Saxophonist Luis Deniz Celebrates JUNO Awards Nominations

Saxophonist and Composer Luis Deniz Celebrates JUNO Award Nomination With His Debut Album Plus Three Accompanist Nominations.

On January 31, Canada’s JUNO Awards announced its official 2023 list of nominees. Toronto-based saxophonist Luis Deniz was nominated for his new Latin jazz release El Tinajón in the Jazz Album of the Year: Solo category.

GRAMMY®-nominated and JUNO Award-winning alto saxophonist, composer and educator Luis Deniz released his debut record, El Tinajón, last May via Modica Music. This tremendously varied debut statement carries listeners through a wide range of sounds from hard bop to Afro-Cuban, following the Cuban-born bandleader through a rich timeline of his varied cultural influences living in Camagüey, Florida and Canada.

“It’s a great honour and quite a surprise to have my very first recording as a leader nominated!” Deniz shared in a statement. “I’m thrilled and quite humbled to be recognized by the Canadian music industry, and to be nominated amongst great musicians with amazing albums. It also makes me very happy to share this nomination with everyone involved in making this album, and I hope it translates as a thank you and recognition for their equally hard work.”

Deniz is nominated alongside the distinguished Ernesto Cervini, Lauren Falls, Rafael Zaldivar and Renee Rosnes. Uniquely, he is featured on both Zaldivar’s Rumba and Cervini’s Joy nominated in the same category, as well as Mark Kelso’s The Dragon’s Tail, nominated in the Jazz Album of the Year: Group category. Deniz’s nomination for El Tinajón marks the 13th JUNO nomination for Modica Music. 

The 2023 JUNO Awards will take place on March 13, 2023 at 8pm EST at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.

“It always seems wise to dally awhile before a debut recording. Mr Deniz’s El Tinajón certainly proves this in more ways than one. It speaks directly from the vessels’ wide mouth of the maturation of the musician in a manner that tells of paying ones’ dues, absorbing influences by listening deeply to conjuring them forth, from the depths of the musical continuum. Certainly in Mr Deniz’s case the approach has resulted in a musical event that aligns with the ancestors – quite separate from the ‘musical herd’ – as Mr Deniz pours his musical heart and soul out into a musical cosmos all his own, exquisitely shaped by his wife and producer Teri Parker.” – Raul Da Gama

• Read our Review – Luis Deniz: El Tinajón

_{YouTube Video – Luis Deniz Group performing “La Ceiba de Mayuya”
From Luis Deniz debut album “El Tinajón on Modica Music
Luis Deniz: Soprano Saxophone, Composer
Rafael Zaldivar: Piano
Roberto Occhipinti: Bass
Amhed Mitchel: Drums
Jorge Luis Torres “Papiosco”: Congas
Recorded at Lula Lounge in Toronto, Canada, on June 12th, 2022
Video by Travis Harrison}

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