As I Travel
Imagery, 2023
8/10
The pianist and composer Donald Vega brings along Lewish Nash, John Patitucci and Luisito Quinteros for these songs about family and community that are full of eloquent storytelling and worldly ideas.
“Bailia! Dance Like No One’s Watching” opens the listen with Vega’s fluid keys amid Nash’s playful drums and Quintero’s cultured percussion, and “As I Travel” follows with Patitucci’s acrobatic bass lines and the dancing keys making for an energetic climate.
“Tomorrow II” lands in the middle and emits a dreamy display of rich and dynamic songwriting, while “Disturbios” arrives in a lower register of intimate and textured songwriting that carries a timeless jazz flavor with it.
“Dear Mayra” and “Beautiful Ladies” lands near the end, where the former layers the elegant keys alongside the light drums and cozy bass, and the latter builds lush melodies and a global appeal that will resonate for decades to come.
A highly artistic affair that encapsulates the core of the human spirit, Vega and company’s harmonies and grooves make each track here enjoyable and worth revisiting.
Travels well with: Brad Turner Quintet- The Magnificent; Anthony Fung- Fo(u)rth