Articles by Gabriel Medina Arenas
Stanton Moore Goes Indie
by Gabriel Medina Arenas
Drummer Stanton Moore is one of the prodigal sons of jny: New Orleans. His fans know him well from projects like Galactic, Garage a Trois and Dragon Smoke, which prodigiously fuse rock, jazz and funk. Moore, whose musical career spans nearly 25 years, is also an educator and has released several instructional books and DVDs. However, he had never recorded a jazz-only album. Before taking that step, he immersed himself in the jazz world, and played ...
read moreMagos Herrera: Rebirth in New York
by Gabriel Medina Arenas
New York City became the new jazz mecca during the 1920s, when many top jazz musicians from jny: Chicago and the rest of the U.S. migrated to the Big Apple. Jazz musicians from around the globe moved there every decade, knowing New York has some of the top jazz venues in the world, a dozen jazz festivals, and numerous jazz record labels. Competition is tremendous, but The City of Dreams" remains the best place for a jazz musician to gain ...
read moreMário Franco Trio: Our Door
by Gabriel Medina Arenas
Our Door, the debut album from the Mário Franco Trio, is lush with nostalgia and camaraderie, but also creates a vibrant breath of fresh air, offering hope for the present and future states of Portuguese jazz. These gifted musicians met at the end of the 80's in Lisbon's Hot Clube de Portugal, one of the oldest jazz clubs in Europe. As emerging players, they learned the unique syncopated genre there, since it is also a music school, where ...
read moreEnrico Pieranunzi, Marc Johnson, Joey Baron: Play Morricone 1 & 2
by Gabriel Medina Arenas
Film lovers all over the world recognize Ennio Morricone as one of the best score composers of all time. His music has been used in more than 500 movies and TV shows. About 60 of them have won Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTA awards and other honors. Enrico Pieranunzi, Marc Johnson and Joey Baron started a trio in 1984 and one of their most interesting projects has been to create and record jazz arrangements for some of Ennio Morricone's ...
read moreAbdullah Ibrahim: Mukashi (Once upon a time)
by Gabriel Medina Arenas
Japan and South Africa were never so close. The acclaimed pianist and flautist Abdullah Ibrahim fused the Asian zen calmness with stories and inspiration from his native homeland in his latest album Mukashi. Mukashi translates in Japanese as Once upon a time" is a very appropriate title considering Ibrahim's impressive storytelling skills, as well as the visual evocations of the record. Krotoa" is one of the most interesting tracks of the album and it is split ...
read moreSteve Cardenas: Melody in a Dream
by Gabriel Medina Arenas
Melody in a Dream is a humble tribute to Steve Cardenas' mentors and music heroes. The Kansas City guitarist who moved to New York City in 1995 pays his respects to figures like late piano genius Thelonius Monk, avant-garde drummer Joey Baron(who is his sideman in this album), the deceased drummer Paul Motian and pianist Horace Silver. This is the fourth Cardenas solo album, who was a member of Paul Motian Electric Bebop Band for several years, as ...
read moreArmen Donelian: Sayat-Nova: Songs of my Ancestors
by Gabriel Medina Arenas
The sound of his piano evokes treasured sounds from a small and hidden mountainous country full of cultural richness and history in the heart of Eurasia. On his thirteenth solo album, the New Yorker veteran musician Armen Donelian paid a homage to Armenia, the homeland of his forefathers. Donelian, a classically trained pianist who played and recorded with legends like Mongo Santamaria, Sonny Rollins, Chet Baker and Paquito D' Rivera, titled his latest record Sayat-Nova: Songs ...
read moreRoberto Fonseca: The worthy heir of Afro-Cuban Jazz
by Gabriel Medina Arenas
Success didn't knock on his door by random luck. Roberto Fonseca has worked hard to earn his reputation as one of the most renowned and skillful Cuban jazz pianists of his generation. The 38 year-old musician started playing drums when he was four years old and played at the International Jazz Festival of Havana when he was 15. Fonseca began his solo career when he was 24 and to date he has released seven studio albums and one ...
read moreClovis Nicolas: Nine Stories
by Gabriel Medina Arenas
Ron Carter's judgment regarding the talent of a fellow double bassist can't be wrong. The acclaimed musician, who has recorded more than 2,500 albums and was a fundamental member of the Miles Davis Quintet, highly praises the sound and compositions of Clovis Nicolas. Carter wrote the liner notes to Nicolas' Nine Stories, the first solo album from a young but experienced double bassist born in the Ivory Coast, who earned a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Music ...
read morePamela Hines: Hall Sings Hines
by Gabriel Medina Arenas
Feminine sensitivity, creativity and a strong desire to enjoy playing jazz is felt in the newly released album by Pamela Hines. She is a musician, raised in Boston, who studied with George Russell and obtained a Masters degree in music from the New England Conservatory. The dancing fingers of this pianist have a mixture of experience and freshness that is not common this days. Bebop, Latin rhythms, ballads, and the blues mix harmonically in this work composed ...
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