Hidden Voices

The Cuban-American pianist and composer Arun Ortiz has finally arrived on the international jazz scene, following a few earlier releases. His excellent new album Hidden Voices recorded as a trio with bass player Eric Revis and drummer Gerald Cleaver is the proof. Ortiz, who grew up in Santiago de Cuba, has been called the latest Cuban prodigy to arrive in the US. His carefully structured music is an exciting mix of contemporary classical sounds, afro-Cuban rhythms and powerful jazz improvisation. All these elements are fused to make a very individual sound. I was thinking about this album as a circle with no beginning and no end, says Arun Ortiz. After working with seven original works as well as tunes by Ornette Coleman and Thelonious Monk, the 42-year-old has turned to a traditional song Uno, Dos y Tres, Que Paso Ms Chevere, that everybody in Cuba knows from festivities and carnivals.