Simon Bolzinger - Ritmos Queridos (2020)

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Simon Bolzinger - Ritmos Queridos (2020)

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Simon Bolzinger’s pianistic voyage of discovery derived from his encounters with the South American Tambor y Canto company at the Cité de la Musique in his native Marseille. A jazz pianist, Bolzinger worked on the indigenous rhythms of South America he discovered until he felt ready to bring in his colleagues – Willy Quiko on (double) bass and Luca Scalambrino on drums – and record the nine different numbers that constitute these Ritmos Queridas. He chose them as being emblematic of “a region, a country, a people or a music”: a waltz and a joropo from Venezuela, a huayno from Peru, a zamba from Argentina, a Cuban danzón, a Mexican bolero, a Uruguyan candombe, a Brazilian ijexá and a côco con salsa. Among them are a rather lovely mash-up of Debussy’s “Beau Soir” and Jobim’s “Dindi”, and a fiery self-composed “Montuno en Olinda”, which shows just what Bolzinger is capable of on the “eighty-eights”. Played by turns with delicacy and brio, they add up to a fine straight-ahead piano-trio jazz, with an engaging theme and a nice new rhythmic twist. Indeed, a word for the rhythm section, sometimes overlooked in the great scheme of things, for their consistently tasteful and unobtrusive accompaniments.