Solo (Gonzalo Rubalcaba album)

Last updated

Solo
Solo - Gonzalo Rubalcaba.jpg
Studio album by
Gonzalo Rubalcaba
ReleasedMarch 7, 2006 (2006-03-07)
Genre Cuban jazz
Length55:04
Label Blue Note
Producer Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Gonzalo Rubalcaba chronology
Paseo
(2004)		Solo
(2006)		Avatar
(2008)

Solo is a studio album by Cuban jazz performer Gonzalo Rubalcaba. It was released by Blue Note Records on March 7, 2006, and peaked at number 22 in the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart. The album is titled Solo since no additional performers were included on the recording as in Rubalcaba's previous albums.

Contents

Also produced by Rubalcaba, Solo was released following his second collaborative work with Charlie Haden on the album Land of the Sun , which resulted in a Grammy Award for Haden. The album includes fifteen tracks and met with mostly positive reviews by critics, most commenting on the ability of the performer and the simplicity of the arrangements. The album was nominated for a Billboard Latin Music Award, and won the Latin Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album.

Background and release

Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba recorded Solo following his collaboration with Charlie Haden on Land of the Sun , an album featuring songs written by Mexican composer José Sabre Marroquin and arranged by Rubalcaba, a sequel to Nocturne (2001), another collaboration between them. [1] Haden and Rubalcaba were awarded the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album for both albums. [2] [3] [4] Solo was the first solo album (not featuring guest musicians) released by the performer in twenty years. [5] Rubalcaba described this album as an "aural diary, an album of secrets, letters and notes, and photos." [6] The album was released by Blue Note Records on March 7, 2006. [7] [8]

Content

Solo includes fifteen tracks, some previously released. [5] [9] Recording sessions took place from November 8 to 10, 2005, at The Hit Factory and Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida. [6] [10] There are four improvised tracks inspired by John Coltrane's Giant Steps : "Paseo Iluminado", "Paseo en Media Luz", "Paseo Azul", and "Paseo Morado". [9] "Iluminado (Improv #1)", according to Roberto R. Calder of PopMatters , has "stock phrasing, but a pause in concentration before the sublime quality of a one-minute lullaby worth waiting for"; "Media Luz (Improv #2)" "hints at jazz with concert-room sonorities and a striking ending"; [11] "Azul (Improv #3)" "proceeds with more consistent direction than its two predecessors" and becomes a hymn"; [11] and "Morado (Improv #4)" "develops into long linear passages for each hand." [11] "Faro" is a track with "a simple ostinato bass, a transition section and a loud climax." [11] The opening track, "Rezo", is an interlude inspired by the work of French composer Claude Debussy and American performer Duke Ellington, and is "based on Afro-Cuban melodies sung during Santería rites." [5] [11] [12] "Silencio" is a tribute to Cuban boleros. [5] [11] "Prologo (Prologue to a Fantasy)" features a "congenial intellectual playfulness alternating between something like Spanish piano music of a century ago, and the dance-hall." [11] "Bésame Mucho" was first included on the 1991 album The Blessing, Rubalcaba's first recording to be issued in the United States, and the version was named by Scott Yanow of AllMusic a "highlight" of the album, including accompaniment from Haden on bass guitar and drummer Jack DeJohnette. [13] A reworked version is included on Solo, and is described as having an "intensely meditative character and slow deliberation," and "a more complex higher level of communication" than the original version. [5] [11] [14] "Here's That Rainy Day" is a jazz ballad, recorded earlier for the album Inner Voyage, with an arrangement described as "breathtaking" by Ken Dryden of Allmusic. [11] [15] The first version of "Quasar" can be found on Paseo (2004); [16] and the version included on Solo is described as "seven minutes of drama," by Calder of PopMatters, with "a sprawling, improv-heavy composition that runs Rubalcaba up and down the keyboard." [11] [17]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
All About Jazz [18] (mixed)
AllMusic [7] Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg
Jazz Houston [9] (positive)
JazzTimes [19] (positive)
Jazz Review [17] Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg
Pop Matters [11] (8/10)
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings [20] Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg

Solo received mostly positive reviews from critics. Andrew Liengard of Jazz Houston stated that Rubalcaba played "at once a pyrotechnical and thunderous two-handed assault, he also demonstrates a profound awareness of space and dynamics," and finally called the album "stunning". [9] Joey Guerra of Amazon said that Solo "finds Rubalcaba soaring on the strength of his own talent", creating a "unique experience." [5] Website AllMusic stated that the album is a spellbinding collection of improvisations with "remarkable stylistic display." [7] Harvey Siders of JazzTimes commented that the album did not need elaborate arrangements, being a "spontaneous inner dialogue from a brilliant inquisitive mind" and that on Solo "elegance trumps excitement." [19] PopMatters' Robert R. Calder stated that the record was "a very remarkable solo piano recital." [11] David Miller of All About Jazz gave the album a mixed review, being critical of the entertainment value, stating that the performer "is more introspective than ever, frequently using silence as his means of expression. The only problem is, it doesn't necessarily work." Miller also suggested that "Rubalcaba should develop his ideas in more conventional settings. He still has time to become a great solo artist, and this writer has every confidence that he will." [18] In a separate review, Jim Santella, also of All About Jazz, praised Solo, commenting that Rubalcaba "finds space in his exploratory interpretation for dreamy soliloquies, but the excitement is all there, and it's powerful. The pianist makes us wait for this moment, and it's always worth the anticipation. Ultimately he lights an inspiring fire." [21] Mark Corroto, in a third review of the album by All About Jazz, compared Rubalcaba's work to fellow Cuban artist Bebo Valdés, asseverating that both performers "blurred the lines between jazz, classical and folk, easily convincing you there need be no distinction." [14] Timothy Sprinkle of Jazz Review declared that the performer "carries the disc with a light, breezy ease that's surprising, especially given all of the slow selections." [17]

