Label: Intakt Records, 2023

Personnel - Aruán Ortiz: piano; Brad Jones: bass; John Betsch: drums.

Cuban-born, New York-based pianist and composer Aruán Ortiz has already demonstrated his fearlessness in music, a quality that often leads to unpredictable results in his recordings. His new trio outing, Serranías: Sketchbook for Piano Trio, serves as a double celebration: the 20th anniversary of his recording debut as a leader in the US and his own 50th birthday. His trio companions joining him here are bassist Brad Jones, who also played in the 2018 album Live in Zurich, and drummer John Betsch, who adheres to Ortiz’s universe for the first time.

Following on the heels of his previous works, this thought-provoking album continues to put avant-garde jazz and Afro-Cuban/Haitian tradition on the same experimental page. “Shaw Nuff”, a Dizzy Gillespie/Charlie Parker number, is restructured and reharmonized with hybrid stylishness. The rhythm ingrains in your head, having a steadfast bass pulsation going on, while the pianist seems on another wavelength. The result of his actions feels very much organic, though, tied with chromaticism of his own design. In due course, the trio enters a swinging routine, enabling a few transitions with changes in speed and some vamping in its denouement.

If “En Forma de Guajira”, with its non-obvious tempo and inspired motions and grooves, is a searching tribute to the ethnomusicologist Argelles Leon, then the playful if somewhat abstract solo piano effort “Canto de Tambores e Caracoles” was inspired by the Afro-Cuban poet, playwright, and journalist Jesus Cos Causse.

“Memorias Del Monte” marches with a snaky 12-beat cycle bass figure, sometimes passing the sensation that is going to mutate into an electronic trance dance. There are crystalline constellations of notes emerging from Ortiz’s playing, and the trio shows its knack for serious rhythmic puzzles. Such is also the case with the title track, “Serranías” (mountainous areas), whose polyrhythmic communication opens doors to new emotional spaces.

19th-century Cuban pianist Ignacio Cervantes' “Los Tres Golpes” is more solemn in tone, mounted with droning bowed bass, unconcealed cymbal glee, and unsparing piano reflections that become sweeter at the end. Ortiz’s “Black Like a Thunder Stone” and “Lullaby for the End Times” explore different moods. The former, flowing hastily with a modernized bop-oriented approach, translates into catchy portions of melody that recall jazz standards; the latter plays like a balmy chorale with gentle brushwork and sparse bass notes.

With plenty of individual expression, Serranías holds together as a complete work unto itself. Ortiz’s unique voice is present.