Catalan
guitarist, composer and bandleader Oscar Peñas´ fourth album and second release
in the United States, Music of Departures and Returns, includes a Brazilian
choro and a tribute to flamenco master Paco de Lucia; a jazz standard and a
classic from the Cuban Nueva Trova songbook; and music by the great Catalonian
composer Frederic Mompou. Yet this is neither a music sampler nor a showcase of
Peñas´ talents in different settings and styles.
"This
is more or less who I am. I'm not trying to push boundaries, prove anything or
show off in any way," explains Peñas. "It's a collection of pieces,
some mine, some by other composers that I have always admired, that I felt had
a common mood, a certain sound that reflects my personality and where I come
from."
Music of
Departures and Returns features his quartet, comprised of his long-standing
rhythm section featuring six-string electric bassist Moto Fukushima, drummer
Richie Barshay, and violinist Sara Caswell. The band is augmented by special
guests such as bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding, reedman Paquito D'Rivera
and pianist, producer and arranger Gil Goldstein who appears on accordion.
Born in
Barcelona, Peñas began his career in music studying classical guitar as a
child. He graduated with honors from Berklee College of Music and later earned
a Masters Degree in Jazz Performance from New England Conservatory before
settling Brooklyn. He arrived at his musical discoveries step by step.
"I
started to explore jazz a bit out of boredom. As a teenager (and still is the
case) it was more appealing to me to pick up my own melodies within a style and
interact with other musicians than spend hours of solitude trying to perfect a
technical dexterity and devote my youth to learn a repertoire by others. Discoveries
and interests come sometimes erratically... listening to Pat Metheny's Letter
from Home or Wayne Shorter's Native Dancer you end up coming across Toninho
Horta, Gismonti or Milton [Nascimento] and their music opens doors to a sea of
possibilities, that's how I
learned about chore.
"I
didn't study choro, but listened to a lot of them and love
Pixinguinha and Guinga. If you ask a purist, maybe he won't approve of the form
or the harmonies of 'Paquito's Choro,'
but this is my unpretentious take on it."
As for
the recording of the track, which demands a virtuoso performance by the
clarinetist, Peñas recalls that at the end of the recording, the irrepressible
D´Rivera, a superior player and an excellent reader, quipped, "I don´t
know if you wrote this for me or against me."
Being
from Barcelona, many would expect a strong flamenco influence and some sort of
flamenco-jazz fusion in Peñas' music. He did include a flamenco-tinged piece in
his previous album, but he says, while he "grew up with the sound of
flamenco around, I never sat down to analyze it or study it. Mine is not an
academic approach. I'm no expert. I just let it seduce me and wash over
me."
In
"Paco," his tribute to guitarist Paco de Lucia, who has marked a
before and after in modern flamenco, Peñas features violin and electric guitar,
and the 6/8 rhythm evokes the feel of flamenco but again, from a personal
perspective, never attempting to mimic or make an explicit reference to De
Lucia´s playing.
But in
Music of Departures and Returns Peñas features other composer´s songs for the
first time in his recorded work and the choices often speak to personal
experiences. Such is the case for "Rabo de Nube," a standard from the
Cuban Nueva Trova songbook. At home, as a child, Peñas remembers hearing
singer/songwriters "more than anything else including classical music,
jazz or pop -- and that's how I'm familiar with [Cuban singer songwriter] Silvio
Rodríguez," he explains. "I love 'Rabo de Nube,' and it's a tune that
has been played in jazz by Charles Lloyd, Charlie Haden and Danilo Pérez among
others." Featuring Spalding's delicate but expressive singing, Peñas
approaches the song with a driving energy and at a faster pace than usual.
"The
Everyday Struggle," showcasing Caswell's violin and Goldstein's accordion,
speaks to his fascination with tango, hinting at the genre´s Vieja Guardia (Old
Guard) sound and the old European take, adding jazz-style improvisation, still
something unusual in tango. Peñas knew the music of Argentine New Tango master
Astor Piazzolla, but while at Berklee he met a bandoneón player who taught him
a lot about the music's history and other players.
As for
"Canço No 6," by Frederic Mompou, a Catalonian 20th century composer,
not only does Peñas know his music well but he remembers being a little kid and
"hearing a bit of a piece by Mompou as a theme for the TV news." But
approaching Mompou (1893-1987) was no easy decision. "I was a bit hesitant
because not long ago there was big celebration of Mompou and there were a lot
of things done with and about his music. But finally I decided to close the
album with it -- but without any soloing. We discussed opening [the piece] up
for improvisations and finally we decided it was just beautiful as is and we
just had to play the melody as it's written. So we tweaked a few things but I
believe we respected Mompou's spirit."
As for
incorporating all these influences, "there was never a grand plan,"
he says. "I've been finding music and what I liked, I researched it and
add it to my music. I was not born here and I did not grow up here. I like
these different styles as much or more than bebop. Settling in NYC was a kind
of wake-up call as I realized that in order to break through in the most
vibrant scene on the planet I had to be honest and that meant digging into my
own culture to find a personal voice."
Upcoming
Oscar Peñas Tour Dates:
March 28
/ The Side Door / Old Lyme, CT
April 18
/ BAMcafé / Brooklyn, NY
November
7 / Strathmore / Bethesda, MD
Oscar
Peñas · Music of Departures and Returns · Release Date: April 15, 2014
