Search - Gonzalo Rubalcaba :: Antiguo

In the notes for Antiguo, Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba talks of nothing less than creating a new, "universal language." For this, and using both acoustic and electronic instruments (mostly synthesizers, samplers, and sequencers), Rubalcaba delves into Afro-Cuban religious tradition, jazz, and European classical music. The result, an 11-piece suitelike work, does not match the ambition. Rubalcaba has long been afflicted by a certain aesthetics of excess, and Antiguo is no exception. There are intriguing ideas throughout, and Rubalcaba is--no argument here--a remarkable player. But his everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach produces diminishing returns. Pieces such as "Ellioko," featuring santeria master singer Lazaro Ros, or "Coral Negro," a sort of Lukas Ligeti-goes-Hollywood cut, are intriguing ideas finally weighed down by overelaboration and pretentiousness. The neurotic energy of pieces such as the knotty "Circuito III," "Intermitencia," or "Eshun Agwe" offer little relief. Less would be more indeed. --Fernando Gonzalez