NEW YORK, September 11 -- Noted Spanish multi-instrumentalist
Nacho Arimany (http://www.nachoarimany.com)
brings his Nacho Arimany Trio to La MaMa, 74A East Fourth Street (East
Village), October 19 to 21 with "Landscapes of the Soul," an
evening of crosscultural sounds, Jazz and multimedia. Arimany is originator
of the "New Spanish" sound, which has also been described as
"World Jazz" and "21st Century Flamenco." The evening
will feature Nacho Arimany on percussion, guitar and voice, together with
jazz piano by Robert Rodriguez, double bass by Michael O'Brian and video
art and live digital drawing by Laia Cabrera.
All About Jazz (Mark F. Turner) declared, "Jazz and flamenco may have
crossed paths before but Nacho Arimany brings a fresh approach with ideas
that have yet to be discovered." Rooted in the Mediterranean flavors
of Flamenco, West Africa and South India, the Arimany Trio's unique style
combines Arimany's percussion with the open forms of jazz piano (by Robert
Rodriguez) and emotive bass lines (by Michael O’Brian) in a dialogue that
brings an authentic approach to today’s avant-garde music. Many pieces
begin with a guitar introduction by Arimany that he refers to as "Sonic
Poems." In "Landscapes of the Soul," they will be illustrated
by his own poems and calligraphy in English and Spanish, projected by video
artist Laia Cabrera. As Arimany sings his poems as lyrics, she will improvise
visually with the handwriting itself while interacting with Rodriguez and
O'Brian.
Before moving to New York in 2009, Arimany was chiefly known as one of
Spain's most sought after Flamenco percussionists. He entered the world
of Flamenco through the Spanish Dance and Flamenco Choreography Contest
of Madrid, winning a prize for "Pa´dentro," a martinete composed
for Triazion danza. When asked to form a percussion group, he introduced
to Flamenco the use of a gourd from Mali as a percussion instrument. Academies,
tablaos and baile were his school for eight years and he collaborated with
Joaquín Cortés, Gerardo Nuñez and Rocio Molina, along with many of Spain's
hottest Flamenco dancers. As a child, had been classically trained as a
pianist and vocal soloist but turned to percussion in his teens. Flamenco
was a break with the formalism of his early training.
Arimany's unique style and diverse capabilities ultimately steered him
into the broader scopes of World music and Jazz, where he has performed
and recorded with Lionel Loueke, Lizz Wright and Angelique Kidjo. His first
independent project, the Nacho Arimany World-Flamenco Septet, integrated
this wide range of musical experiences. Reviewing his album, "Silence-light"
(Fresh Sound Records, 2007) recorded with his septet, La Abeille Musique
(France) compared Arimany's advanced exploration of the Flamenco universe
to the jazz explorations of acclaimed guitarist Lionel Loueke, writing,
"Percussionist, musician and nearly a musical philosopher inasmuch
as his ideas are dense and open to the world, Nacho Arimany is without
a shadow of a doubt a separate case on the sometimes compartmentalized
flamenco scene....The result is an album which somewhat redefines for the
21st century a type of music, flamenco, already crossed by multiple musical
experiences. Unique and indispensable."
In Fall 2008, Nacho Arimany was commissioned to compose and conduct a new
work for Global Perfussion, a gathering of 15 percussionists from around
the world. The group reconvened in November 2009 touring in Bamako, Mali
and the Canary Islands. He settled in New York in 2009 and the next year,
appeared at City Center's Fall for Dance Festival in the U.S. premiere
of "Rooted on Earth," his acclaimed duet with Flamenco dancer
Rafaela Carrasco. A precursor to the La MaMa production of "Landscapes
of the Soul" was performed by the Arimany Trio at BAM Cafe in 2010.
The style of his work is so new and original that it has resisted accurate
labeling up to now. While it is close to Jazz and Flamenco, it is an experience
of world and natural sounds with influences of oriental melodies and Indian
and West African percussion. Notwithstanding this confluence of influences,
Flamenco rhythms are always prominent in Arimany Music, which he describes
as "a prism with a lot of faces." Depending on the light, one
of the faces is reflected and shining. He has a Flamenco heart, but it
depends on the day whether that shows.
He traces the root of his music to two influences: Spanish composers of
the ninteenth century and Andalusian music from the eighth to fifteenth
centuries, when Christians, Muslims and Jews coexisted and created music
together in Iberia. The music that was played for King Alfonso X (Alfonso
the Wise) synthesized these three cultures. Clay pots were one of the main
percussion instruments of that period and they are the distinctive instrument
of Arimany Music. His pots, however, are from South India and Nigeria.
