Un Montón de Notas Album Review
Emilo Teubal & La Balteuband Play Latin-Inflected Jazz, Avant Garde
Sep 19, 2009
Emilo Teubal is a composer at home in both avant garde and jazz, and the album Un Montón de Notas ("A Pile of Notes") wanders back and forth between the two genres like a friendly neighbor without fences.
Album Highlights: Ping Pong Motifs, Outerspace, a Pile of Notes and Daybreak
Though a Romantic composer might have relied on more aquatic metaphors, in "Ping Pong" the descending arpeggio figures leap back and forth like a slow motion table tennis match. Though the mood starts out mellow, inertia eventually drives the ping pong towards an accelerating rally to the finish.
Another mellow work, "From the Outerspace" could simultaneously pay homage to two iconic composers interested in life beyond Earth: the jazz great Sun Ra Arkestra and avant garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Sandwiched toward the middle of the album, the title track "Un Montón de Notas is an episodic jam calling for strings, percussion and flute to flavor the standard jazz ensemble.
"El Amanecido" (Dawn, or Daybreak) begins with a tender piano intro before "breaking" into a warm, dance-inflected jam with percussion, horns, piano and drum kit.
A Tribute to Family and Tradition: Piano, Bombo Legüero, Fender Rhodes and More
The textures of this album are a mosaic from various times and places, a tribute to family and tradition. From the Fender Rhodes (electric piano), the Argentine drum Bombo legüero, the cello, accordion and jazz piano, the timbres blend Teubal's Argentine heritage with a kind of retro futurism (a nod to the musicians of the 60s and 70s who played the Fender Rhodes).
Though Teubal's heritage is felt in the music throughout the album, that heritage is especially present in "(T) La Arania 08", with syncopations derived from the Argentine dances zamba and chacarera driving the beat.
Emilio Teubal: Argentine Composer Playing Jazz and Avant Garde Clubs
Born in 1976 in Spain to Argentine parents, Emilo Teubal moved back across the Atlantic with his family before he was a year old, living in Mexico City for five years. After the return of democracy to Argentina, the family moved to Buenos Aires in 1984, where Teubal began to take piano lessons. Just over twenty years later, he received the Meet The Composer's Van Lier Fellowship in 2007.
Teubal studied at the City College of New York under several jazz artists including Marc Copland, Scott Reeves, Bruce Barth, Mike Holober, John Pattitucci, Cliff Korman and Alison Dean. He has also performed in many jazz and avant garde venues across New York City, including Joe's Pub, the Knitting Factory, Makor, Galapagos Art Space, Cornelia Street Cafe, 55 Bar, Bowery Poetry Club, Nublu and more.
For more information, please visit Emilio Teubal's website.
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