Jazz Bata 2

Jazz Bat 2, composer, pianist and bandleader Chucho Valds first album for Mack Avenue Records, marks a new peak of creativity for the artist, even as it revisits the small-group concept of his 1972 Cuban album Jazz Bat. That album upon release was originally considered experimental at the time, but the trio project featuring no drum set and two virtuosi who would subsequently be charter members of Irakere: Carlos del Puerto (bass) and Oscar Valds (bat: the sacred, hourglass shaped drums of the Yoruba religion in Cuba) would now be considered contemporary. Recorded in two and a half days at John Lees studio in New Jersey, Jazz Bat 2 is both rhythmic and lyrical at once. The six-hand complexity of the bat repertoire the deep classical music of West Africa permeates Valds piano solos throughout the album. I applied to my solos the different rhythms of the bat, he says. The piano is of course a harmonic instrument, but its percussive too, and you can play percussion with it. Valds set the bat-driven small-group format aside in the wake of Irakeres explosive popularity in 1973, but hes always wanted to get back to it. Now hes done it with Jazz Bat 2, with more resources, in every sense, he says, with a wider panorama. PERSONNEL: CHUCHO Valds, piano - YELSY HEREDIA, double bass - DREISER DURRUTHY BOMBAL, bats and vocals; - YAROLDY ABREU ROBLES, percussion. - Guest Artist: REGINA CARTER, violin (Ochn and 100 Aos de Bebo only).