the carefully designed phrases based
upon the familiar melodic line that is initially played, are through composed (not
improvised), in a manner that brings together both his classical training and native
Cuban musical heritage.
The date's centerpiece is a triptych of sorts; a sequence of three pieces dedicated
to each to Rubalcaba's two daughters and one son. The opening "Joan" -- the
date's longest piece -- begins with a simple childlike melody that flows beautifully
through a panoply of approaches, at times recalling both BillieHoliday and Bach,
with compelling pianistics that interpolate the history of jazz piano. Composed
for Rubalcaba's one son, "Joao" is lyrical outing unexpected stop time pauses,
at once jovial and suspenseful. The pianist's consummate skill at resolving complementary-opposing
right and left hand lines is heard to good effect on this familial dedication that
at times recalls the Great American Songbook work of Gershwin and Porter. "Yolanda
Anas" begins with a simple melodic line akin to a nursery rhyme that mimics
a child's dance, and then develops a more serious tone, seamlessly moving between
the two moods in a multidimensional manner.
Reprises of the three earlier played jazz classics follow. On "Blue In Green
2" Rubalcaba delves even deeper into the immortal Davis/Evans, gradually moving
from the spacious brooding atmosphere of his earlier interpretation to a livelier,
more fluidarticulation of the melancholic theme. "Con Alma 3" opens with
a shorter, but similarly dark (yet distinctively different) rhythmic introduction,
before the statement of the melodic themethat the pianist has played countless times
over the past twenty five years. His thorough familiarity with the Gillespie classic
allows him the freedom to take the piece to any place he desires without ever losing
sight of its beautiful essence, including in this case, an a surprisingly abrupt
finish. Rubalcaba attacks "Improvisation 1 (based on Coltrane)" with a verbose
Tatumesque virtuosity, spilling out notes all over the "Giant Steps" chordds with
rapid rhythmic ferocity and then concluding the piece with a striding piano that
reflects the influence of Coltrane pianist McCoy Tyner.
The closing "Derivado 3" is perhaps the most melodious of the three variations
of a theme from "Maferefun Iya Lodde Me." Here Rubalcaba's romanticism comes
to the fore in a fitting finish to an album filled with beauty.
Gonzalo Rubalcaba states with understandable optimism and pride, "It is my
vision that 5Passion will one day be known as a record label affording artists a
friendly environment in which to record their visionary music, without compromising
their integrity for commercial consideration and constraining them from realizing
their potential in all aspects of their professional lives." With the label's inaugural
release of his FÉ … Faith it has already accomplished just that and
with it a prophesy of more great things to come.
Artist Website: http://www.g-rubalcaba.com/
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