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06/11/2019
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5 things to know about Mi Alegria by Itamar Erez

Globe-trotting guitarist Itamar Erez has honed his skills over decades working with his quartet, The Adama Ensemble, as well as such celebrated cultural fusionists as Omar Faruk Trebilek and Avishai Cohen.

With a style that fuses flamenco, Brazilian, Middle Eastern and jazz, his fluid playing is inspiring new generations of musicians he instructs as a faculty member at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music.

Mi Alegria is his latest recording featuring some of the finest players on the Canadian scene and packed with stunning musicianship.

The CD launch is on June 20, 7:30 p.m. at the Annex, 823 Seymour St. Tickets at brownpapertickets.com.

Here are five things to know about the album:

1: Pristine recording. At around 1:40 in the opening track Requinto, Francois Houle’s clarinet comes swooping in and the sound and tone is so perfectly mixed that it sounds like it’s on top of the shimmering backing rhythms provided by the rest of the band. Every instrument is immaculately separated to the point you can close your eyes and see each of the seven musicians. Nice.

2: Piano. Like the great Brazilian composer, Erez is every bit as adept on the piano as on the nylon string classical guitar, and his playing on tracks such as Endless Cycle is certain to remind listeners of greats like Chick Corea with its Latin tinges and strong rhythmic drive.

3: Joy in sadness. Erez is a passionate proponent of Brazilian choro. The “little cry,” instrumental style originated in 19th century Rio de Janeiro and is sometimes called Brazil’s blues. But it’s often full of fast, happy rhythms and almost always full of complicated syncopation, counterpoint and melodic inventions. On Choro Sentimental, a solo Erez demonstrates his facility with this difficult form beautifully. There is clearly great joy in the melancholy here.

4: Mi Alegria. The title tune is a classic Latin jazz number where flutist Ilan Salem just cuts loose. There are detractors of this type of music, which has remained largely unchanged for decades. But why would you want to do anything to such a deliciously floating and groovy form? Better to let bassist James Meger and drummer Kevin Romain just swing like crazy behind Erez’s piano and smile.

5: Tides. As a resident of the West Coast, it would seem obvious that there would be a piece which had a distinct stamp of our undulating local waters and less of that tropical, hot chord selection. This is it. A six and a half minute-long song that slowly rises and falls with echoing cymbals, hand drumming and the big, resonant guitar. Fans of Ralph Towner and Oregon or the ECM house sound will totally get this.