Solo peaked at number 22 in the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart and was nominated for "Latin Jazz Album of the Year" at the 18th Annual Billboard Latin Music Awards, losing to Around the City by Eliane Elias. [7] [22] Rubalcaba earned the Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album at the 7th Latin Grammy Awards for Solo. [23]

Track listing

The track listing is from AllMusic. All tracks written and composed by Gonzalo Rubalcaba, except "Nightfall" by Charlie Haden; "Bésame Mucho" by Consuelo Velázquez; and "Here's That Rainy Day" by Johnny Burke and James Van Heusen. [7]

No.TitleLength
1."Rezo"1:37
2."Quasar"6:48
3."Silencio"3:40
4."Paseo Iluminado (Improv #1)"3:26
5."Canción para Dormir en el Sillón"1:05
6."Paseo en Media Luz (Improv #2)"2:57
7."Canción de Cuna del Niño Negro"2:44
8."Faro"3:38
9."Paseo Azul (Improv #3)"2:42
10."Sueño de Muñecas"1:36
11."Paseo Morado (Improv #4)"2:27
12."Prologo (Prologue to a Fantasy)"7:05
13."Here's That Rainy Day"5:37
14."Nightfall"5:12
15."Bésame Mucho"4:13
Total length:55:04

Personnel

This information is adapted from AllMusic. [7]

Related Research Articles

Charlie Haden American double bassist

Charles Edward Haden was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than 50 years. In the late 1950s, he was an original member of the ground-breaking Ornette Coleman Quartet.

Michel Camilo Dominican pianist and composer

Michel Camilo is a Grammy-award winning pianist and composer from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He specializes in jazz, Latin and classical piano work. Camilo lists some of his main influences as Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, and Art Tatum.

Gonzalo Rubalcaba

Gonzalo Rubalcaba is an Afro-Cuban jazz pianist and composer.

Lionel Loueke

Lionel Loueke is a guitarist and vocalist born in Benin. He moved to Ivory Coast in 1990 to study at the National Institute of Art.

Ignacio Berroa is a jazz drummer.

Escats

Escats is a band from Costa Rica and it is composed of three members: Luis Alonso Naranjo, Kin Rivera Jr. and Felipe Contreras

<i>Land of the Sun</i> (album) 2004 studio album by Charlie Haden

Land of the Sun is an album by American jazz musician Charlie Haden. In 2005, the album won Haden the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album.

<i>Nocturne</i> (Charlie Haden album) 2001 studio album by Charlie Haden

Nocturne is an album by American jazz musician Charlie Haden, released through Universal/Polygram in 2001. In 2002, the album won Haden the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album.

<i>The Gathering</i> (Caribbean Jazz Project album) 2002 studio album by Caribbean Jazz Project

The Gathering is the title of a studio album released by the Caribbean Jazz Project on June 11, 2002. Dave Samuels, Dave Valentin and Paquito D'Rivera are the main performers on the album, which was awarded with a Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album.

The Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz/Jazz Album is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists in the United States and internationally. The award has been given to artists since the 1st Latin Grammy Awards in 2000 for vocal or instrumental albums containing more than half of its playing time of newly recorded material in Spanish or Portuguese. Latin jazz is a mixture of musical genres, including Afro-Caribbean and Pan-American rhythms with the harmonic structure of jazz. Other jazz genres may also be considered for inclusion by the Jazz Committee.

<i>Nearness of You: The Ballad Book</i> 2001 studio album by Michael Brecker

Nearness of You: The Ballad Book is the seventh studio album of saxophone player Michael Brecker. Accompanied by Herbie Hancock on piano, Pat Metheny on guitars, Charlie Haden on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and a special guest appearance by James Taylor, the album was released by Verve Records on June 19, 2001.

<i>The Montreal Tapes: with Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Paul Motian</i> 1997 live album by Charlie Haden

The Montreal Tapes: with Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Paul Motian is a live album by the American jazz bassist Charlie Haden with pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba and drummer Paul Motian recorded in 1989 and released on the Verve label.

