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Beledo — Flotando en el Vacio
(Moonjune MJR129, 2024, CD / 2LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-12-01

Flotando en el Vacio Cover art

It’s been several years since Beledo’s last outing on Moonjune, 2021’s Seriously Deep, and for this release, he’s given a prominent role to Jorge Pardo’s woodwinds. Flotando en el Vacio features eight substantial tracks of Spanish-inflected instrumental jazz; three of them stretch over ten minutes in length, and the others run six to eight minutes. Beledo himself plays electric guitar, Spanish guitar, piano, and violin. His backing band features Carles Benavent on bass, Asaf Sirkis on drums, and the previously mentioned Pardo on flute and sax. There are also guest contributions by Gary Husband (Rhodes and Minimoog) and Ramón Echegaray (candombe percussion) on a few tracks. For my money, some of the album’s best moments come courtesy of the guests, with the electric piano especially tasty, and Echegaray’s percussion on “Candombesque” really elevates the energy level. There are times when the flute melodies take the music uncomfortably close (for my taste) to Smooth Jazz, but many listeners likely won’t mind that — when Pardo solos, his playing is fiery, so it’s not all just pretty whistling. “Rodeados” ventures into much wilder territory than the other tracks, with some erratic rhythms and some of the freest playing, along with some sections that venture into a kind of freaky funk. At nearly 17 minutes, it goes on a bit long, but it does show what the musicians can do when less constrained. Fans of Beledo’s previous albums will find lots to like here, and the slightly different flavor provides extra interest. And for those not familiar with Beledo’s work, Flotando en el Vacio is a fine introduction to one of today’s stars in this stream of jazz.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Gary Husband, José Pedro Beledo, Asaf Sirkis

More info
http://beledo-moonjune.bandcamp.com/album/flotando-en-el-vacio

 

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