The good news for connoisseurs of music that is as surprising as Jazz, mysterious as flamenco and the molten mix of these with every other musical idiom, is that Colina Miralta Sambeat – otherwise known as the CMS Trio – has released just their first album of 2015. The repertoire is driven by music that is sinuous, lyrical and magical. And there could hardly be a trio of musicians that created this music and is more self-effacing, scholarly and so filled with ingenuity that their proverbial cup does runneth over.
And it does so with the simple joy of playing alto saxophone, contrabass and percussion with compelling brilliance so as to communicate through extreme virtuosity, the simple joy of traversing the musical topography of the world with the eyes and ears of children. This can only be undertaken by musicians with a questing intellect and a childlike sense of adventure. For then –and only then—can musicians such as these be open to the miraculous and changing nature of music, and communicate this to an adoring public who forever wait with bated breath for new music from each of the musicians—as well as with the trio that they have formed. And what a trio it is, playing music not to soothe the savage breast, but to rouse it to almost fall prey to sin.
Of course none of this would hold any truth if the musicians here did not deliver the goods. And Javier Colina, Marc Miralta and Perico Sambeat do not disappoint in any way shape or form. The reading of the various charts is remarkable; the best of them begin unhurriedly, as if waking in stately grace, gently rousing itself to life in order to explode into the mind’s ear. The sheer delight of “Kalimba” is communicated first through the plucked revelry of the African thumb piano soon turning glorious with harmonic sleights of hand from Javier Colina, as much as it does with Marc Miralta and Perico Sambeat.
The flamenco rhythms almost completely mask the newly-sculpted melody of “You Don’t Know What Love Is”. The song loses none of its darkness; in fact the flamenco whirling of the rhythm turns the slow tempo of the original into a twisting deep-song full of the duende that can only come from a confrontation between Moorish polyrhythms and the heart-wrenching duende of Andalusian deep-song that became the mystical torch-song popularised by the great Spanish poets such as Federico Garcia-Lorca.
The other exquisite melodies voiced with dry, howling tones are outstandingly enterprising. You feel at once charmed and lured into a delightful trap, where the magical mystery of the music may be likened to the delightful entrapment of the incredible Paradise Flycatcher. The mesmeric nature of the melting pot into which melodies are poured is also alchemical. Bassist, drummer and saxophonist play like medieval druids conjuring up magical potions in music.
Lest I be accused of unfair bias, I must also draw attention to the rest of the musical fare that delights in the mercurial nature of their melodies, dramatic to the core. It also bears mention that the chewy harmonies of many of the songs played with sheer genius by bassist Javier Colina, saxophonist Perico Sambeat and drummer Marc Miralta are almost palpably and profoundly romantic, with iridescent phraseology, with pronounced timbral beauty that translates into heart-stopping harmony and rhythmic intensity that can only come from a group schooled in the art of mystery and majesty.
Track List: Kalimba; Camino Del Batey; Una Cana Al Aire; You Don’t Know What Love Is; Mirasambolina; Juramento; Danza Guaná; Dos Mundos; Apocalypso.
Personnel: Javier Colina: contrabass; Marc Miralta: drums; Perico Sambeat: alto saxophone.
Label: Tekne Cultura/Karonte
Release date: April 2015
Website: javiercolina.com
Buy music on: amazon
About Colina Miralta Sambeat CMS Trio
Colina Miralta Sambeat – the CMS trio is back! Its secret recipe of jazz, Latin standards and popular music roots is more alive than ever, after years of stepping on stages around the world. There is a fine balance of the Trio’s own songs and classic jazz standards, polyrhythms spiced with and African colours Colombian and even flamenco songs; ballads Cuban Danzón, classical Aires; calypsos and popular and accessible music for everyone!
