Gonzalo Rubalcaba - Inner Voyage (rel.1999)

Front Cover	Album Info
	Artist/Composer Gonzalo Rubalcaba Title Inner Voyage Length 73:05 Discs: 1 Tracks: 9 Format CD-R (copy) Packaging Jewel Case Label Blue Note (EMI) Cat. Number 99241 Style General Jazz Rating

Musicians	Credits
Michael Brecker sax tenor Gonzalo Rubalcaba piano Ignacio Berroa drums Jeff Chambers bass	Producer Gonzalo Rubalcaba Engineer Jim Anderson

Track list

01 Yolanda Anas 05:23 02 Promenade 07:45 03 The Hard One 06:31 04 Sandyken 07:51 05 Here's That Rainy Day 09:35 06 Caravan 10:59 07 Joan 11:33 08 Blues Lundvall 06:58 09 Joao 06:30

Notes

_Amazon.com Cuban-born pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba's ninth Blue Note recording, Inner Voyage is an aptly titled affair. Throughout the album's nine tracks, which showcase his regular working trio of drummer Ignacio Berroa and bassist Jeff Chambers with fiery guest appearances by tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker on two tracks, Rubalcaba's vision is more introspective than on his previous release, Antiguo. But it's no less affecting and in fact may be Rubalcaba's most heartfelt playing to date. Featuring a mix of tunes penned by Rubalcaba and standards like "Here's That Rainy Day" and "Caravan," the music on Inner Voyage is meant to evoke various figures in the pianist's life, from his daughter ("Yolando Anas") and two sons ("Joan" and "Joao") to Blue Note Records head Bruce Lundvall ("Blues Lundvall"). Listeners who expect a thrilling ride of Afro-Cuban rhythms all the way through may be surprised, since unlike Chucho Valdés and the elder Cuban piano statesman Rubén Gonzáles, Rubalcaba doesn't wear his Cuban influence on his sleeve. In fact, most of the disc finds him treading delicately on Bill Evans territory, and it's not even until the charged rendition of "Caravan" that Rubalcaba lets some wondrously jagged piano montunos bubble to the surface. --Ezra Gale