Recording of the Week, Alfredo Rodríguez - Coral Way

At one time a youthful prodigy on the verge of being arrested at the US border with nothing but the clothes on his back and a suitcase full of sheet music, musician Alfredo Rodríguez has successfully worked his way up the ladder into becoming one of Latin America’s brightest musical constellations.

Though now an acculturated Floridian, the pianist was initially brought up in Cuba where he spent the first few decades of his life. Originally unable to enter America on political grounds, the prodigious musician diligently manoeuvred his way around the embargo in order to appear at several of the world’s most esteemed jazz festivals and competitions. Following an invitation to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2006 at the tender age of just nineteen, Quincy Jones (who had been adjudicating the International Solo Piano Competition that year) encouraged the young pianist that a career of music-making lay ahead in America . Since the average Cuban at the time had a very hard time getting a travel visa, Rodríguez made the tricky decision to leave his family behind before entering the country to pursue a commitment to music on a broader platform. Since then, he has successfully embarked on a mission to promote his message of perseverance and multiculturalism.

The borough which gives its name to the album has been Rodríguez’s creative home for the past few years, and it is this feeling of location that runs central to the record’s motif of cross-pollination. His sixth release with Mack Avenue since signing to the label over a decade ago, it’s safe to say that, whilst by no means a novice at the time of his arrival on the commercial stage, the pianist’s craft has certainly matured in his approach to leadership and a personal sense of style. With a string of recordings which passionately reflect themes of his Cuban heritage already under his belt, this time round Rodríguez calls on his more recent lived experiences as well as drawing on his roots for an album embodying the collective sound of Miami. “I play what I live, and Coral Way is my new life,” says the pianist, “[and] I’m excited that people from all over the world will finally get to hear it in an expansive way.” This certainly seems to be the case, as the album’s three year composition along with Rodríguez’s reunion with his family in the Sunshine State attests to the record’s buoyant and optimistic nature.

There’s the story behind Rodríguez’s arrival, progression and storming success on American shores, and then there’s the music itself. As mentioned, Coral Way is the culmination of the recent passage of events in the bandleader’s life, most notably finding his new home along with his family and the birth of his daughter. These life-affirming moments are healthily incorporated into the fabric of the record and serve to underscore the gratified nature of the music-making. Representing a mosaic of the city’s diverse Latino culture, the recording mixes Latin pop, timba, salsa, bachata, tango, reggaetón and bolero into a highly satisfying amalgamation of artistic passion. What’s more are the wonderfully executed vocal contributions from Alana Sinkëy, who delicately sings in a crisp mixture of Portuguese and Creole on both ‘Fidju di Lua’ and ‘Sueño de Luz’, offering the album a thoughtful edge. At the opposite end of the spectrum is ‘El Llamado’, a musical cafecito which sees the ensemble engaging in a bombastic kind of nu-funk brawl with Afro-Cuban R&B star, Cimafunk. This sort of contrast only serves to strengthen the artistic statement of the album, however, as it affirms the leader’s integrity in his hope to unite seemingly disparate musical factions, revealing their subtle connections and links.

The blend of memory and emotions wrapped up in one’s heritage combined with the radical nature of these contemporary Latin musical artforms is key to this record’s success. Here’s hoping that Rodríguez may ride on the back of it as he continues his impressive assemblage of identity and expression.