“Azabache”, the debut album by Irving Acao, was released in 2013 as a true musical talisman. Its title refers to a black gemstone traditionally carved as a good‑luck charm: here, the music becomes that azabache, patiently shaped by four craftsmen to create a singular object, charged with energy and meaning. Surrounding the Cuban tenor saxophonist are Felipe Cabrera on double bass, Leonardo Montana on piano, and Lukmil Pérez on drums: four strong Latin‑rooted personalities, all seasoned on major international stages. The album offers a jazz that is at once sensitive, sophisticated, and resolutely forward‑looking, in which the Afro‑Cuban tradition flows through every bar. Latin rhythms are mastered, deconstructed, and refined in the service of varied melodies that move between intensity and gentleness. Irving Acao’s writing, enriched by his experiences alongside Irakere, Chucho Valdés, Roy Hargrove, Michel Camilo, Giovanni Hidalgo, Danilo Perez, and McCoy Tyner, shapes a personal language, deeply rooted in jazz yet open to all kinds of rhythmic cross‑currents.

Comprising eleven tracks, “Azabache” brings together eight pieces by Irving Acao, one composition by Leonardo Montana, and one by Felipe Cabrera. The album features high‑energy pieces such as the tribute to John Coltrane or “Reflexion”, where the quartet unleashes a powerful, taut collective sound without ever sacrificing precision. In contrast, more intimate moments reveal another side of the group, notably in the delicate rendition of “Oh que será, que será”, imbued with poetry and restraint.

Throughout the record, Irving Acao’s saxophone leads the way, by turns incisive, singing, and lyrical, carried by a formidable rhythm section: the supple, deep bass of Felipe Cabrera, the inventive drumming of Lukmil Pérez, and the poetic, airborne piano of Leonardo Montana. Far from a mere stylistic exercise, “Azabache” stands out as the organic encounter of four musicians driven by the same desire: to shape a contemporary jazz marked by the Caribbean, able to move both body and imagination, and to leave in the listener’s ear the sensation of a musical good‑luck charm to carry away.

« AZABACHE » (2013)

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