AVATAR - GONZALO RUBALCAB
Cuban-born pianist/ composer Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s follow-up to the Latin jazz Grammy Award-winning “Supernova” finds him working in a quintet setting with Marcus Gilmore, Matt Brewer, Yosvany Terry and Mike Rodriguez. These seven tunes share an impressionistic vibe within frameworks that suggest a good deal of improvisational latitude. “Peace” is a sustained meditation between Rubalcaba and Brewer (acoustic bass) that soothes the ear and hooks the imagination in a most appealing fashion. “This Is It,” at 12 minutes-plus, unfolds at a moderate tempo while affording the ensemble a vehicle for solos that offer a terrific variety of sonic textures. Rubalcaba has gone more postmodern than Latin with “Avatar,” and it’s a praiseworthy project.
