The ears&eyes label has recently released a pair of albums that provide evidence of a vibrant and interesting jazz scene in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Trumpeter Sebastián Greschuk‘s Paisaje is a quartet recording that features Nicolas Boccanera on piano and Fender Rhodes; Sebastián de Urquiza on upright bass, and Matias Crouzeilles on drums. His own playing has the fluidity of Clifford Brown or Donald Byrd, but the compositions and the band’s performances mix classic hard bop dynamics with more modern, less predictable moves. It’s easy to tell they’ve been listening to players of their own generation like Aaron Parks or Ambrose Akinmusire. The album kicks off with “Lluvia Eterna,” a shimmering ballad that tumbles into place like blocks falling off a shelf and magically assembling themselves into a multi-tiered castle. Crouzeilles’ beat is loose and boxy, but still swinging, and Greschuk’s phrases come out with a thoughtful but emphatic energy, as Boccanera and de Urquiza thump and clang behind him. There’s a pleasing roughness to the music, as though they don’t want to let things get too slick, but still want to show what they can do.