Before the end of 2022, the admired pianist Rolando Luna decided to present his “soul in songs” with a handful of songs that are part of the island’s musical treasure.
The original idea came from the musicologist and producer Élsida González, who set out to “make a different album among all of Rolando’s production, trying to delve into that area where his feelings sprout,” he told OnCuba.
Recorded at the Ojalá Studios, by Silvio Rodríguez, and during the month of April of this year, the album is a tribute to Cuban music through songs such as “Guarina” (Sindo Garay); “And you don’t believe in my love” (José Antonio Méndez); “Studio song” (Ñico Rojas); “Adriana” (Manuel Corona); “Cuban Bossa” (Luis Chanivecky Rawet), among others.
The special participation of the Palabras Trio, made up of Liane Pérez, Nubia González and Vania Martínez from Villa Clara, stands out.
For the maestro Rembert Egües, in charge of the record notes and one of the authors honored on the album, it is an “elegant, sensitive, virtuous and fun” material that stands out “not only for the selection of works and the impeccable execution of them, but for the authenticity of his proposal, refined and sincere”.
The author of “Amar, vivir” recognizes in Rolando Luna “a clean, clear piano performance, without unnecessary juggling and boring clichés. He justifies this criterion in his precise and personal “touché”, that sticking of his fingers to the keyboard that allows us to hear from a melancholic pianissimo to a majestic and deep fortissimo.
Also, in “the harmonic paths that he uses when walking through songs created by some of our most distinguished composers and that he recreates with wisdom and respect, showing off his knowledge of feeling, jazz and his impressionist birth, without losing his Cuban accent.
“Throughout its history, the days of Cuban piano music have had a brilliant sun, but above all, and in this case, there will no longer be a Sun without a Moon”, affirms Egües.
Rolando Luna is one of the Cuban pianists with the greatest presence on international stages where he seduces with his charisma, his poetry and his always surprising improvisations. Widely requested by performers from all over, he recently shared in the French city of Tarbes with the musicians Ruy Adrián López Nussa and Thibaud Soulas.
In June of this year he performed with the group El Comité at the Studio de l’Ermitage in Paris, shortly before the release of his double album ‘Rolando’s Faces’: the first recorded live with an audience.
