Cuban-born pianist Miguel de Armas proudly releases What's
To Come, a debut album sure to expand his ever-widening audience. Long known as
a stalwart in Havana, de Armas has synthesized the musics of his homeland with
those from North America and Canada (where he now resides). It is an effortless
weave of influences, fulfilling the promise of his working quartet and
illuminating Miguel's mastery as an instrumentalist and group leader.
In 1988, Miguel was a graduate of the famed Instituto
Superior de Arte, proving himself a rhythm master devoted to the multitude of
sounds and influences surrounding Havana - rumbas, chants, the cadence of
street life. They served as the basis for his own musical ideas.
He became a founding member of N.G. La Banda, the group that
originated the Cuban salsa offshoot called timba. It proved successful, touring
Lincoln Center, Montreux, Northsea and other festivals around the world due, in
large part, to Miguel's innovations. He had defined an approach that utilized
both acoustic and synthesized keyboards, a sound subsequently adopted in the
development of Cuban music. That became his launching pad. Since then he has
collaborated with a Who's Who of legends and appeared on more than 60 albums.
Miguel´s style draws heavily from the rich contributions of
influential predecessors - among them, pianists Chucho Valdés, Emiliano
Salvador and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. They have enabled him to create a sound distinctively
his own.
Moreover, Miguel has become a musical activist from his new
home in Ottawa, Canada, producing shows, inviting collaborations, encouraging
stylistic partnerships that further his ideas and those of the greats who
walked before him.
What's To Come provides the evidence. It's reach is varied
and broad, encompassing elements of elegant danzón ("La Dama y el
Perro"); bossas (the title track);and '80s symphonic rock ("A Song
For My Little Son"). Special guests from Canada's musical community of
Cuban specialists include recent Grammy nominee Jane Bunnett, guitarist Elmer
Ferrer, trumpeter Alexis Baró, and bassist Roberto Riverón.
On this record, Miguel de Armas solidifies his place among
Cuba's most distinguished musicians. The region that birthed the likes of
Cachao, Omar Sosa, the multi-generational families of Valdés and O'Farrill, and
countless others, now applauds another forward-thinker, a native son.
Introducing Miguel de Armas.
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