Gonzalo Rubalcaba/Aymée Nuviola: Viento y Tiempo – Live at Blue Note Tokyo
Author: John Fordham
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Gonzalo Rubalcaba (p) |
Label: |
Top Stop Music! |
Magazine Review Date: |
September/2020 |
Media Format: |
CD |
RecordDate: |
August 2019 |
Gonzalo Rubalcaba, the astonishing Cuban piano virtuoso whose balletic lightness of touch and awesome chordal power drive resources as packed with classical music as with Afro-Cuban rituals and dances, reconvened a childhood relationship with his country's incendiary vocal star Aymée Nuviola on this scorching Tokyo gig. From the off, Nuviola's own ‘Rumba Callejera’ instantly establishes the one-touch empathy with which she and Rubalcaba converse, and the teasing drama with which they repeatedly build casual openings to roaring finales. ‘El Guararey de Pastora’ is a staccato, stop-start theme that becomes a swaying call-and-response dance between Nuviola and her backing singers, the famous hook of ‘The Peanut Vendor (‘El Manisero’) is introduced in disarming trickles and whispers by the two leaders before unleashing a beautiful Rubalcaba solo of gliding runs, hypnotic looping figures and chord-punching drama, and the delicate ballad ‘El Ciego’ showcases both Nuviola's lyrical eloquence and the airy soprano sax sound of Yainer Horta. Quiet danzón sways mingle with a staccato Latin-jazz ensemble uproar reminiscent of Irakere, and the closing title track winds up to a melee of percussive piano, clamouring vocals, and galloping drumming. Rubalcaba has understandably remarked on his ‘joy, satisfaction, melancholy, and pride’ in this venture – he and the jubilantly spontaneous Aymée Nuviola could hardly have celebrated their country's musical past and present with more inventive passion.
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