Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records recently released the third recording, From Now On, from guitarist and composer Oscar Peñas. Utilizing a multi-cultural band with members from the U.S., Japan and Argentina, Peñas delivers an album of music that he is very attached to, as it truly defines who he is as a Barcelona-born/Brooklyn-based composer and improviser. Paradoxically, Peñas feels that he had to be removed geographically from his native Spain to compose the music for From Now On. The recording is many things, but it is predominantly Peñas' personal and heartfelt reflection on his cultural heritage.Nylon string guitar was Peñas' first instrument and he uses it again here to great effect, incorporating a dexterous finger picking style from his formative classical training. This technique combines with hints of Iberian music and memories of flamenco, informing the compositions, but never pretending to be faithful to any particular style or palo (sub-genre of flamenco). This influence is most profound on the title track, "From Now On" (featuring Gil Goldstein and Franco Pinna), and also on Encuentro, the oldest composition on the album, from the late nineties.
Spanish music and contemporary jazz are not the only influences on Peñas'writing. Brazilian music was love at first sight for the guitarist, and remains a strong influence on his music. This infatuation is clearly evident when listening to "Choro n.1 (Guinga)"dedicated to the great guitarist/composer from Rio de Janeiro, and "Choro n.2 (Corpo)", a composition that Peñas wrote immediately after attending an outstanding dance performance at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) by the Brazilian Corpo Dance Company that blew his mind.
Argentinean music and Cuban filin are the other strong influences in Peñas'compositions for this album. Samuel Smith,named after a British beer, is his way to pay tribute to an "Argentinean mood", expressed in a recurrent ostinato. Julia, dedicated to the memory of Oscar's late cousin, is an optimistic kind of bolero that simply celebrates life.
Listening to the lyrical, solo-less, last track of the album, Adéu ("goodbye" in Catalan), one could never mistake where Oscar Peñas is from, and where he is now.
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