Vessel

Listen on Presto Music. Free thirty day trial. Find out more.

Release Date: 4th Aug 2023
Catalogue No: CRISS1416CD
Label: Criss Cross Jazz
Length: 69 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Criss Cross Jazz - Up to 20% off CD, Vinyl and Downloads

Special offer ends: 17/07/2024

No digital booklet included

Criss Cross Jazz - Up to 20% off CD, Vinyl and Downloads

Special offer ends: 17/07/2024

Mark Whitfield Jr., John Ellis, Alex Norris, Hamish Smith, Manuel Valera: Blues for Kenny K

Work length7:21

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

Manuel Valera Quintet, Manuel Valera

Mark Whitfield Jr., John Ellis, Alex Norris, Hamish Smith, Manuel Valera: First Day

Work length8:20

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

Manuel Valera Quintet, Manuel Valera

Mark Whitfield Jr., John Ellis, Alex Norris, Hamish Smith, Manuel Valera: Pablo

Work length7:39

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

Manuel Valera Quintet, Manuel Valera

Mark Whitfield Jr., John Ellis, Alex Norris, Hamish Smith, Manuel Valera: Sunset

Work length6:43

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Manuel Valera Quintet, Manuel Valera

Mark Whitfield Jr., John Ellis, Alex Norris, Hamish Smith, Manuel Valera: Garzonian

Work length7:17

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

Manuel Valera Quintet, Manuel Valera

Mark Whitfield Jr., John Ellis, Alex Norris, Hamish Smith, Manuel Valera: Alma

Work length5:16

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Manuel Valera Quintet, Manuel Valera

Mark Whitfield Jr., John Ellis, Alex Norris, Hamish Smith, Manuel Valera: Crisis

Work length8:42

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

Manuel Valera Quintet, Manuel Valera

Mark Whitfield Jr., John Ellis, Alex Norris, Hamish Smith, Manuel Valera: Remembrance

Work length5:08

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Manuel Valera Quintet, Manuel Valera

Mark Whitfield Jr., John Ellis, Alex Norris, Hamish Smith, Manuel Valera: Chance

Work length5:30

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Manuel Valera Quintet, Manuel Valera

Mark Whitfield Jr., John Ellis, Alex Norris, Hamish Smith, Manuel Valera: Mr. Henderson

Work length7:24

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

Manuel Valera Quintet, Manuel Valera

About
Explore

About

Manuel Valera advises his students at New York University to write music every day. "I tell them that composition is essentially another instrument - the more you practice, the better you get at it," says the 42-year-old piano master, who, by his count, has generated some 200 recorded pieces since he entered the fray in the early 2000s.

''Vessel', Valera's second album for Criss Cross, showcases eight recent works, each "honouring a different person who's influenced my music." Valera made it in January 2023, nine years after presenting another eight originals on 'In Motion' (CRISS1372CD), which featured a slamming iteration of his New Cuban Express ensemble, whose eponymous first CD had earned a 2013 Grammy nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album. The pieces on that straight-eighth oriented session mixed elements from various Afro-Cuban dialects with postbop, fusion jazz, funk and R&B, incorporating intricate beat modulation, odd meters, and intriguing ensemble colour.

On 'In Motion', as on most of his 16 albums since 2004, Valera established the compositions as "the complete framework for the improvisations - although the solos, of course, are also important." But here, as indicated by the title, Valera diverges, constructing pieces that are "vessels for improvising, like they wrote them on the old Blue Note records. You play the tune, you blow over the tune, then you play the tune again - the improvisation is as important as the composition. A lot is going on, but there's still that connection to the older tunes - and a couple sound like they could have been from way back."

Manuel Valera: piano

John Ellis: tenor saxophone

Alex Norris: trumpet

Hamish Smith: bass

Mark Whitfield Jr: drums

Offer,Vessel

CD

Downloads

Contents

Download queue