Harold Lopez-Nussa’s El Viaje is a jazz album that blends the blues-based piano licks of artists like Thelonious Monk with a rhythm and horn section clearly influenced and informed by Cuban music, and the result is a record that’s altogether surprising and yet accessible, energetic in its occasional outbursts from a resplendent horn section, and still meditative enough to allow the keys (which, strictly speaking, are the star of the show here) to shine among an environment that’s all Latin horns and an infectiously hyperactive rhythm section.
It’s a perfect mix of more structured American jazz influences, like the Davis-flavored trumpet that rings out during the eponymous track, balancing and giving weight to an otherwise gently optimistic track.
Tracks like “Inspiracion en Connecticut” are an odd little meeting of the worlds, as a straight blues backing piano and four-on-the-floor rock drum kit give backing to an ambitiously escalating piano melody that continuously elevates the track’s momentum.
If you want a record that’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that done right, this one’s for you.