Now Arimany believes he is developing a new Spanish music and sound which
is reverting to the multicultural sounds of coexistence that were prevalent
in the old Andalusian Empire.
Arimany's musical innovations have forked into another avenue where they
are being applied to sound therapy and transformational processes. He established
"The Joy of Sound," a soundwork service, to pioneer use of his
percussive music in sensory integration therapy and sound counseling. (http://www.thejoyofsound.com)
Robert Rodriguez (piano), born in New York, moved to Miami, where he studied
piano and percussion at New World High School of the Arts and earned a
bachelor's in studio music and jazz at University of Miami. He was a sideman
on "Jam Miami" alongside Chick Corea on Rhodes, Arturo Sandoval’s
"Trumpet Evolution" (produced by Quincy Jones), Ray Barretto’s
2005 Grammy nominated recording "Time is Time Was" which featured
Rodriguez' composition "One for Ray," "Where-As" with
legendary drummer Roy Haynes, "Cultural Survivor" with David
Sanchez and many other recordings with independent jazz artists. In
April 2006, he was featured with the late Ray Barretto in a video recorded
special broadcast on PBS titled "Legends of Jazz." Robert
has co-led two recordings with his brother, trumpeter Michael Rodriguez.
His work with the Rodriguez Bros. band led to a commission from Chamber
Music America and an ASCAP Young Composers Award. Robert continues
to compose for the Rodriguez Bros. and most recently, for his piano trio,
which debuted at the Bluenote Jazz Club in 2009.
Michael O'Brian (double bass) holds a B.A from University of Minnesota
with a major in Spanish Language. He studied bass under Anthony Cox and
West African and Haitian percussion under Marc Anderson. He has performed
and composed internationally with Harry Connick Jr., Ruben Blades, The
Merce Cunningham Dance Co., Gene Pitney, Dave Samuels, Dave King, Matt
Wilson, Ted Nash, Sandro Albert, Joshua Breakstone, Elliot Zigmund, Ron
Afiff, Todd Reynolds, Wessel Anderson, David Binney, Ari Hoenig, The Jazz
Mandolin Project, Joel Harrison, Christian Howes, Peter Apfelbaum, Robert
Rodriguez, Dan Weiss, Marc Giuliana, Luba Mason, Paul Bollenback, and Oriente
Lopez. He has performed at Lincoln Center Festival, IAJE (International
Jazz Educators conference), PASIC (Percussive Arts Societies International
Convention) and American Composers Forums' Sonic Circuits Festival. His
string quartet arrangement of "Pine" was performed at the Kennedy
Center by the acclaimed string quartet Ethel. He has also taught clinics
and performed master classes throughout the United States and in Europe.
Laia Cabrera (video artist) is a filmmaker, video artist and visual designer
born in Spain and based in New York since 1997. Her work employs a variety
of media including music, video, storytelling, projected imagery, dance,
music, photography, theater, visual art, voice and writing. She co-founded
the multi-media group Vertiginosas Theater and Film Company. She has also
curated and directed award winning multi-media international art shows.
Her Laia Cabrera & Co. is a team of film, music and visual artists
producing a wide range of multimedia projects. She is a member of the Board
of Directors of Topia Arts Center in Adams, MA and an advisory board member
at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and director of their annual film
documentary. She graduated from the Conservatoire of Lleida, Spain, has
a MFA in Audiovisual Communication and a BFA in Media Studies from the
Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, and in Film Production at the
New School University in New York. Her awards include the KrTU to Young
Creators by the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya and
the Kodak and Color Lab award for Best Cinematic Film for "Under Influence."
As a film and video artist ,she has collaborated with Arts International,
New Stage Theatre Company, World Music of Nana, Liquid Body Media, Movement
and Dance, Cinema Tropical, The Austrian Cultural Forum, Spain Culture
New York, the Catalan Center, The king Juan Carlos Center (KJCC) at NYU,
among others. http://www.laiacabrera.com
La MaMa, 74A East Fourth Street, will present the Nacho Arimany Trio in
"Landscapes of the Soul" from October 19 to 21. Performances
are Friday and Saturday at 10:00 PM and Sunday at 5:30 PM. Tickets are
$20 and can be ordered by visiting http://www.lamama.org
or by calling (212) 475-7710.
For additional information, please visit Nacho Arimany's Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/nacho-arimany.