Filtros
SSC1177 2008-06-10
Track List
Va Roman - 7:31
Miula - 10:03
Manuel - 3:22
Yeso - 6:10
Amor Profundo - 3:01
Memes - 6:46
Volante - 5:52
Luz de Liz (Filtros) - 11:05
Vaca - 6:32
Louange à l\'éternité de Jésus - 7:35
A New Low (iTunes) - 3:46
Snake (iTunes) - 8:07
Musicians
Diego Urcola - trumpet, trombone
Chris Cheek - saxophone
Miguel Zenon - alto saxophone, flute
Jeff Ballard - drums
Bill McHenry - saxophone
Taylor Haskins - trumpet
Ben Monder - guitar
Sandro Tomasi - trombone
Guillermo Klein - piano, vocals
Fernando Huergo - guitar - bass
Richard Nant - percussion
"The composer, pianist and bandleader Guillermo Klein lived in New York from 1993 to 2000 before moving toArgentina, where he's from, and Barcelona, where he currently lives. But he was a source of inspiration, and he is still talked about. His jazz, if you want to call it that, is built from the ground up, starting with ideas about instrumentation, then rhythm, then harmony, then gesture. In one of his large ensemble sets, there could be brass choirs, Cuban rhythm, fuguelike passages, talking, whistling, mechanical repetitions over a groove, and bits of aerated rock.
—Ben Ratliff, NY Times
Over the last 15 years or so, the pianist and composer Guillermo Klein has made a study of the tensile and elastic properties of rhythm. Along the way, he has built some fascinating bridges between jazz, pop, classical music and the chacareras and tangos of his native Argentina. His best music also carries smart harmonic ideas and surprising bolts of lyricism, but virtually all of it deals purposefully with the subject of groove.
—Nate Chinen, NY Times"
Reviews
Guillermo Klein, an Argentine pianist and composer living in Barcelona, has rightly been heralded in postmodern jazz circles for the flexibility, urgency and otherworldly vision of his music. But if you�ve never come into contact with Los Guachos, his 11-piece ensemble, you may not understand all the praise. Mr. Klein�s last album, �Una Nave� (Sunnyside), was recorded in 2002 with Argentine musicians. It�s a brilliant work, but six years is a long time in the evolution of a bandleader this restless and keen.�Filtros� chronicles a more recent edition of Los Guachos, under optimal conditions. It was made in a New York studio last June after an engagement at the Village Vanguard, much like the one that concluded on Sunday. As a result of the still-fresh preparation, Los Guachos sounds taut and tested here, though not at all complacent: Mr. Klein�s music doesn�t allow for coasting, even if slippery propulsion is one of his trademarks.
The title of the album refers to a technique in which subdivisions of a pulse can create the illusion of speeding up or slowing down. Mr. Klein employs this device a few times, notably on a summery tune called �Miula� and a darker-hued contraption called �Luz de Liz (Filtros).�
In the realm of harmony Mr. Klein can be both progressive and willfully simple, often stripping down to the perfect intervals that evoke ancient or ceremonial music. His melodies tend to be convoluted but singable; he sings a few himself. The net effect is a sort of folkloric futurism, indebted to big band jazz orchestration but generally free of its standard conventions.
Among the many strong improvisers on �Filtros,� some stand out clearly, like the saxophonists Miguel Zen�n and Chris Cheek, the guitarist Ben Monder and the valve trombonist Diego Urcola. Their voices are integral, but Los Guachos subsumes them in something larger: one functioning organism, too focused to notice its own complexity.
Nate Chinen, The New York Times - June 2008
The album Filtros is listed in second position of the ten albums selected as teh New york Times 2008 Stand Outs.
Nate Chinen, The New York Times - January 2009 read the full article
2008 Village Voice Jazz Poll winners include Guillermo Klein's Filtros and Vijay Iyer 's Tragicomic in its top ten albums
Francis Davis, the village VOICE - January 2009 read the full article
Nice review from Paul de Barros from the September 2008 issue of DownBeat.
Paul de Barros, DOWNBEAT - September 2008 read the full article
A.D. Amorosi's review of Filtros from the Oct. 2008 JazzTimes.
AD Amorosi, JazzTimes - October 2008 read the full article
Nice review from Jazzman (France) from their Nov. 2008 issue.
Francisco Cruz, Jazzman (France) - November 2008 read the full article
