Gijon is a perky little city in
Asturias on the northern coast of
Spain.
It holds a
jazz festival every year and has quite a busy
jazz scene based
around a bar I've written about
previously called the
Cafe Alambique.
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| Carlos Pizarro © Alejandro Nafría |
| |
For me one of the highlights of the festival this year
was this gorgeous piece
by
local guitarist
Carlos Pizarro and his quartet. This live version of their own
Nana pa Mama seems to have a spacey ethereal atmosphere which is somewhat reminiscent of
Miles Davis'
In A Silent Way. It is brilliant to chill-out to after a stressing day at work. I love it and I've been listening to it all week. Like Miles' best work, it seems to transcend jazz and is just good music - whatever you want to call it.
Take a listen.
You could put that on after
In A Silent Way just to maintain the mood couldn't you? The band are
Carlos Pizarro - guitar,
Javier Rubio - Sax,
Horacio Garcia - Bass and
Felix Morales - Drums.
As I said, the above version of
Nana pa Mama was recorded at the
Jazz Festival but you can find the original on the quartet's new CD
La voz del árbol (The Voice of the Tree)
. For me the album version doesn't have the same tension and therefore isn't quite as hypnotic however the album is of a consistently high quality and really shows off some the excellent original
jazz on offer here in
Asturias.
Carlos has put some of the album on soundcloud and here is the album's opening track
Hasta Tu Ombligo Y Volver (To your navel and back).
Quite folk influenced, the above track seems to me to have a kind of late 60s
Pentangle feel about it at times. The album has a kind of autumnal melancholy and some of the tracks are based around ideas of age and growing old. All band members contributed there own compositions and it is definitely worth checking out the other tracks on Soundcloud. Support the musicians and buy it if you like it of course.
Nieve (Snow)
I've written before about some of the great jazz being played in
Gijon here and I've seen
Carlos Pizarro play at the
Cafe Alambique on a number of occasions now with a variety of line-ups. His playing is always considered and displays a precise and soulful economy. He's one of the most interesting musicians on the Asturian scene at the moment. Check out his website (in Spanish) here
http://www.carlospizarro.es/ for more.
Meanwhile, replay
Nana pa Mama and just chill...
Carlos Pizarro -
"Que la música no muera y el arte nos salve."
More on stranger than known
The Alambique - Jazz Finds a Home in Northern Spain
20 years of the Xixon Sound
Gregory Porter - The Gijon Jazz Festival
Medeski Martin and Wood - Gijon Jazz Festival
Asturias > Eight Miles High - Roger McGuinn
