El Rumbón (The Party)
Zoho, 2025
9/10
Listen to El Rumbón (The Party)
The Atlanta pianist, Andy Nevala, puts a fresh coat of paint on tracks by Sting, Coltrane and others, where much culture is present thanks to his Afro-Cuban and Brazilian influenced band.
The Stevie Wonder classic, “Isn’t She Lovely”, opens with Nevala’s playful keys alongside Emrah Kotan’s frisky drums, and “Lamento Cuban”, by Eliseo Grenet, follows with the colorful keys and Neff Irizarry’s radiant guitar emitting much beauty.
The middle track belongs to Thelonious Monk’s “Bemsha Swing”, where a quick pace benefits from Carlos Averhoff Jr’s rich tenor sax, while Sting’s “Fragile” is full of rhythm and melody thanks to Frankie Quinones’ animated percussion and Andy Eulau’s meticulous bass lines.
“Countdown” and “Los Bueyes” exit the listen. The former, by Coltrane, has the quintet interacting with much grace and adventurousness, and the latter allows for Nevala’s piano to guide the worldly textures of the Gonzalo Rubalcaba original.
An effort that’s not short on grooves and even injects bouts of improvisation, Nevala and company celebrate movement, energy and communal festivities with so much fun and diversity.
Travels well with: Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Dongfeng Liu- China Afro Cuba; Livio Almeida- Brasilia Sessions