Payomet at Wellfleet Preservation Hall
Blending the flavors of jazz with the Afro-Cuban influences of his upbringing, pianist Harold López-Nussa along with Luques Curtis, Ruy Adrian López-Nussa and Grégoire Maret are bringing their eclectic playing to Wellfleet Preservation Hall on Sunday, October 5 at 5pm– and you're welcome to join us following the performance*** for a special meet and greet with the artists. This show is presented by Payment.
On Nueva Timba, their newly released album, the jazz vanguard meets multiple eras of Cuba’s musical history with results that are at once accessible, life-affirming and strikingly accomplished. Featuring a core of unmatched talent — Harold’s brother, Ruy Adrian López-Nussa, on drums; Luques Curtis on bass; and the harmonica virtuoso Grégoire Maret — it feels like a definitive vision for the future of Latin jazz.
On “Bonito y Sabroso,” López-Nussa condenses the power of Benny Moré’s big band into a small-group arrangement, then adds modern, psychedelic hues through electronics and the beat-making of José Angel Blanco, a.k.a. El Negro WADPRO. Other highlights include “Niña Con Violin,” written by López-Nussa’s uncle, the acclaimed pianist Ernán López-Nussa, with gorgeous melodic bass work from Curtis. An arrangement of Ernesto Lecuona’s “Gitanerias” offers a master class in accenting classical virtuosity with a contemporary rhythmic thrust. The López-Nussa original “Cerca y Lejos” boasts welcome shades of early fusion-era Chick Corea.
For all its overwhelming mastery, however, this album is foremost a journey — a deeply personal narrative rooted in profound, often painful life changes.
Nueva Timba tells the very real story of a man displaced: a young father finding his way in a new country while missing his homeland with heartrending intensity; all the while, he’s nursing other emotional wounds including the passing of his mother, and the compounding torment brings him to a state of despair. Slowly but surely, sunshine begins to poke through the clouds, and he discovers a path forward. Something like happiness returns to the horizon. Consider NUEVA TIMBA musical tears of joy.