Arsis: High-flying saxophones

It is not precisely geographic coincidence that impels me to write about the Arsis Wind Quintet (what some have called "pinareñidad").

Its thirty-third anniversary is, if anything, a pretext to recognize in black and white the worth and undoubted qualities of an ensemble applauded inside and outside its province and even the country.

It seems like yesterday but it has rained some time since they made their debut as a quartet in 1991 at the Municipal Museum of Consolación del Sur, and after almost twenty-five years of uninterrupted work, they expanded in the search for a better timbre and harmonic result together with the extension of the repertoire, by adding, besides the fifth saxophone, some minor percussion instruments, ideal for their incursions into traditional Cuban music, one of the strongest areas of their work.

Since then, they have performed on numerous stages, not only in Cuba but also in Martinique, Spain, Mexico, Qatar, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland and Estonia, in whose festivals they have participated and received more than one recognition.

There is also an album with the Colibrí label -Alfredo Diez Nieto. 100 years of music (2021), produced by Ulises Hernández- in which several chamber music formats performed the work composed for this type of ensembles by the National Music Prize and the Alfredo Diez Nieto National Prize for Artistic Education, on the occasion of his centenary, and in which they are featured performing his Saxophone Quartets #1 and #2.

In this regard, it is high time for an album with the Arsis signature, their varied and excellent repertoire, the originality and strength with which they defend it, and the criteria of musicians and specialists about their work, constitute a more than sufficient endorsement.

Among the many experts who have commented on Arsis is the prestigious musicologist Rosa E. Lewis, who holds a master's degree in musicology from the University of Hawaii, USA:

"The sound quality achieved by Arsis can be compared to the exquisite sound of an organ. It is in popular works that they demonstrate their versatility and flexibility, as each musical genre is given its special character. The Cuban works reveal its romantic Latin flavor, and the jazz works develop its improvisational style.
In summary, I was impressed by the excellent technique, the quality of his playing (...), the breadth of musical genres he covers in his repertoire, and the versatility of the instruments to give each style its typical character".

Another example. Her Cuban colleague Doris Céspedes wrote in the Pinar del Río magazine Cauce:

"Arsis can already be identified by its characteristic mixture of elements of popular music with the elaboration of themes from the classical repertoire in a very accessible way to all kinds of audiences, guaranteeing the spirit, that is to say, the stylistic lines of each piece that integrates its repertoire, of course adorned with an impeccable execution and the inescapable and sometimes disguised presence of jazz".

Photo courtesy of the author.

Proof of this was the recent concert in one of the usual classic Thursdays of Fábrica de Arte Cubano.

Francisco Javier Linares Gutiérrez (soprano saxophone), Francisco Rafael Valladares Monterrey (alto saxophone), Darío David Trujillo Guerra (tenor saxophone), Raúl Rigoberto Lima González (baritone saxophone) and José Daniel Ayerbe Labrador (alto saxophone, minor percussion and conductor), attacked a varied and complex group of pieces from the most diverse schools, genres and styles, in which they offered true lessons of virtuosity and interpretative grace, sometimes in applaudable solos, but above all in terms of a commendable instrumental blend.

From the nearby airs coming from the mother country (Dance #5by Enrique Granados, Miniature and Small Czarda, Pedro Iturralde's) to the suburban symphonism of the Argentine Piazzola with a version of his celebrated Libertango; of classic jazz (Long ago and far awayby Jerome Kern, Three shades bluesby Paul Nagle) or the Latin (Butterby Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Pozo and Walter Gil Fuller; Las MargaritasChucho Valdés in his Irakere stage) to the peculiar sound of his beloved home province (with tributes to one of the first members of the group, the late Luis Manuel Morales and to his rich piece Mixingor the unforgettable Polo Montañés with the potpourri entitled Al Guajiro Natural), the Arsis performance was a real party.

There was no shortage of encore The very grateful and complicit audience, which accompanied the rhythmic Creole rhythm of the contagious Bilongo (better known by The black Tomasa), by Guillermo Rodríguez Fiffe.

Thirty-three years later, Arsis shows professionalism, taste, culture and talent in abundance, expressed in the best music with no distinction between cult and popular.

The variants in the brass wind that defines and characterizes them become one to sound as a single and nuanced instrument that constitutes an indisputable cathedra in the insular pentagram and far beyond.