Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Cuban Quartet - Antiguo (1997)

Artista: Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Cuban Quartet

Álbum: Antiguo
Año: 1997
Género: Latin jazz
Duración: 62:49
Nacionalidad: Cuba

Lista de Temas:
01. Opening
02. Circuito III
03. Ellioko (Yoruba word for "two")
04. Desierto
05. Intermitencia
06. Coral Negro
07. Circuito IV
08. Oddi Lobbe
09. Eshun Agwe (Yoruba word for "Party")
10. Homenaje
11. Closing

Alineación:
- Gonzalo Rubalcaba / piano & keyboards
- Reynaldo Melian / trumpet
- Felipe Cabrera / bass
- Julio Barreto / drums

Un regalito antes de que se termine el día, ya habíamos hablado algo de esta combinación de músicos, entre el Will Smith Rubalcaba y la Cuban Quartet, ahora la presentamos, identificando la sonoridad de lo latino y específicamente lo cubano en el jazz, sin lugar a dudas un género musical de mucha permeabilidad a otros ritmos y culturas a lo largo de su historia.
Si me pongo a escribir no lo publico hoy, así que se los dejo porque ya conocen de quién estamos hablando. Mañana tenemos más aportes de nuestros amigos que quiero presentar y sino me quedan muchas cosas por terminar de presentarles...
Así que estos son los primeros comentarios que encontré y vamos al disco.

One of the most important figures to emerge from Afro-Cuban jazz in the '90s, Gonzalo Rubalcaba is an extraordinarily versatile pianist able to blend disparate strands of Cuban and American jazz tradition into a fresh, modern whole.

allmusic.com

The problem with hype is that it raises your expectations too damn high.
Take Cuban pianist/composer Gonzalo Rubalcaba. Big-upped by Charlie Haden, world tours, five-star reviews. After the hype, albums and gigs, I still wasn't feeling him. Gonzalo's new CD, Antiguo, has flipped my script. An epically sprawling spirit-cosmic convergence of Afro-Cuban dance rhythms, Santeria ritual, '70s fusion, blues, and jazz, Antiguo is his long awaited, hype-promised masterpiece tracks composed/arranged/produced by Rubalcaba, shaded by his Cuban trio (Julio Barreto, drums; Felipe Cabrera, bass; Reynaldo Melian, trumpet), rainbow-ized by chanters, singers, blowers, and drummers, Antiguo rules. Whether living Weather Report's Amazon rain forest dreams to the fullest ("Circuito III"), praying and exalting the Orishas ("Ellioko" features Papa Lazaro Ros) or funky freestyling Arsenio Rodriguez ("Eshun Agwe"), Antiguo's cerebral and emotional vision is genius. This time hype is Truth. (Note to self: You were way wrong.)

Tom Terrell

The epitome of the conservatory-trained Cuban jazz musician, pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba has long been described with words like "prodigy" and "visionary." His impressionistic, Debussy-like playing strays widely from the popular Cuban music format, but always seems to return to its rhythmic birthplace. On "Antiguo", he is backed by fellow Cubans Julio Barreto on drums, Felipe Carrera on bass, and Reynaldo Melian on trumpet, but this Cuban Quartet functions more like a chamber ensemble than a dance band. The playing is as brisk and precisely angular as his previous efforts, but a special attention is paid to the Cuban spiritual psyche.
On tracks like "Circuito III," Circuito IV," and "Desierto," Rubalcaba leaps out of the melody at a frantic pace, favoring one of several Roland synthesizers, much as Chick Corea did in the '70s with Return to Forever. "Coral Negro" has a riveting ethereal quality augmented by the vocals of the classically trained Dominican singer Maridalia Hernandez. But "Antiguo" hits its most swinging strides on "Elioko" and "Eshun Agwe," driven by the trancelike rhythms of Yoruban spiritual dances and featuring appearances by Santeria patriarch Lazaro Ros and the legendary Puerto Rican percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo.
"Antiguo" was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Performance.

cduniverse.com