Martin Bejerano

CubanAmerican

FR

Miami-born pianist and composer Martin Bejerano straddles the lines between post-bop jazz and Latin music. With humility he claims not be a great Latin player, summing up his latest effort, #CubanAmerican, by saying, “It’s not Cuban music and not American music. It’s Cuban American music.”  Take his humility lightly. He is a monstrous, impassioned pianist. With sideman credits that boast the likes of Roy Haynes, Russell Malone, Dave Holland, Pat Metheny, Ron Carter, to name just a handful, this is his fourth album as a leader for the current head of the jazz piano department at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. It comes fifteen years after his highly acclaimed leader debut, Evolution/Revolution and six years after his heralded Trio Miami. His rhythm section partners are longtime trusted colleagues, Havana-born drummer Ludwig Afonso and bassist Edward Perez. On several tracks, the presence of Colombian percussion whiz Samuel Torres adds extra rhythmic fire. Roxana Amed sings on “Mi Cafetal.” We have covered Bejerano on these pages before in 2019 with the quintet Senor Groove (Little Havana) featuring Tim Smith, Roddy Smith, Marcelo Perez, Murph Armstrong and guests John Daversa, Brian Lynch, and Ed Calle.

Bejerano offers ten originals including three that placed in the middle of the sequence, which comprise the #CubanAmerican Suite, made possible with support from Chamber Music America’s 2017 New Jazz Works, funded through the Doris Duke Foundation. He also earned a similar commission in 2010. Those compositions, which we’ll get to later are the title track, “Origin Story,” and “Yo No Ballo.” The others are a mix of originals and jazz standards including “Doxy” from Sonny Rollins and “You’ve Changed” from Bill Carey and Carl Fischer. Two are reimagined including “Ay Cosita Linda (A Gringo Fantasy)” (Oh Pretty Thing) and “Mi Cafetal” (My Coffee Plantation), which were wildly popular in Cuba seventy years ago even though the rhythms are not inherently Cuban. He transforms both tunes, the former with uncredited vocals, into stirring, exciting music as he is all over the piano, playing in a percussive style, further strengthened by his energetic rhythm mates. Vocalist Roxana Ahmed adds authentic tropical flavor to the latter.

“Lonely Planet” is a muscular workout for the trio as is Rollins’ “Doxy,” both of which in the ten-minute range. You’ll hear echoes of Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett in his playing, married to the more percussive style of Cuban pianists. For additional impact, he adds synthesizer sweeps to the former. “Doxy” features interesting call and response like exchanges with drummer Alfonso and bassist Perez.

The title track, the first in the suite begins with heavy percussive attacks for all three players, as it opens up in a furious tempo, Torres’ percussion adds even more fury to propel the pianist’s insanely rapid runs. His composition “Yo No Bailo” (I Don’t Dance), takes it down several notches, again imbued by Torres’ percussion. Initially, it could be the soundtrack for a relaxing day at the beach or an admission that first impressions can be deceiving as he takes the piece into wilder territory before Perez steps in with a solo, prompting the addition of synths to create a stunning wall of sound. Back and forth we go from the bass to the piano riding the Latin rhythms, with the expected robust climax, instead becoming a fadeout. “Origin Story” begins at a blistering tempo before morphing back and forth into dreamy soundscapes. propelled by a relentless bass tumbao (ostinato) and a terrific drum and percussion sequence before the last few choruses.

Bejerano shows he can handle a ballad too. One almost yearns for a vocalist here as this writer recalls Helen Humes’ terrific take on this ballad. Although the pianist added synths and electric keys to four of the preceding tracks, the last two – “B. Radley” and “{supernova) go heavily in that direction, as he wanted to ensure the album enough impact. It would have been strong enough had the album been totally acoustic but the sequencing of these two at the end, strengthen the strong impression of depth and unflagging energy. Overall, this is one smoking session with Bejerano and his fully engaged band bringing a joyous, practically unrelenting foot-tapping vibe throughout.

• Jim Hynes

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