Photos by Andrea Canter
 "With unbridled freedom, he jams with potent montunos and high-energy timba to solos that can melt snow off the sidewalk." -- Jesse "Chuy" Varela, Latin Beat Magazine
Most
Twin Cities' jazz fans are already familiar with the blistering Cuban
piano grooves of Nachito Herrera. Since his arrival in Minnesota four
years ago, Herrera has been wowing audiences, students, and fellow
musicians with monster technique, bottomless energy, and infectious
enthusiasm for his homeland and its eclectic rhythms. His live
recording with his first local band, Puro Cubano, generated a lot of
hot ink, prompting City Pages critic Britt Robson to note
that "the fact that a magnificent, south-of-the-border pianist like
Herrera purposefully transplanted himself to our frozen tundra was the
best local music news of 2002. And Live at the Dakota is proof of that
fact." In the past two years, Herrera has joined forces with a group
of master Afro-Cuban musicians currently working throughout the U.S.
but who converge periodically for a "Cuban All Stars" gig at the Dakota
in downtown Minneapolis. After churning up local stages, Nachito and company took their
sizzling groove into the studio, and the result—Bembé en mi Casa (FS Music)—is poised for national release on September 6th.
Nachito
How did this phenomenon of rhumba,
son, and bolero end up in the American northland? As a child prodigy,
Nachito Herrera studied classical music in Havana with Cuban masters
Rubén González, Jorge Gomez Labrańa, and Frank Fernández. He went
on to serve as music director for several bands before leading
Cubanismo! His travels to the US caught the eye of potential sponsors,
including the Dakota's Lowell Pickett, and with some wrangling with
state department redtape, this amazing musician found himself in
Minnesota. Soon Puro Cubano was born and in high demand throughout the
Twin Cities, even landing a gig at the famed Birdland in New York City. During the 2005 Hot Summer Jazz Festival, Nachito opened for Chick Corea at Minnesota Orchestra Hall, and was recently nominated as Best Latin Artist and Best Pianist/Keyboardist for 2005 by the Minnesota Music Academy.
With the release of Bembé en mi Casa,
Nachito Herrera reinforces the accolades that have swirled around him
since his arrival, proclaiming him, in the words of critic Tom
Surowicz, "hotter than the burning tip of a contraband Cuban cigar...
stronger than a straight shot of Havana rum....and tastier than a big
platter of black beans, rice, sweet plantains and ropa vieja."
The Recording
Bembé
features a host of celebrated Cuban musicians. In addition to Herrera,
the band includes Raúl Pińeda on trap drums, Jesús Díaz on vocals and
percussion, Adalberto Lara on trumpet, Nardy Castellini on saxophone,
Victor Rodríguez on electric bass, Rigoberto López on acoustic bass,
and (then)14-year-old Mirdalys Herrera on vocals.
Some of the most comprehensive liner notes I've ever read accompany Bembé
(loosely translated as a party in celebration of Cuba and its Orichas,
or spirits), and describe the project (in English and Spanish) as a
sampling of "Cuban rhythms mixed with jazz; a show of spiritual force
and musical talent; a demonstration of the pride within Cuban music..."
Further, each track is described (in both languages) in terms of style
and source of inspiration. Overall, Herrera notes that this fusion of
Cuba's traditional music and dance forms with classical/European styles
is largely carried out on the keyboard—while the right hand provides
the classical voicings, the left hand engages in the montuno and clavé
that define Afro-Cuban rhythms.
The resulting mélange of Bembé en mi Casa
is a rich tapestry of traditional Cuban music, presented in the context
of modern post bop, stunning and playful from the opening original
"Song in F." Described as jazz/Cuban fusion, the CD's longest track
exudes brassy, big band energy, with modern lines from sax and trumpet
and bubbling percussion. The keyboard montuno evolves into a more
lyrical sequence that deconstructs into a Latino post bop vamp riding
on Herrera's strength and endurance, heavy-handed chords, and rippling
flourishes. As Herrera notes, "one actually feels the tumbaos and
montunos of the piano." Castellini's solo is worthy of the best of
modern-day tenors, while the percussion section is crispy and bouncy,
with a groove somewhat reminiscent of the percussive foundation of
Tizol's "Caravan. And this is only the first track.
