Pasache Music

LATIN JAZZ NETWORK

Eric Kurimski - Replica
Lima Limon Records (2008)
By Raul d'Gama Rose

In Peru, Eric Kurimski observes in the notes of his journey to Lima, the concept of time loosely exists. What a remarkable observation by the musician who became besotted with Peruvian music so much so that he traveled to the small South American country to become one of its most extraordinary exponents. This recording, Replica, the debut for Eric Kurimski, is a seminal document of the music of Peru. It is unlike the scores of folkloric recordings made in South America, by a world that has come under the bewitching spell of Latin American music. Here an artist, an important guitar maestro has participated directly in the creation of Afro-Peruvian music. It is a case of cultures colliding - jazz and Afro-Peruvian - to bring new musical creations to life.

Kurimski is a guitarist par excellence. He has adapted a principally classical technique to the stringed instrument, enabling it to sing with both jazz and Spanish inflections. The technique is pizzicato, but the notes are often bent offering sudden and subtle glissandos. This
makes the instrument a willing participant in the making of landos and festejos and valses. In choosing these forms Kurimski brings an important aspect of Afro-Peruvian music into focus and that is its inextricable link to the blues context of jazz.

In exquisite fashion, he turns John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" into a joyful lando. The irony should not be lost as the lando featured interior rhythms (forbidden by the Colonial Spanish) and once signified a complete freedom from slavery. "Giant Steps"? How much more significant can the title now be?

More extensively, this record features a fine interplay between guitar and the arch instrument of Peru, the Cajon. Juan Medrano Cotito is one of those little-known maestros of the instrument. His style is bold and he issues a rapid battery of slaps - both with flat and variously cupped palms to berate the box with such an array of tones and pitches that the rhythm is multiplied with a bountiful cornucopia of echoes and resonant vibrations unlike percussion rarely experienced in jazz. This is completely new music where modern compositions such as "Hope For Spring" rub noisily together with "Ronca Canalete" and "Toro Mata". "Desesperacion," "Yo No Como Camote" and the unforgettable "Despertar," by the celebrated Afro-Peruvian master, Carlos Hayre, make this one of the most ground-breaking records of 2008 - one where Afro-Peruvian music meets jazz in a spell-binding collision of artistic cultures.

Tracks: Hope for Spring; New York Titlan; Ronca Canalete; Giant Steps; Yo No Como Camote; Toto Mata; Desesperacion; Despertar.

Personnel: Eric Kurimski: guitar; Juan Medrano Cotito; cajon, percussion, guapeo (3, 6); Carlos Hayre: guitar/electric bass (7); Edward Perez: bass (1, 4, 5, 8); Sergio Veldeos: guitar (1, 5, 8); Yuri Juarez: guitar (2, 4); Noel Marambio: bass (4); Joscha Oetz: bass (3, 6); Charo Goyoneche: vocals (3, 6); Carlos Medrano: cajita/coros (3, 6).

LATIN JAZZ CORNER

Eric Kurimski - Replica
Lima Limon Records (2008)
By Chip Boaz

                                                                     Album of the Year: Réplica, Eric Kurimski                      Here at LJC, 2008 will be remembered as the year that Latin Jazz officially stepped outside the authority of Afro-Cuban and Brazilian rhythms, and leading the charge is Eric Kurimski’s outstanding Afro-Peruvian Jazz album Réplica. The Latin Jazz world has been moving deeper into South America for years, but it long needed a defining album to make the transition complete. Réplica serves as that album; it represents the best of both worlds as it brings together musicians and repertoire from both the traditional Peruvian music world and New York’s vibrant jazz scene. Legendary guitarist Carlos Hayre, influential cajon player Juan “Cotito” Medrano, and bassist Joscha Oetz contribute significantly to the album, all musicians heavily involved in the Peruvian music scene. Kurimski and bassist Edward Perez apply their cross-cultural understandings of jazz and Peruvian music to the album, adding a New York edge. The repertoire ranges from interpretations of traditional Peruvian songs such as “Ronca Canalete” to jazz heavy tracks like John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” played over a lando rhythm. It’s an organic blend that seems perfectly natural, and it resonates with inspirational performances. If you haven’t made the jump into Afro-Peruvian Jazz yet, and you’re ready to take the leap, Réplica should be your first stop. If you’ve moved ahead and listened to Réplica, you’re probably hooked on Afro-Peruvian Jazz, and you can understand without a shadow of a doubt, why Réplica stands as LJC’s 2008 Album of the Year.

Eric Kurimski, is New York’s most sought after guitarist for Afro Peruvian music. He holds a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Jazz from SUNY Purchase and the Aaron Copland School of Music in New York respectively. In 2002 he began intense studies of Afro Peruvian rhythms with the esteemed guitarist, the maestro Carlos Hayre (Carlos has influenced and modernized the advancement of Afro-Peruvian music from the 1940’s through the present day.) Carlos became Eric's professor/ mentor and proved to be very important for his musical career.

Now, fusing his knowledge of Jazz with rhythms of Peru and Latin America, Eric has dedicated himself to defining a new sound integrating the Peruvian Cajon (box) as the principal percussion instrument in a Jazz setting. He has performed throughout the Americas including the United States, Canada, Peru, Mexico, Cuba and Puerto Rico. He has performed or recorded with Avishai Cohen (trumpet), Oscar Stagnaro, Marc Ribot, Yunior Terry, Eva Ayllon, Carlos Hayre, Aquiles Baez, Edward Perez, Sofia Koutsovitis, Roberto “Chino” Bolanos, Mariela Valencia and William Luna.

Eric's debut release "Réplica" (Lima Limon Records) recorded in Peru, features Juan Medrano Cotito of the Susana Baca Group (2003 Grammy award winner) as well as some of Peru's finest Afro Peruvian musicians; Sergio Valdeos (Susana Baca Group,) Yuri Juarez (Gabriel Alegrias Afro Peruvian Jazz Ensemble,) Charo Goyoneche (Teatro del Milenio) and the unequaled maestro Carlos Hayre. This ground breaking recording mixes traditional Afro Peruvian Music with modern Jazz.

             
                                                    Eric Kurimski

                                                              Réplica