{"product_id":"jazz-bata-2-50864","title":"Jazz Batá 2 \/ Chucho Valdés","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eJazz Batá 2\u003c\/em\u003e, composer, pianist and bandleader Chucho Valdés' first album for Mack Avenue Records, marks a new peak of creativity for the artist, even as it revisits the small-group concept of his 1972 Cuban album Jazz Batá. That album upon release was originally considered experimental at the time, but the trio project - featuring no drum set and two virtuosi who would subsequently be charter members of Irakere: Carlos del Puerto (bass) and Oscar Valdés (batâ: the sacred, hourglass shaped drums of the Yoruba religion in Cuba) - would now be considered contemporary. Recorded in two and a half days at John Lee's studio in New Jersey, \u003cem\u003eJazz Batá 2\u003c\/em\u003e is both rhythmic and lyrical at once. The six-hand complexity of the batá repertoire - the deep classical music of West Africa - permeates Valdés' piano solos throughout the album. \"I applied to my solos the different rhythms of the batá,\" he says. \"The piano is of course a harmonic instrument, but it's percussive too, and you can play percussion with it.\" Valdés set the batá-driven small-group format aside in the wake of Irakere's explosive popularity in 1973, but he's always wanted to get back to it. Now he's done it with \u003cem\u003eJazz Batá 2\u003c\/em\u003e, \"with more resources, in every sense,\" he says, \"with a wider panorama.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MACK AVENUE RECORDS","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46130218762474,"sku":"673203114623","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3582374-3392619.jpg?v=1783464854","url":"https:\/\/arkivmusic.com\/products\/jazz-bata-2-50864","provider":"ArkivMusic","version":"1.0","type":"link"}