 The
rest of the recording is testament to the wide range of rhythms and
tempos indigenous to Cuba while incorporating elements of Africa and
European classicism. Herrera's "Nacho's Pilon" is party music in the
best sense, featuring swinging vocals and pounding clavé that invite
dancing. Nardi Castellini's "Big News" is post bop modern over Latin
grooved percussion. Castellini has a fat, robust tone that can sing
even while dancing through arpeggio figures; Herrera's solo develops
from an almost Evanesque improvisation, gaining complexity as it picks
up speed before settling into a montuno laid over percussion vamps
that twist and turn, the repeated piano figures building tension that
prompts a response in brass.
"Nostalgia," another original
Herrera composition, is a modern bolero that reminds us that Nachito
has lyrical chops, as does Castellini, whose beautiful soprano lines
wrap around a meandering melody. The acoustic bass (Rigoberto López)
adds significantly to the depth of this romantic ballad, an ideal
complement to the sax. In his liner notes, Herrera describes what we
can hear and smell and taste as we listen: "my country, family and the
ocean...people on their balcony wearing their straw hats, the horses
and the oxen, the smell of sweet sugar cane, tobacco, Havana Club Rum,
the beautiful sunsets and the dawn." The title track is
appropriately a family affair, a collaboration between Herrera and wife
Aurora González. This piece or at least some riffs will be familiar to
those who have attended Herrera's local gigs. The combination of Díaz'
vocals, the congas and timbales, along with electric bass, make this
one bubble up and simmer—as a party getting underway. Herrera
establishes a bright montuno in partnership with bassist Rodríguez, his
solo displaying his trademark majestic, two-fisted chords and slides
across the keyboard. But it is the percussion section that makes this
one crackle and pop. Trumpeter Lara gets his moment in the sun in the
closing bars.
"Capullito De Aleli" (arranged by Herrera, based
on the work of Rafael Hernandez) is a guaracha, a lively dance in which
the pianist's tour de force solo infuses classical elements -
Rachmaninoff in Havana? All his chops seem on display
simultaneously—speed, power, melodicism, arpeggios spanning the entire
keyboard, shifting rhythms as if morphing from one dance form to
another. "Llegaron Los Millionarios" (Herrera's arrangement based on
the music of Antonio Arcano) is a danzón with distinctly European
influences, including the overture from Tchaikovksy's "Nutcracker"; the
background strings (courtesy of the Minneapolis Philharmonic Orchestra)
add a regal quality—one can imagine a company of ballerinas on stage.
But the clavé is ever-present, and the "stage" is clearly a Cuban
thoroughfare.
"Guaguanco Para Ochún," composed by Jesus
Díaz, highlights the percussion team and Diaz' vocals in a traditional
call and response form, while trumpeter Lara struts his high register
artistry. "Potpourri de Cha-Cha-Chá" provides another opportunity for
Lara to show off his facility in the trumpet's upper register, and the
piece is infused with big band energy—can you not tap your
feet to this track? "Estás en mi Corazón" (based on the work of Ernesto
Lecuona) is an orchestral bolero, the brass providing energetic support
for Herrera's melodic piano. "Ritmo Caliente" (based on the work of
Mercedita Valdez) closes out the recording as an appropriate finale to
a grand party, and features the effective vocals of young Mirdalys
Herrera, a singer of far greater maturity than her mere fourteen years.
The Bembé
Bembé en si Casa
was released locally last February at the Dakota,
with the Cuban All-Stars on stage, so hot that they challenged the
Dakota's "no smoking" policy. Now set for national distribution, Nachito and the Bembe Band will be on the road, starting out in the Midwest at the Latin Music Festival in Milwaukee (September 17) and the World Music Fest in Chicago (September 18).Where
classical structures merge with native Cuban rhythms, where dexterity
and fluidity merge with passion and joy, this is the intersection that
is home to Nachito Herrera.
Bembé en mi Casa is available at www.CD Baby.com. For more information about Nachito Herrera, see www.nachito.net.
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Thursday, 23 May 2013
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