The Making of Transparency
ARTIST
Dafnis Prieto Sextet
TITLE
Transparency
RELEASE DATE
October 2, 2020
TYPE
Album
ROLE
Producer
LABEL
Dafnison Music
HONORS
GRAMMY nomination, Best Latin Jazz Album, 64th GRAMMY Awards
Cubadisco Awards Nomination, Best Jazz Album, 2021
TRACK LIST
All compositions by Dafnis Prieto (Dafnison Music/BMI) except Con Alma by Dizzy Gillespie (EMI April Music Inc. o/b/o Dizlo Music Corp./ASCAP)
All arrangements by Dafnis Prieto
1. Amanecer Contigo
2. No Es Fácil
3. Uncerntradition
4. Con Alma
5. Cry With Me
6. On the Way
7. Feed the Lions
8. Nothing or Everything
9. Lazy Blues
PRESS
Named one of the best Latin Jazz albums of the year in the 2020 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll
"The eight originals and one standard... convey emphatic narratives and unrestrained expressiveness, fulfilling Prieto's wish for this project to be 'transparent.' In these confusing times, it's a welcome respite to hear music that's so passionately honest."
— DownBeat ★★★★ Review
"[T]he Dafnis Prieto Sextet triumphs in its transparency"
— JazzTimes
"Dafnis Prieto ... stretches and often shatters the expectations of straight ahead jazz"
— NPR
"[Dafnis Prieto] actively seeks to knock down barriers of thought and expression"
— Modern Drummer
"[W]hat stands out on Transparency is the dazzling ... sophistication of Prieto's compositions"
— All About Jazz
"[T]he nine-track Transparency captivates with a rhythmic vibrancy that surges forward with distinctive arrangements, dynamic harmonies, percussive mystery and playful soul."
— Dan Ouellette
ABOUT
As the follow-up to his 2018 GRAMMY-winning big band album, Back to the Sunset, which DownBeat called "one of the best recordings of the year," Cuban-born drummer, composer, educator, and 2011 MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Dafnis Prieto returns with his newest album, Transparency, from his Dafnis Prieto Sextet, out on Friday, October 2, 2020 on Prieto's independent music label, Dafnison Music, and nominated for a GRAMMY Award for Best Latin Jazz Album! Prieto's fearless Sextet features a top-shelf lineup, including Román Filiú (Alto & Soprano Sax), Alex Norris (Trumpet), Peter Apfelbaum (Tenor Sax, Melodica & Percussion), Alex Brown (Piano), and Johannes Weidenmueller (Acoustic & Electric Bass).
Transparency is the third release by the Dafnis Prieto Sextet, following 2008's Taking the Soul for a Walk and 2015's Triangles and Circles. The album includes nine tracks, with all new compositions by Prieto and an arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie's classic, "Con Alma." The music embraces transparency in all its forms in music and life, celebrating moments fleeting and fragile, simple and beautiful.
Prieto offers this guiding declaration for the project:
Transparency / A see-through repertoire.
Transparent ideas, communication, and relationships.
The clarity of intentions. A single glance. The simplicity of beauty.
The transparent connection to life and everything in it.
The depth, the surface, the fragility of existence.
A sincere breath of fresh air, a transparent statement.
The album, produced by GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY-winning producer Eric Oberstein (Prieto's collaborator on Back to the Sunset), and engineered by GRAMMY winner Mike Marciano, was recorded in New York City in early March 2020 just prior to the COVID-19 shutdown, following a four-night run at the world-famous Jazz Standard.
Oberstein writes, “This album lays bare Dafnis Prieto’s vision and voice as a major composer, arranger, and drummer — vibrant, melodic, multi-hued, and always with intention and joy. It has been an honor continuing our collaboration, working with this masterful band on this powerful project, which is transparent in every sense of the word.”
Since arriving in the U.S. from Cuba in 1999, Prieto has honed his forward-looking musical vision across a range of styles and formats. In the process, he has become equally known for his composing and arranging talents and his electrifying drumming, comfortable exploring a wide spectrum of musical vocabularies.
Transparency is Prieto’s eighth album as a leader, and his latest release on his Dafnison Music label, which he founded in 2008. Dafnison Music serves as an entrepreneurial platform for Prieto to release his musical projects, as well as his books on drumming and rhythm.
A gifted educator, currently serving on the faculty at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, Prieto recently released his second book, Rhythmic Synchronicity, written for non-drummers and inspired by a course of the same name that he developed at Frost. In 2016 Prieto published the groundbreaking analytical and instructional drum book, A World of Rhythmic Possibilities, which captures Prieto’s very personal approach to rhythm and life.While in-person performances are on hold, Prieto has remained active online, recently launching a series of filmed lessons and solo performances on his website.
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