Sound of surprise

A new twist in the career of Ximo Tebar. From «Son Mediterraneo» to Mainstream Progressive Jazz

Ximo Tébar’s new cd takes us back to the American era of the progressive mainstream of the guitarist, but with the inclusion of a new ingredient: the addition of the gestures of the Son Mediterráneo, like hardly suggested flamenco cadences, brilliant sounds and Latin rhythms within a pure jazz and contemporary language.

Ximo Tébar is “Marca España” [Spanish Brand], a tasty fusion influenced by the classics, art of methodical virtuosity and daring jazzistic innovation. More than three decades ago, jazz guitarist, composer and producer Ximo Tebar began to promote his own projects fusing jazz with Mediterranean music. He has never stopped playing with jazz giants (Johnny Griffin, Benny Golson, Joey DeFrancesco, Idris Muhammad…). The great jazz organist Lou Bennett presented him in France as a “new guitar talent”, George Benson defined his style as a new voice of the guitar, Benny Golson said about him “He’s astounding”, and the prestigious French magazine Jazz Magazine highlighted him as «Le jazzman espagnol… un improvisateur de aute volée»…

If you have the privilege of being in the house-studio of the Valencian guitarist Ximo Tebar, and being able to play with the tracks recorded on his Mac, you can find surprises like this:” Pierre Boulez playing the “Caravan”. That is that discs are constructed and reconstructed with numerous layers that allow you to listen to them. Raul d’Gama Rose, critic of All About Jazz New York, defined this characteristic of Ximo Tebar as “Sound of Surprise“. Well, I have had this privilege alluded to, and I can come forward that Tébar’s new work overflows with “Sounds Surprise” throughout, wide and deep of the eight famous standards that the guitarist makes his own in his next CD for Warner Music: “Con Alma & United”.

Tebar has a marked tendency to cyclical. His new work is based on peculiar and progressive recreations of standards by Shorter, Gillespie, Ellington, Desmond, Mingus, Monk, which remind us of his best albums in this line: “Eclipse” (2005) and “Steps” (2008) ). The title of the CD is an intelligent word game in two languages, and also refers to two cuts included in the album: “United” by Wayne Shorter with the collaboration of Jorge Pardo and “Con Alma” by Dizzy Gillespie with the collaboration of Arturo O’Farrill in New York. A new twist in the career of our most international guitarist; uniting “en cuerpo y Con Alma” a new fusion that takes us from “Son Mediterraneo” to Progressive Jazz Mainstream

The impressive band that Ximo has set up for this project only guarantees, as usual, the quality and exquisiteness of this great new production full of brilliant interpretations of both the innovative arrangements of the eight standards and the charged soloist developments of virtuosity, energy, interaction and powerful groove in abundance.

[José Pruñonosa. Liner Notes Cd]

CREDITS CD

01 CARAVAN [Duke Ellington & Juan Tizol] 02 TAKE FIVE [Paul Desmond] 03 UNITED [Wayne Shorter] Feat. Jorge Pardo [Pseudo-Buleria] 04 GOODBYE PORK PIE HAT [Charles Mingus] 05 CON ALMA [Dizzy Gillespie] Feat. Arturo O’Farrill [Pseudo-Buleria] 06 CONCIERTO DE ARANJUEZ – ADAGIO [Joaquín Rodrigo] 07 POINCIANA [Nat Simon] 08 BEMSHA SWING [Thelonious Monk]

ALL ARRANGEMENTS WRITTEN BY XIMO TEBAR

XIMO TEBAR [guitar] DONALD EDWARDS [drums] 1-3-5-6-8 NATHANIEL TOWNSLEY [drums] 2-4-7 DOMINIQUE DI PIAZZA [bass] 1-6 RICKY RODRIGUEZ [double bass] 3-5 BORIS KOZLOV [bass] 1 ALEX BLAKE [double bass] 8 CESAR GINER [bass] 2 ARTURO O’FARRILL [piano] 5 JORGE PARDO [flauta] 3 JOHN BENÍTEZ [bass] 7 LUIS GUERRA [piano] 1-2-3-4-7 RICARDO BELDA [Rhodes] 6-8 WILL MARTZ [keyboards & backing vocals] VICTOR MERLO [bass] 4 DAVID PASTOR [trumpet] 1-5-8 ROQUE MARTÍNEZ [alt sax] 1-5-8 CLAUDIA TEBAR & DEBRA FELIÚ [backing vocals] 2-7 FERNANDO GARCÍA [percussion] 2

PRODUCED BY XIMO TÉBAR · CO-PRODUCED BY NACHO MAÑÓ & JORGE PÉREZ · EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: AMPARO TÉBAR · RECORDED [JULY 2017], MIXED AND MASTERING [APRIL 2018] BY JORGE PEREZ AT MOMA MUSIC STUDIO · ART DESING AND PAINTER: REBECA PLANA · PHOTOS: JESÚS CISCAR · LINER NOTES: JOSE PRUÑONOSA