Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet - 10

[GA Russell]

Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet

Celebrates 10th Anniversary

With 5th CD "10,"

To Be Released by ZOHO Music

August 7

 

Special Guests Include Arturo O'Farrill,

Ron Carter, Russell Ferrante, Badal Roy

 

The New York City- & Lima-Based Ensemble Announces

Twice-Monthly Residency at the Zinc Bar

To Begin August 13, Through December

 

 

July 22, 2015

 

A decade of musical innovation by Gabriel Alegría's Afro-Peruvian Sextet is something to celebrate, and the ensemble marks this anniversary in glorious style with the release of 10, due for release August 7 by ZOHO Music. The program on the band's 5th CD is richly infused with Alegría's trademark synthesis of folkloric Afro-Peruvian rhythms, jazz, and other musical strains.

 

"It's a concept album," Alegría says. "For our 10th anniversary, we wanted to give special care to American and Peruvian standards. It all comes together in the arrangements in the Afro-Peruvian style. We've incorporated many guest artists, people who have helped us along the way. Most importantly, we've brought together jazz musicians with eminent Peruvian musicians, and we're the glue that holds it together."

 

The band's unique blend of deep scholarship and playfulness is evident throughout, with each piece serving as a statement about the delicate balance required to keep one foot in New York and one in Lima: "My Favorite Things," Juan Tizol's "Caravan," and Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman" set to a sensuous festejo rhythm; Joe Zawinul's "Birdland" performed as a tribute to the great Peruvian percussionist Alex Acuña, formerly of Weather Report; ingenious renditions of the American and Peruvian national anthems.

 

Guests including bass legend Ron Carter, Grammy Award-winning pianist Arturo O'Farrill, Yellowjackets keyboardist Russell Ferrante, and tabla expert and Miles Davis alumnus Badal Roy augment the sextet, half of whose players are based in Alegría's native Lima and half in New York City, where he is a Professor of Jazz Studies at New York University.

 

 

Freddy "Huevito" Lobatón, a founding member of the sextet, is a master of Afro-Peruvian percussion who grounds the band in the folkloric textures of the box-like cajón, the cajita, and the quijada (made from the jaw bone of an ass). Drummer Hugo Alcázar, also a founding member, incorporates the cajón into his drum kit's polyrhythmic feel, while American-born drummer Shirazette Tinnin gracefully navigates the predominantly 12/8 beats. Alegría shares the front line with tenor saxophonist Laura Andrea Leguía, a tremendously expressive player who helped found the band. Peruvian criollo guitarist Yuri Juárez provides expertly calibrated rhythmic support and telegraphic solos. In New York, bass duties are shared by two veteran masters, Puerto Rican-born John Benitez and Nigerian-American Essiet Essiet.

Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet

Celebrates 10th Anniversary

With 5th CD "10,"

To Be Released by ZOHO Music

August 7

 

Special Guests Include Arturo O'Farrill,

Ron Carter, Russell Ferrante, Badal Roy

 

The New York City- & Lima-Based Ensemble Announces

Twice-Monthly Residency at the Zinc Bar

To Begin August 13, Through December

 

 

July 22, 2015

 

A decade of musical innovation by Gabriel Alegría's Afro-Peruvian Sextet is something to celebrate, and the ensemble marks this anniversary in glorious style with the release of 10, due for release August 7 by ZOHO Music. The program on the band's 5th CD is richly infused with Alegría's trademark synthesis of folkloric Afro-Peruvian rhythms, jazz, and other musical strains.

 

"It's a concept album," Alegría says. "For our 10th anniversary, we wanted to give special care to American and Peruvian standards. It all comes together in the arrangements in the Afro-Peruvian style. We've incorporated many guest artists, people who have helped us along the way. Most importantly, we've brought together jazz musicians with eminent Peruvian musicians, and we're the glue that holds it together."

 

The band's unique blend of deep scholarship and playfulness is evident throughout, with each piece serving as a statement about the delicate balance required to keep one foot in New York and one in Lima: "My Favorite Things," Juan Tizol's "Caravan," and Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman" set to a sensuous festejo rhythm; Joe Zawinul's "Birdland" performed as a tribute to the great Peruvian percussionist Alex Acuña, formerly of Weather Report; ingenious renditions of the American and Peruvian national anthems.

 

Guests including bass legend Ron Carter, Grammy Award-winning pianist Arturo O'Farrill, Yellowjackets keyboardist Russell Ferrante, and tabla expert and Miles Davis alumnus Badal Roy augment the sextet, half of whose players are based in Alegría's native Lima and half in New York City, where he is a Professor of Jazz Studies at New York University.

 

 

Freddy "Huevito" Lobatón, a founding member of the sextet, is a master of Afro-Peruvian percussion who grounds the band in the folkloric textures of the box-like cajón, the cajita, and the quijada (made from the jaw bone of an ass). Drummer Hugo Alcázar, also a founding member, incorporates the cajón into his drum kit's polyrhythmic feel, while American-born drummer Shirazette Tinnin gracefully navigates the predominantly 12/8 beats. Alegría shares the front line with tenor saxophonist Laura Andrea Leguía, a tremendously expressive player who helped found the band. Peruvian criollo guitarist Yuri Juárez provides expertly calibrated rhythmic support and telegraphic solos. In New York, bass duties are shared by two veteran masters, Puerto Rican-born John Benitez and Nigerian-American Essiet Essiet.

 

Web Site: gabrielalegria.com 

Follow:  

Like:  

View:  

[GA Russell]

This came out Friday, and I see that it is already up on Spotify.