Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Dafnis Prieto Sextet: Transparency

Dafnis Prieto Sextet: Transparency

By John Chacona
November 21, 2020
View read count

In Cuban music, emotional grandeur and extravagant virtuosity is built on a foundation of inexhaustible rhythm. So, it's no surprise to find an abundance of juicy melodies and breathtaking drumming on Transparency from drummer and MacArthur "Genius" Fellow

Dafnis Prieto

drums
b.1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Dafnis Prieto.

Yet for all the astonishing things he does behind the kit, what stands out on Transparency is the dazzling formal sophistication of Prieto's compositions. Eight of the nine composer credits are his and the outlier, an arrangement of

Dizzy Gillespie

trumpet
1917 - 1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Dizzy Gillespie's "Con Alma" as a ballad in five, is so transformed as to seem like his alone.

Prieto builds on a foundation of strong, often cinematic melodies and sturdy rhythms, but the devil is in the unexpected and delightful details. The short, shuffle-rhythm tag he adds to the solos section of "Uncerntradition" is like a head nod to the Jazz Messengers editions with the same trumpet, alto and tenor saxophone front line featured here.

"Cry With Me" begins with a vaulting, tumbling drum solo over which the horns introduce a unison chorale figure that returns after

Peter Apfelbaum

saxophone
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Peter Apfelbaum's sprinting tenor saxophone solo over a boiling conga rhythm. When Prieto shifts to a fast three for

Alex Norris

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Alex Norris' trumpet solo, the chorale theme bounces to

Alex Brown

piano
b.1987

" data-original-title="" title="">Alex Brown's piano then back to the horns under

Roman Filiu

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Roman Filiu's alto solo, but this time with an added syncopation. Prieto drops in short, breathtaking drum breaks after each of the horn solos in a kind of rondo structure, each break introducing a new rhythm. The last lands unexpectedly and delightfully in classic swing time, with the chorale figure now reincarnated as a syncopated

Horace Silver

piano
1928 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Horace Silver riff.

There are compositional wrinkles like this in every cut, and they're easy to miss as you're swept along by the rhythmic whirlwind set up by Prieto, bassist

Johannes Weidenmueller

bass, acoustic
b.1966

" data-original-title="" title="">Johannes Weidenmueller and Brown. But while classic Afro-Cuban rhythms are always present, they are seldom foregrounded. Prieto likes to mix things up. So, a galloping seven-(or maybe fourteen-) beat rhythm drives "On This Way," for which Brown sustains a finger-busting Scott-Joplin-meets-Conlon- Nancarrow piano figure for an inhuman length of time. Weidenmueller on electric bass kicks off "Nothing or Everything" in 11 and only Prieto knows how many multiple intersecting rhythmic cycles are on "Feed the Lions," a piece strongly reminiscent of Prieto's old boss,

Steve Coleman

saxophone, alto
b.1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Steve Coleman. Only the 1960s boogaloo "Lazy Blues," which is essentially a drum solo marked off by occasional piano stabs, sounds simple. Yet for all Prieto's architectural complexity, the surge of melody and the constant pull of the beat provide an easy path through the sixty-six minutes of music.

Dafnis Prieto has long been able to turn his drum kit into a one-man Cuban percussion section of cowbell, congas and timbales, holding four different rhythms together at once. On Transparency, he does the same thing with melody, harmony and form, and he makes it sound easy.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Amanecer Contigo; No Es F��cil; Uncerntradition; Con Alma; Cry With Me; On the Way; Feed the Lions; Nothing or Everything; Lazy Blues.

Personnel

Dafnis Prieto

drums

Johannes Weidenmueller

bass, acoustic

Roman Filiu

saxophone, alto

Peter Apfelbaum

saxophone

Alex Norris

trumpet

Alex Brown

piano

Additional Instrumentation

Peter Apfelbaum: melodica, percussion; Roman Filiu: soprano saxophone; Johannes Weidenmueller: electric bass.

Album information

Title: Transparency | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Dafnison Music

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Exploring music from 1975 and 1978
< Previous

2 Cents
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.