Pneuma / Pneuma

The most attentive will have noticed a new presence on the Havana jazz scene, who a little over a month ago released his single In the Smokethrough social networks. Pneuma is the name of this new project, which in its debut features Marlon Castro (keyboard and bass), Alejandro Mendoza (saxophone), Jonathan Formell (guitar and double bass) and Luis Martinez (guitar and bass).drums). His eponymous EP is available on all platforms since April 30.

Pneuma, in its meaning as a word, evokes the qualities of air, life and spirit in terms of its fluidity and freedom, something that comes in handy as a concept for an album (as well as a band), which has no other essence than spontaneity and exploration itself. The search on this EP brings with it no pretense; the listener decides how to make what is offered his own.

With 28 minutes of duration, Pneuma is made up of five songs that are in turn only one; with an average of six minutes, except for the fourth one. In other words: a journey with several stops. What stands out the most on the first listen is how the transition from one track to the next is imperceptible, transporting the listener from one state to another with a warm and genuine invitation remarkable from Lumbre, the track that opens.

The second most relevant thing is that everything that happens was recorded live, the product of a collective improvisation. Without scores or previous rehearsals, everything that is sounding is the fruit of the moment, of the inspiration and complicity of the musicians. Knowing this not only incites and guarantees in advance that there will be a second listening, but also a more delightful experience where one is able to participate in a more personal way with what one hears, almost as if one were part of it.

This is a unique and unrepeatable event, as were the legendary live sessions of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter and Ambrose Akinmusire, who are major influences on this project. And I say legendary not in vain, because it is hard to believe that such elaborate and coherent products could have been the result of improvisation.

Many have remained skeptical about how much can be achieved without any rehearsal, without scores, with hardly any previous idea; however, Pneuma comes to demonstrate and confirm that it is possible. To date, only one other material with these characteristics has been phonographically recorded in Cuba. Masintinby Yasel Muñoz, Mario Salvador and Marcos Morales took the first place, leaving the first place to Pneuma the second. Witnessing these peculiarities as they happen as a spectator is too tempting to pass up.

As I mentioned before, the content of the EP is first displayed with LumbreThe atmosphere from the beginning invites us to relax and let ourselves go. The atmosphere from the beginning proposes us to relax and let ourselves go. The saxophone gives us the hand to take us to a precise moment almost palpable. You can feel that moment in the afternoon when the street lamps wake up and the sun almost sleeps; when the freshness of the night that arrives has that characteristic smell that has the breeze of the boardwalk. Lumbre is a walk through El Vedado, going somewhere with the mind lost in the landscape, recognizing the daily horizon as new and at the same time as home.

Skirting the Nexusthe second theme, or rather the second moment, is like an arrival after the hike that is Lumbre. The dialogue between the keyboard and the drums leads the dynamics. The conversation of the instruments also includes one, who easily feels the impulse to dialogue internally and, at the same time, to listen. It is a welcome, as if one were arriving at a friend's house to enjoy that night that shelters us. The musicians' rapport becomes very present more than anything else in the small subtleties in which they converge. Their conversation is also ours.

Skirting the Nexus has the privilege of giving us a glimpse of the background of its authors, something that will expand as the album progresses. First of all, there is a constant inclination in Jonathan Formell's guitar towards contemporary music, which suggests an academic formation linked to it. It is also perceived, in the same way, a great rock influence that at times reminds us of bands like The Doors.

Zephyrnumber three, is the moment I personally choose to inhabit most often. Just like the name, it sounds refreshing and full of colors, with an ending that draws a sunrise through the saxophone: the night was very short, the conversation was pleasant and extensive; the dawn has surprised us. The keyboard wanders as the light would wander through the silhouette of the city, with a caress that is almost a love letter. The sensitivity that emerges at this moment makes more sense remembering Marlon Castro's training as a flutist. The colors he manages to bring out of the keyboard could very well be achieved with the flute. The saxophone, once again, is key, and Alejandro Mendoza carries it in the most genuine way, recreating melodies reminiscent of words.

The international Interlude is the penultimate moment and the shortest of all, at only 2:12 minutes. This one is a bit colder and reminds us of a rainy scene. The landscape is different, the rainy morning forces us to stay where we are and we do it with pleasure. The sounds that come to us begin to evoke the watery, a wet friction. Although the whole album has avant-garde elements, especially in the guitar, it is here where they are most evident. As with ZephyrThe details are as precise as a house of cards, moving one could collapse the rest. It is then when it becomes really important to understand and know in advance the creative process from which the EP emerges. That unity and connection is an invisible instrument that doesn't shut up.

The rain of the Interlude lifts steam from the pavement to give the ultimate momentum: In the Smoke. The landscape returns to what it was, but not us, with all the beauty of circular narratives. The street welcomes us as the first time, but in opposite colors. Despite being the end, the story does not decline, on the contrary, it leaves us wanting more, with the taste of a farewell in which no one wants to leave, with a promise of more in its last seconds. The spectrum of sounds widens, searching for sonorities that merge between Cuban and foreign. The nods to rock, which before could go unnoticed, are now highlighted and the saxophone is comfortable. After having been a great accomplice in this journey, the drums are allowed to stand out. Luis Martinez makes it easy to accompany a jazz of impromptu with his sure hand.

I would like to comment on small details, perhaps more technical, and other things about which it becomes daring to speak without knowing. The truth is that everything has been said, and what doesn't seem so comes up the more you listen to it. Why do I talk about so many listens? Because it is inevitable. Each one is a different experience in which new sounds and images appear. The narrative that achieves Pneuma allows enjoyment to be layered, and everyone "peels" as far as they wish.

This EP is a different proposal, ready to enrich and feed back, something always positive in any sphere, but especially necessary in art. The continuous emergence of young projects in jazz, willing to evolve and experiment, augurs a hopeful future for Cuban music.

Pneuma brings us an opportunity to explore inside our own mind with freedom and give free rein to our imagination. A highly recommended work for the search of inspiration or sensations. It is, in the most succinct summary, that which when it plays in the background suddenly makes you stop a heated conversation to ask who the artist is.