Hidden Objects

SSC1735 2024-11-08

Track List

Hidden Objects - 6:28
Dark Ecology - 2:28
Salomia - 4:59
Blue - 5:17
Arroyito - 4:14
La Montaña Mágica - 5:35
Drunken Moon - 6:41
La Aurora - 5:23
We Are Nature - 4:56

Musicians

Holman Álvarez - piano
Adam O'Farrill - trumpet
Drew Gress - bass
Satoshi Takeishi - drums

Pianist/composer Holman Alvarez sees the world through a compositional lens. On his newest release, Hidden Objects, he leads an all-star band—which includes trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer Satoshi Takeishi—through nine expressive, serpentine compositions that reveal a unique musical worldview. In his playing, there is a touching lyricism and forward-thinking harmony, mixing warmth with the cerebral. And there are references to the Latin American rhythms and modern classical figures that are an innate part of Alvarez’s compositional and improvisational vocabulary. Beyond musical touchstones, though, it’s evident that there is a much more grand, big-picture artistic vision at work.

One day in 2022, Alvarez realized everything in his life had changed. “I like to restart,” he says. “I like to think of things in a new way, to wake up and say, ‘What is reality for me today?’ Because it’s always different and changes depending on where you are at that moment in your life.” At this point, Alvarez had just moved from Bogotá, Colombia—where he was an assistant professor at Universidad Javeriana, as well an important part of a thriving creative music—to New York. Love drew him to the city, and he arrived with no musical connections, unable to speak English. Alvarez needed to re-form his musical life.

It wasn’t long until the pianist met veteran percussionist Satoshi Takeishi, and they got together for some sessions. Takeishi had worked closely with Antonio Arnedo (whose recordings, Alvarez says, had an outsized influence on his generation of jazz musicians in Colombia) when he improbably lived in the pianist’s hometown of Cali, Colombia, during the 1980s. In Cali, Takeishi explains, “you had to learn how to play all the dance music and play jazz in between the dance set. So, there was always a natural influence between different types of music. I think Holman’s music also incorporates all those styles. It may be hidden, but if you listen carefully, it’s all there.” A musical bond was formed between the two musicians. The blending of angular and agile melodic lines with the free-but-funky rhythm figures of “Salomia,” dedicated to the neighborhood where Alvarez grew up, offers evidence—and Takeishi shines.

During the composition process, Alvarez had global themes on his mind. As he was getting up to speed on the language of his new country, he says, “I was reading about climate change, nature, the combination of philosophy and nature.” It’s riveting to hear the ensemble tackle the winding opening track as they follow the pianist’s commanding dynamics. Elsewhere, they tackle a melody based on a folk-song style from the Colombian mountains on the loose-limbed journey “La Montaña Magica” (O’Farrill shines as he leads the powerful rubato melody), and change gears to a rumination on Schoenberg’s “Pierrot Lunaire” and the Cali nightlife on the dark and cerebral “Drunken Moon,” then deliver a “welcome to a newborn” for a friend’s daughter inspired by the Peruvian rhythm huayno on the sensitive and warm “Arroyito.”

On Hidden Objects, the quartet are engaging and responsive, pushing and pulling in all directions to deliver exhilarating performances. Takeishi credits Alvarez’s unique musical blend. “His leadership offers us a lot of room for experimentation,” the percussionist explains. “Holman brings different approaches to jazz, improvisation, and Colombian folk music, which enable us to create a unique sound that is not common in the jazz community in New York.”

Just a short time into his life in a new place, Hidden Objects delivers a comprehensive, dynamic, and enthralling musical vision, culled from Alvarez’s experience getting to know his new home and establishing a firm foundation for his place in the New York jazz scene. With the help of an excellent group of collaborators, he says, “This is my way to say, ‘Hello, I’m here.’”