On Friday, the most attractive thing on the music lover’s agenda was the Argentine jazz concert that made up the fourth of the six sessions of the 23rd Bilbao Jazz District, which filled the Otxarkoaga Municipal Center with 200 souls (€5) to enjoy the jazz-quartet. rock-fusion co-led by the pianist Mariano Díaz and the electric bassist Javier Malosetti, who the day before had brought together some 80 souls at the Bilbaína Jazz Club (€15). The veterans performed in a quartet with two younger countrymen, both Spanish neighbors since they were children: guitarist Lucio Lupano, from Buenos Aires, and drummer Pier Bruera, from Rosario (and both were students at Musikene of Mariano Díaz, who has lived in Madrid since 1993 and is Professor of Jazz Analysis, Improvisation, Instrumental Grouping, and Complementary Piano at Musikene).
We went to the CM Otxarkoaga with high expectations and they were exceeded thanks to the acoustic quality of the venue with stands, the conjunction of the quartet (it seemed that it was not a passing combo to give several gigs, and in fact they are going to record an album soon ), and the quality of both the four instrumentalists in singular mode and the repertoire: 9 pieces in 81 varied minutes that are not intermittent, although the third song, ‘The star’ (Díaz), was too quiet a morass, although its second part contained a stupendous southern solo from the pianist.
The four of them soloed without abusing, and right from the first selection, ‘Cleanie’ (Malosetti), a fusion piece a la Bill Evans, stood out by Javier Malosetti (Buenos Aires, 1965; son of Argentine jazzman Walter Malosetti and aged eight and four albums at the service of Luis Alberto Spinetta), Mariano Díaz (Buenos Aires, 1962; 25 years accompanying Pedro Iturralde) and the Fender guitarist, Lucio Lupano, who during the session radiated many plucks with traces of blues and a rock-like brilliance. those of Robben Ford.
In the second, ‘Freedom jazz dance’ by Eddie Harris.
OSCAR CUBILLO
Without intending to bore the reader or get bogged down in the text, let’s just say that a fast, spectacular, incisive and somewhat Afrobeat funk was ‘Freedom jazz dance’ (Eddie Harris arranged by Malosetti); that in the swinging blues ‘The boss’ (Díaz), dedicated by Mariano to his former boss Iturralde, the drummer Joe Smith (who will give two shows today, at 8 and 10, at JazzOn Aretoa; good Mariano, dressed in a Beatles shirt, his favorite group, suffered a slip and called him Joe Martin); that ‘Fig’ (Malosetti), that is, fig, was a fascinating fusion with classical piano (although it was an electric Nord) more natural as well as a virtuoso solo by the stellar bassist (“what an incredible solo by Javier, it’s like playing with Captain America”, praised the master of ceremonies Mariano Díaz); that ‘Ostura furita’ (Malosetti) was another beautiful and brilliant fusion to the Manalishi Orchestra; that the only piece sung by the bassist was the excellently arranged blues ‘Black in Time’, by Huey Lewis & The News and from the movie ‘Back to the Future’ (heh, heh, just in the previous song Óscar Cine observed that the bassist He was wearing Nike shirts similar to those of Michael J Fox as the protagonist of that same movie, very eighties shirts).
They said goodbye with the spectacular ‘New rules’ (Díaz), an unpublished record that they will record for their next album; and they gave a very requested bluesy encore, so much so that once again the guitarist plucked in parallel to Robber Ford, and so much so that it was a sophisticated version of ‘Rise again’ by blues harmonica player Little Walter. Great concert with virtuous and well assembled musicians, the four of them, also the two youngsters, like Captain America.