Saturday, June 3, 2023

Edward Simon Returns to Latin Songs

Cover of the album being discussed (courtesy of Kate Smith Productions)

In 2016 jazz pianist Edward Simon released his Latin American Songbook album. This consisted of seven songs, each by a different Latin American composer, all of which he then arranged for his trio, whose other members were Joe Martin on bass and Adam Cruz on drums. At the end of last month, he released a new album that continued his survey of this genre, whose full title is Femeninas: Songs of Latin American Women. This included eight tracks accounting for seven composers from six different south-of-the-border countries. The album also includes Latino Soy, a three-movement suite that Simon composed on a commission by the New Jazz Works program of Chamber Music America.

The vocalist on the new album is Magos Herrera, performing with Simon’s trio with a new bass player, Reuben Rogers. Luis Quintero provides additional percussion for ten of the eleven tracks, and two of the tracks include guitarist Romero Lubambo. One of the tracks, “Gracias a la vida” (thanks to life) is given a stunning a cappella introduction by Herrera before Simon enters with his piano.

I must confess that this genre is, for the most part, new to me. My primary awareness of Simon’s work came from his series of Salon concerts for San Francisco Performances, four programs that had to be foreshortened to three due to the COVID pandemic. As a result, I have made it a point to listen to Femeninas several times, just to acclimate myself to the diversity of tracks and their similarities and differences. Similarly, it did not take me long to appreciate the expressiveness of Herrera’s smoky voice.

Hopefully, the coming season will provide new opportunities to experience further dimensions of Simon’s endeavors.

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