'El Viaje' CD Reviews

'El Viaje' sweeps top honors in Latin Jazz Corner's "Best Of 2009 Awards":

Best Latin Jazz Album ("El Viaje")

Best Latin Jazz Large Ensemble Album ("El Viaje")

Best Latin Jazz Composition (“El Bajonazo”)

Best Latin Jazz Trumpet Player (Jonathan Powell)

Best Latin Jazz Trombone (Ryan Keberle)

“an opulent listening experience of modern, orchestral jazz, brimming with passionate improvisations, deliberate contrapuntal melodies and plush harmonies.”

— John Murph, Downbeat Magazine

"With Carla Bley and Duke Ellington as root influences, Argentinean bassist-composer Pedro Giraudo's music combines high-concept swing with subtly akimbo Latin American rhythms, witty call-and-and-response conversations, and emotional sustenance aplenty. On his recent big-band album, El Viaje, this means everything from the expansive title suite to a meditative ballad about Hiroshima.

— Richard Gehr, The Village Voice

In the Sunday Arts section of the Miami Herald, Fernando Gonzalez picks "El Viaje" among his short list of releases of contemporary Latin jazz: "Exceptional large ensemble mixing jazz, classical music and Argentine tango and folk music."

“Arrangements that are harmonically rich, rhythmically challenging and charged with emotion. The group is full of compelling soloists. If Mingus were still around, he’d love this group.”

— Paul Blair, Hot House

“Giraudo’s new album, El Viaje, is a stunning example of large ensemble orchestration, proving that in a remarkably short time, the Argentine has absorbed the wisdom of such hallowed arrangers as Ellington, Gil Evans and Carla Bley and has staked out his own distinctive identity. The performances of his 12-member group are an uncommon mixture of orchestral bravado and chamber music-like structure and finesse.”

— Mark Holston, LatinoMagazine.com

We are thrilled to have a review AND a track on the CD sampler that comes with the Fall 2009 issue of JAZZIZ Magazine . For an online look: Click here

and in the white box at the bottom of the page, enter page 20.

“Another masterwork from Giraudo, an Argentinean bassist living in New York and running one of the most impressive orchestras around here. The writing, supple and sophisticated, is an example of how a composer, especially one gleefully between traditions, can draw on an immense amount of music. It’s often brilliant, and it’s always careful. Highly recommended.”

— Peter Watrous, Descarga.com

"His latest, "El Viaje," showcases his superb command of a large ensemble, as well as his broad emotional palette.

Sometimes tender, sometimes brash and always arranged for maximum emotional punch."

— Hank Shteamer, Time Out New York

“Giraudo's impressions make a solid statement about living and about creative jazz. . .  this series of compositions gives jazz fans the world over a chance to celebrate.”

— Jim Santella, AllAboutJazz.com

“His intense, dynamic yet complex sound took the audience on a journey through nostalgic episodes and brought them back with the force of a tailwind that stirred their hearts beating and compelled them forward.  Pedro’s compositions are quite complex, but his band members have been playing with him since the orchestra's formation, and perform as an ensemble with dazzling and exquisite harmony.”

— Motoko Hasegawa, Swing Journal (Japan)

“[Pedro Giraudo] created a world of sounds that went far beyond ordinary Jazz and Latin music.  Moreover, the ever-changing harmony of the ensemble, as well as the virtuoso improvisations, achieved an extraordinary organic blend.”

— Takehiko Tokiwa, Jazz Life (Japan)

Some Previous Reviews

The [Argentine]-bred composer . . . applies rich, classically oriented figures and harmonies to offset simple melodies, and the percussion-augmented rhythm section employs native pulses so guilelessly that the result almost sounds straight-ahead. The whole harks back those historic Latin American–flavored collaborations between Carla Bley and Charlie Haden. . . Giraudo’s assemblage suggests that what audiences and great sidemen need is a few more ace conceptualists.

"play this remarkable new CD once - you won’t forget it. The experience is exhilarating." Click here for complete review

Editor's Pick: Highly recommended
"This is modern jazz and Latin music at its best."
Click here for complete review.

(Latin jazz radio from Italy)
"Un CD strepitoso... Una musica coinvolgente che ti entra nel sangue..."
www.vinilemania.net

"...this album is so inspiring, it’s hard to pick a favorite..."
Click here for complete review.

(in Spanish)
***** (Five Stars). Click here for complete review.

"...truly amazing."
for complete review and interview visit:
Click here for complete review.

" The bassist Pedro Giraudo features his own compositions in this large ensemble, which matches jazz protocols to the rhythmic lessons of his native Argentina."