ALEX MARCELO – SOLO (Intakt Records) (2026) (www.intaktrec.ch)

ALEX MARCELO – SOLO (Intakt Records) (2026) (www.intaktrec.ch)

Press release: We are thrilled to release our first collaboration with pianist Alexis Marcelo – a mesmerizing solo debut! A contagious exuberance of playing, energetic explosive improvisations, and an openness to jazz tradition and experimentation combine on this album to create an impressive musical statement. “Almost everything he plays affirms his history and culture as a first- generation American, the son of a Panamanian mother and a Dominican father. Growing up in the Bronx and in Queens during hip hop’s first years – the first jazz he heard were samples – hearing salsa and merengue at home, attending Latino evangelical churches, and – yes – studying classical music at the Harlem School of the Arts shaped Marce lo’s identification as an African Latino with an inclusive sensibility(...)Once artists establish a strong identity, they can draw outside the lines, smudge them, even erase them, without diluting or diminishing that identity. That is what Alexis Marcelo has done with Solo Piano”, writes Bill Shoemaker in the liner notes.

Review: A good example of what Bill Shoemaker refers to is the first number ‘Boogieminish Pop’ (the title speaks for itself). ‘Break Bread’ is an entirely different prospect, in the soul gospel tradition, an alluring and visceral piece, piano notes cascading like waterfalls in the mid-section of a 6-minute piece that covers the whole length of the keyboard. ‘Have Mercy’ (8 minutes) has flurries of notes graduating to a crescendo as if urgently pleading then diminuendos to a more reflective passages, a clever contrast with tranquil arpeggios towards its conclusion. The Latin-esque ‘A Soca Comote’ features strident mesmerising runs but never loses sight of the melody. ‘1010 Wins’ is tricky on the ear with sparse right-hand notes to begin with through a passage that gives the impression of the journey of a train (in my imagination anyway). ‘Chroma’ has a jagged start with spaces between the resounding chords. There is still a lot more to come but the above will give you an impression of this intriguing music.