Beaches Of Riches
New Focus, 2025
9/10
The New York City guitarist and composer Alejandro Flórez aligns himself with Dan Blake and Satoshi Takeishi, and together they flesh out these 5 adventurous pieces that explore meter, pitch and improvisation.
“Darién” leads with a busy and playful mood, where Blake’s animated sax and Takeishi’s wild drums suit Flórez’s laptop manipulation, and “Ripples” follows with a softer appeal, where Flórez’s gentle guitar aligns with plenty of restraint yet lively sax bouts.
“Beaches Suite” arrives in the middle and unfolds across 7 chapters of unpredictable and exciting interaction, while “Monument 10” is a bit off kilter, which is a big part of its appeal, as the 3 dance around one another with atypical jazz rock.
“Waves” exits, and emits a controlled chaos vision that allows for the trio’s inimitable talents to shine via a boundless creativity.
The inclusion of electronics and polyrhythmic cycles won’t go unnoticed, as Flórez and company reference Colombian folkloric music with incredible detail and imagination.
Travels well with: Ryan Vigil- Vigil Vol. 1; Daniel Pesca- Walk With Me, My Joy