Born: April 8, 1973 Primary Instrument: Guitar
Razl is the pseudonym of guitar player and composer Raúl Huelves (Madrid, 1973). His initial stages in the guitar world were at the beginning of the 90’, as part of local bands that mostly focused on rock and progressive rock. The band Tatto Tucum, which he co-founded, creates some interest within several independent discographic labels at the time.
After a few years, Razl gets in contact with the Jazz-Funk scene, being part of some bands like Guateque All Stars. With them, he participated in a few recordings, like their last album Technicolor, and multiple live concerts, not only with the band but also with many artists within the hip hop arena, like Frank T or the Danny Panullo Dancethatre dance company.
In 2001, Razl starts collaborating as a columnist in the very prestigious magazine Guitarra Total after having been named “guitarist of the month” in one of the magazine’s issues. He did interviews, wrote news in brief on concerts and full sections on prestigious musicians like Pat Metheny, Mike Stern, David Fiuczynski, Jack Bruce, Steve Howe, Paul Gilbert or Steve Morse, and bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool or Mastodon. His work as a collaborator in specialized media currently continues with ISP Magazine.
In 2008, he records his debut álbum Rotonova, with collaborators such as Mike Keneally, Bryan Beller, Dean Brown, Damian Erskine or Charlie Dennard, as well as the exceptional drummer Pepe Acebal. The album has a great reception in specialized national media (Guitarra Total, Guitarrista) and international (Guitar Player Magazine, Jazz.com). That very same year, he gets in contact with blues&Soul organ player Mauri Sanchis, and starts being part of Mauri Sanchis’ Super Band with whom he performs in Festivals like San Javier Jazz Festiival or Blues Cazorla Festival. From this partnership, Razl participates in the recording of the album by Mauri Sanchis�' Modern Organ Trio What did you expect!, together with drummer Blas Fernández, which will be published in 2011.
In mid 2010 Razl start recording his new album Microscopic together with Nashville-born bass player Bryan Beller and the drummer Pepe Acebal . From a casual encounter with New York guitar player Will Bernard, regular guitarist in Stanton Moore’s trio, he is invited to play as a guest in one of the tracks of the album. Rubén Salvador, trumpet player also collaborates in the album, as he was a colleague in the in Mauri Sanchis’ Super Band and he’s an outstanding Jazz musician in the Basque Country scene. In Microscopic, Razl radicalizes his sound and focuses on the trio composition, although with more orchestration and guitar arrangements as musical background.
A big influence for Razl�'s music is the progressive rock from the seventies, with bands like Frank Zappa & The Mothers, Gentle Giant or King Crimson. Crude sounds but well elaborated, with complex structures that in many occasions don’t follow a logical order. Razl also takes funk bands from New Orleans, like Galactic, which define the groove meaning and the simplicity of melody lines.
Razl is also a Science fiction fan, especially B movies from the ’50. This hobby has enormously influenced his music, in which he usually introduces flashes of classics in this genre, even when it comes to the composition of tracks. In fact, a few of the tracks progress in a bit of a chaotic way, although they make sense at the end, just like those movies did.
WALTER KOLOSKY (music journalist, author of Follow your heart-John McLaughlin song by song) ---- Razl is a spanish fusionista with keen chops and an equally keen sense of groove. He still executes quick licks with the requisite clarity and precision when appropriate, but his attack and dynamics are atypically nuanced, and the ability to sound notes simultaneously lends a keyboard-like feel to much of his rhythm work. He also opts for relatively clean solo tones on most of the tunes, which further distinguishes him from the fusion pack.
This is the sort of “fusion” record that you can play at parties or while driving down the coast without it ever becoming overbearing. Great grooves, upbeat melodies, and tasteful solos�”everything a smooth jazz album should be, without the smooth jazz!
BARRY CLEVELAND (Guitar Player magazine) --- This is Fusion with a capital F, proving that there's no shame in revisiting the past when the results are this good.
MARK SALESKI (www.jazz.com)
Rotonova (Martian Sheep Records, 2008)
Tracks: Glow Pig; Guachi Cola; Fellow Pillow; Jungle Karma; Grungly; Groovin´ants; Rotonova; Snail Underground; Sugus Nectar; Glow Sheep.
Personnel: Razl: guitar; Pepe Acebal: drums; Bryan Beller: bass; Damian Erskine: bass; Charlie Dennard: Keyboards; Lorenzo Matellán: Keyboards; Moisés Sánchez: Keyboards; Mike Keneally: guitar; Dean Brown: guitar; Zeta: Dj; Hugo Astudillo: sax.
Microscopic (Martian Sheep Records, 2011)
Tracks: Moustache; The bearded woman meets Fedor the giant; Centipede; Galactic Alignment; Prog Pug; The amazing story of Al the aardvark; Zombie Brew; I´m not me; Locksmith St.
Personnel: Razl: guitar; Pepe Acebal: drums; Bryan Beller: bass; Will Bernard: guitar; Rubén Salvador: trumpet.
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