The musical journey of the consummate pianist and erudite composer, Elio Villafranca may be described as nothing if not what the celebrated Victor Frankl described in...
The Latin Side of Jazz is a curated playlist that showcases selected tracks from the best Latin jazz, Cuban, Brasilian, Flamenco, Ibero-American, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latin jazz music....
This album by Wilson “Chembo” Corniel bills itself as Artistas, Músicos y Poetas and takes its cue from all the things that a performer could be...
At the end of October and the beginning of December 2022, the San Francisco Bay Area had two special occasions of music from percussion master John...
In the newly-crowded world of Afro-Caribbean music, where instrumentalists have always reigned supreme, the singularity of the composer is suddenly in the limelight. We are not...
There has always been a healthy restlessness to Elio Villafranca. When I spoke to him in February 2015 he was about to debut a new suite...
Editor’s Pick · Featured Album The record package itself for Cinque is modest, but oddly impressive; its black cover has the title and Mr Villafranca’s name...
The year 2015 has seen two monumental musical works where Afro-Caribbean music collides with Jazz: The first is Elio Villafranca’s suite, Cinque which was premiered at...
It will not be surprising if you are drawn to Take Off, the 2015 recording by Ramón Valle. The reasons are two-fold. For all its imposing...
Pianist, composer, arranger Elio Villafranca and the Jass Syncopator’s presented Cinqué – The Suite of the Caribbean at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room before a...
It is three days before my scheduled interview with the musician and pianist Elio Villafranca. I have long been fascinated by his ferocious talent...
Nora la Bella may not be the only recording where an operatic soprano has made a crossover from the classical realm into music of another idiom...
Editor Danilo Navas and New York Co-Editor Tomas Peña Discuss Elio Villafranca and The Jass Syncopators: Caribbean Tinge Live at Dizzy’s (Motema Music) TP: I attended...
On the evenings of Friday, June 16 and Saturday, June 17, Cuban pianist, composer and bandleader Elio Villafranca hosted what he qualified as “an incredible performance...
To pay tribute to Mongo Santamaría and Thelonious Monk, two legendary musicians of this or any era is challenge enough; but to pay tribute to them...