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Gabriel Espinosa

The alluring melodies, engaging harmonies and insinuating rhythms of Brazil permeate this very pleasing ZOHO debut by Mexico-born bassist-composer-arranger Gabriel Espinosa. And yet, lurking beneath the soothing surface of these buoyant tunes is a profound depth of real-deal jazz expression presented by an international all-star cast of world class players and improvisers including Brazilian trumpeter Claudio Roditi, Swiss alto sax burner George Robert, Brazilian pianist Helio Alves, Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo, Israeli clarinetist Anat Cohen, Brazilian drummer Adriano Santos, Mexico-born drumming sensation Antonio Sanchez, Brazilian percussion player Jacinto Macedo, vocalists Darmon Meader and Kim Nazarian of the New York Voices and singer-composer Alison Wedding.

A native of Merida, the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatan, Espinosa grew up absorbing the sounds of the bossa nova movement that swept the United States and Mexico in the early 1960s. “I remember being 14 years old, listening to those great Brazilian players who would come through Merida on their tours. And I was like, Wow! That music is so interesting, so nice. I really fell in love with it as a teenager and since then I’ve really been close to that kind of music.”

A graduate of Central College in Pella, Iowa, Espinosa attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he received a diploma in arranging. He later received his masters degree in jazz studies in 1995 at the University of North Texas, and the following year came full circle back to Central College, where he has been director of Jazz Studies for the past 13 years. Throughout his career as an educator and player (he’s recorded three CDs since 2000 with the Latin band Ashanti), Espinosa has put a premium on being a composer-arranger rather than showcasing his own bass chops. “There’s no such a thing like that here,” he laughs about the prospect of putting out a “bass hero” project. Indeed, the music heard on From Yucatan to Rio is purely about the music — the beautiful blend between the horns, the affecting, lyrical quality heard on each tune. “I see myself more like a composer and an arranger than a soloist,” Espinosa continues. “I was always more in love with writing music and arranging the music.”

The opener, Gabriel’s arrangement of the popular Carlos Jobim composition “Agua de Beber” features guest vocalists Darmon Meader and Kim Nazarian of the New York Voices. Alison Wedding, who also appears on the buoyant Jobim track, was a colleague of Espinosa’s in the early 90s during their years together at the University of North Texas.

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Album Review

Gabriel Espinosa: Songs Of Bacharach And Manzanero

Read "Songs Of Bacharach And Manzanero" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


American pop sophisticate Burt Bacharach and Mexican bolero icon Armando Manzanero may not seem like a good fit for a binary tribute album, but that combination actually works. Why, you ask? The answer is fairly simple: When you boil down the music that each of those men created, you're left with indelible melodies, beautiful and colorful harmonies, and personalized forms of language that, nonetheless, remain approachable. Gabriel Espinosa, a bassist-vocalist with an affinity for the work of ...

297
Album Review

Gabriel Espinosa: From Yucatan to Rio

Read "From Yucatan to Rio" reviewed by Edward Blanco


A native of Merida, the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatan, bassist/composer/arranger Gabriel Espinosa delivers his fourth album and ZOHO debut with a stunning recording, delving into a palette of Brazilian-colored music with the help of an international cast of world-class musicians. Living in Merida since the age of fourteen, Espinosa spent years listening to and absorbing the bossa nova sounds brought by touring groups headed for the United States as part of the new wave that swept the ...

368
Album Review

Gabriel Espinosa: From Yucatan to Rio

Read "From Yucatan to Rio" reviewed by John Barron


Mexican-born bassist/composer Gabriel Espinosa has spent the past 13 years as director of jazz studies at Central College in Pella, Iowa. With a fresh batch of Brazilian-flavored compositions and arrangements, the Yucatan native organized an all-star session in the fall of 2008 to produce the aptly titled From Yucatan to Rio. The disc features an impressive cast of world-class musicians including Romero Lubambo (guitar), Helio Alves (piano), Claudio Roditi (trumpet), Anat Cohen (clarinet), George Robert (alto saxophone) and Antonio Sanchez ...

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Album Review

Gabriel Espinosa: From Yucatan to Rio

Read "From Yucatan to Rio" reviewed by John Patten


Bassist Gabriel Espinosa's From Yucatan to Rio (Zoho Music, 2009) works the abundant musical territory found in Latin rhythms and harmony, creating sounds that are at once fresh while still carrying a tinge of bossa and '60s sounds.

Working with an A-list crew that includes Claudio Roditi on trumpet, Anat Cohen on clarinet (for “Nuevos Horizontes"), and drummer Antonio Sanchez on several cuts, Espinosa gets terrific treatments of his compositions.

Espinosa's regular gig is with the ...

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Recording

Gabriel Espinosa: Yucatan to Rio

Gabriel Espinosa: Yucatan to Rio

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Bassist Gabriel Espinosa grew up in Merida, capital of the Mexican state of Yucatan. There, on the tip of Mexico's curled base in the early 1960s, Espinosa fell in love with the seductive bossa nova played by traveling Brazilian bands that stopped over in Merida on tour. After emigrating to the U.S., Espinosa attended Central College in Pella, Iowa, and then Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he received a degree in arranging. He went on to earn a ...

"Espinosa is bound to take a giant leap forward in his career with his auspicious debut as a leader for ZOHO Music." — Bill Milkowski

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