Inner Voyage [Import]

Gonzalo Rubalcaba | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 6, 1999)
• Original Release Date: August 24, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI Europe Generic
• ASIN: B00000JYR8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,202 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #41 in Music > Indie Music > World Music > Caribbean & Cuba
  • #77 in Music > Indie Music > Jazz > Brazilian & Latin Jazz
  • #86 in Music > Indie Music > Jazz > International Jazz

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Cuban-born pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba's ninth Blue Note recording, Inner Voyage is an aptly titled affair. Throughout the album's nine tracks, which showcase his regular working trio of drummer Ignacio Berroa and bassist Jeff Chambers with fiery guest appearances by tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker on two tracks, Rubalcaba's vision is more introspective than on his previous release, Antiguo. But it's no less affecting and in fact may be Rubalcaba's most heartfelt playing to date. Featuring a mix of tunes penned by Rubalcaba and standards like "Here's That Rainy Day" and "Caravan," the music on Inner Voyage is meant to evoke various figures in the pianist's life, from his daughter ("Yolando Anas") and two sons ("Joan" and "Joao") to Blue Note Records head Bruce Lundvall ("Blues Lundvall"). Listeners who expect a thrilling ride of Afro-Cuban rhythms all the way through may be surprised, since unlike Chucho Valdés and the elder Cuban piano statesman Rubén Gonzáles, Rubalcaba doesn't wear his Cuban influence on his sleeve. In fact, most of the disc finds him treading delicately on Bill Evans territory, and it's not even until the charged rendition of "Caravan" that Rubalcaba lets some wondrously jagged piano montunos bubble to the surface. --Ezra Gale

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars for a thoughtful work, May 8, 2001

By 

JK Oregon (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inner Voyage (Audio CD)

This is Rubalcaba's most mature work. It's deeply introspective and lacks the bravura and pyrotechnics of earlier recordings. As a result, it's much more satisfying.

Rubalcaba's selections for this CD are also distinct from other Cuban pianists: there is little that is inherently Cuban about them. In this sense, he is not an exponent of Cuban jazz, but of jazz without the usual national labels. In addition, his classical formation gives the music an interesting formality that pokes through here and there.

A very pleasant, very thoughtful, and joyous collection.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for Cuban jazz lovers!, December 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Inner Voyage (Audio CD)

I saw the Gonzalo Rubalcaba Trio at the '99 SF Jazz festival. They were incredible live. To my relief, this trio translates very well to CD. Inner Voyage is a great recording. The recording is technically wonderful, it'll make any audiophile happy. There's a wonderful, but difficult to describe energy in this trio's style. The latin influence is a strong theme through out the CD, and it makes for a flavor of jazz that any jazz enthusiast would love to taste. The trio's drummer is a master of delivering rythmic wit. Just as you think you follow him, he throws in a colorful spash of latin beat. This albumn has convinced me to look into the other recordings that these guys have done.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best cuban jazz ......., October 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Inner Voyage (Audio CD)

This is the most personal production of gonzalo that I hear; he created introspective lines who describe in beatiful notes his impressions about his childrens personality, his own concept about the importance of the elegance in every human action and the sence of melancholy ("Here's that rainy day"). But there isn't abstract music("Flying Colors" ). Like the "Mi gran Pasión" disc, he add a perfect harmony bring of the bass and a hard rhytm expression of the drum (Ignacio Berroa), especially in caravan's "tumbao". It's very good.