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Diego AmadorPiano Jondo (World Village) $17.99 Flamenco piano? He calls it 'deep piano' and he pulls off the unlikely approach with passion and flair, giving a literal interpretation of the style, whether over-dubbed on several instruments or accompanied by Miguel Vargas on double bass, Luis Amador on percussion and Joaquín Grilo tapping and hand-clapping. Some of it is a bit mild, but there are a good number of firely tracks as well. All in all, and interesting experiment in flamenco jazz.
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Listen:
Comparito (bulerias)
Pilldoria (seguiriya)
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More info from the record label's press sheet: Before Diego Amador, the very idea of 'flamenco piano' was considered an oxymoron. However, under his expert fingers, the virtuoso pyrotechnics and quicksilver melodic-rhythmic shifts so typical of flamenco guitars have been re-imagined for the keyboard with no loss of fire and excitement; in fact he gains an added improvisatory dimension, an unexpected resonance and depth. The album title, which translates as 'deep piano,' hints at his close connection to cante jondo, (deep song): the oldest form of classic flamenco singing. Which is not to say that Amador, whether over-dubbed on several instruments or accompanied by his side-men (Miguel Vargas on double bass; Luis Amador on percussion; Joaquín Grilo tapping and hand-clapping), favors a literal interpretation of the genre. On the contrary: careful listeners may notice parallels with Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain, Paco de Lucia’s cross-cultural experiments and Tomatito's work with Latin pianist Michel Camilo. There are also nods to jazz players like Cecil Taylor and Bill Evans, free-jazz neo-classicist Keith Jarrett, plus echoes of the Caribbean and South America, and of the music of impressionist composers from France (Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel) and Spain (Manuel de Falla and Isaac Albéniz). Always drawn to experimentation, Amador will sometimes manipulate the piano’s strings directly inside the sound box and he closes the album with a spacious cover version of “Continuum,” a composition by the late electric-bass virtuoso Jaco Pastorius.
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