Cuban Sketches For Piano
Zoho, 2022
8/10
Listen to Cuban Sketches For Piano
The esteemed Cuban composer Leo Brouwer and the inimitable pianist Mariel Mayz come together for a piano solo affair of compositions penned between 1961 and 2021.
The first 10 tracks are Brouwer’s “Diez Bocetos”, where Mayz’s sublime playing ranges from bare and pretty to quick and unpredictable, where you’re as likely to hear bouncy, rumbling bursts just as you are graceful intimacy.
In the middle, the elegant “Variations On A Theme By Brouwer” has Mayz handing composer duties and embracing rhythmic patterns and sometimes more jarring tonalities, while “Nuevos Bocetos Para Piano III” unfolds across 3 movements of animated passages that emit flowing melodic gestures.
The final track, “An Idea (Passacalgia For Eli)”, exits with an absorbing delivery that pays tribute to the Canadian guitarist Eli Kassner on his 75th birthday, and truly captures the depths of Mayz’s abilities.
Although we’re used to hearing Brouwer’s work on 6 strings, here they translate well to 88 keys, and in Mayz’s very capable hands the pieces are illuminated with tremendous poise, warmth and a talent that few will ever replicate.
Travels well with: Kaeshammer- The Warehouse Sessions; Craig Davis- Tone Paintings