<i>Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody</i> 2011 studio album by Al Di Meola

Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody is an album by Italian-American jazz fusion and Latin jazz guitarist Al Di Meola, released in 2011.

<i>Tropicana Nights</i> 1999 studio album by Paquito DRivera

Tropicana Nights is a studio album released by the Cuban jazz performer Paquito D'Rivera on November 11, 2008. The album earned D'Rivera the Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album in 2000.

<i>Supernova</i> (Gonzalo Rubalcaba Trio album) 2001 studio album by Gonzalo Rubalcaba Trio

Supernova is a studio album by The Gonzalo Rubalcaba Trio released by Blue Note Records on July 17, 2001. The trio consisted of Gonzalo Rubalcaba on piano, bassist Carlos Henriguez, and drummer Ignacio Berroa. It peaked at number 25 in the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart.

Suite Caminos is an album by Gonzalo Rubalcaba. It earned Rubalcaba a Grammy Award nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album. The album contains "an eight-section recitative scored for alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, trumpet, guitar, bass and drums, a coro of Miami-based Yoruba practitioners, and [... Rubalcaba] on piano, synths and organ."

This is the discography for American jazz musician Charlie Haden.

Ruth Cameron is an American record producer and jazz vocalist.

<i>Tokyo Adagio</i> 2015 live album by Charlie Haden and Gonzalo Rubalcaba

Tokyo Adagio is a live album by bassist Charlie Haden and pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba recorded in 2005 at the Blue Note Jazz Club in Tokyo and released on the Impulse! label in 2015 shortly after Haden's death.

Marcus Gilmore American drummer (born 1986)

Marcus Gilmore is an American drummer. In 2009, New York Times critic Ben Ratliff included Gilmore in his list of drummers who are "finding new ways to look at the drum set, and at jazz itself", saying, "he created that pleasant citywide buzz when someone new and special blows through New York clubs and jam sessions".

References

  1. ↑ Gelly, Dave (October 24, 2004). "Charlie Haden, Land of the Sun". The Observer . Guardian News and Media Limited . Retrieved April 17, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  2. ↑ McDermott, Tricia (February 18, 2009). "2005 Grammy Award Winners". CBS News . CBS Interactive Inc . Retrieved April 17, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  3. ↑ "Charlie Haden "Land of the sun" featuring Gonzalo Rubalcaba". Festival International de Jazz de Montréal . Retrieved April 17, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  4. ↑ Garza, Oscar (July 27, 2002). "It's Haden Versus Rubalcaba, Round 2, at Latin Grammys". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved April 17, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Guerra, Joey (November 22, 2011). "Solo — Gonzalo Rubalcaba". Amazon . Retrieved April 19, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  6. 1 2 Solo — Gonzalo Rubalcaba (CD liner notes). Blue Note Records. 2005.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Solo — Gonzalo Rubalcaba". Allmusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved April 16, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  8. ↑ "Gonzalo Rubalcaba - Solo Audio CD". CD Universe. 2006. Retrieved April 19, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  9. 1 2 3 4 Liengard, Andrew (November 27, 2006). "REVIEW: Gonzalo Rubalcaba 'Solo'". Jazz Houston. Retrieved April 16, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  10. ↑ "Gonzalo Rubalcaba – Solo". Discogs. 2006. Retrieved April 19, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Calder, Roberto R. (March 8, 2006). "Gonzalo Rubalcaba: Solo". PopMatters . Retrieved April 20, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  12. ↑ Ratliff, Ben (June 29, 2006). "Gonzalo Rubalcaba's Jazz, Played in a Club but Suited for a Concert Hall". The New York Times . Retrieved April 20, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  13. ↑ Yanow, Scott. "The Blessing — Gonzalo Rubalcaba". Allmusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved April 16, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  14. 1 2 Corroto, Mark (March 6, 2006). "Gonzalo Rubalcaba: Solo (2006)". Jazz Houston. Retrieved April 20, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  15. ↑ Dryden, Ken. "Inner Voyage — Gonzalo Rubalcaba". Allmusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved April 16, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  16. ↑ Jurek, Thom. "Paseo — Gonzalo Rubalcaba". Allmusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved April 16, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  17. 1 2 3 Sprinkle, Timothy. "Gonzalo Rubalcaba Solo". Jazz Review . Retrieved April 20, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  18. 1 2 Miller, David (March 11, 2006). "Gonzalo Rubalcaba: Solo (2006)". Jazz Houston. Retrieved April 20, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  19. 1 2 Siders, Harvey (April 2006). "Gonzalo Rubalcaba Solo". JazzTimes. Madavor Media. Retrieved April 19, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  20. ↑ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1246. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  21. ↑ Santella, Jim (March 4, 2006). "Gonzalo Rubalcaba: Solo (2006)". Jazz Houston. Retrieved April 20, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  22. ↑ "2007 Billboard Latin Music Awards Finalists". Billboard . Prometheus Global Media. 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  23. ↑ "Latin Grammy awards Thursday". USA Today . Gannett Company. November 3, 2006. Retrieved April 20, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.