Arts & Entertainment

Trio brings island jazz to Menil

By Chris Goodier
The Daily Cougar

Guests attending Monday and Tuesday nightsi performance by the piano-driven Gonzalo Rubalcaba Trio didnit receive the straightforward blissfulness of Caribbean classics by Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente or Mongo Santamaria. Instead, patrons of the Da Camera Society heard a smattering of island reditions with modern jazz slant. 

Appropriately set against a Menil Gallery backdrop, the bandis ability to improvise and adapt was tested throughout the 90-minute show.

The audience probably didnit expect the band to place an emphasis on American free-jazz. During traditional American rumbas, the triois music seemed to rise from defiant rebellion. Later in the set, each member took stabs at distorting standard procedure.

Listening to this fresh take on classics was like hearing stories of Havana in 1950 from a modern-day Cuban youth interpreting grandfatheris memories.

The triois modern spin on past jazz favorites satisfied critical analysis, but the bandis jamming display of ability satiated more than just artistic curiosity.

The Gonzalo Rubalcaba Trio changed it up. Not like an eclectic showman should, but rather like that of a schizophrenic. How the trio can read those time and key changes so smoothly is a feat worth mentioning.

Jumpy Latin clips of blocky chords encountered furious bop crescendos. The pianist ignited a rollicking bass line in the third tune. This was quickly adopted by a four-string in an overlapping bass run that accented the crevices between Gonzalois notes. The effect of the paired bass lines fit in nicely with drummer Ignacio Berroais snare rolls and pace-setting cowbell taps.

The seventh piece allowed Berroa to cast off his cool reserve for a blistering drum solo. Everything became unhinged here. The sonic battery was reminiscent of artists such as Gillespie, Hubbard and Tyner. It took the entire gig for Berroa to go from delicate to raucous in a blast of mounting pressure, but such is the role of the triois hidden conductor. Rubalcaba said no one directs better than Berroa.

"Ignacio is a very strong musician because as everybody knows in the business heis the only drummer capable of switching back from swing to Afro-Cuban, from samba to bossa nova or any other rhythm flawlessly," Rubalcaba said.

Between the performances of fellow Latin-jazz pianist Chucho Valdes and the Buena Vista Social Club visit on Friday, the Gonzalo Rubalcaba Trio offered considerable depth to the recent influx of live Caribean music.

Gonzalo Rubalcaba Trio

The Menil Collection

The verdict: Buy the 2001 release Supernova on Blue Note. While youire at it, grab Wayne Shorteris late-1960s release of the same name.

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