D I S TA N C I A Is the debut album from Peruvian jazz guitarist Rodrigo Almonte. Combining his jazz, Peruvian music and Brazilian music influences, Almonte presents a unique proposal filled with musical emotion and interaction alongside an incredible group of international musicians.
Rodrigo Almonte is a Peruvian guitarist and composer based in Dublin. He has played extensively on the Peruvian and European jazz scene with his own different musical projects. His lyrical melodies, fresh chords and intricate rhythms are equally present and well-balanced on his solos and compositions. With his South American and contemporary jazz influences, Almonte brings a unique approach to music.
This album is the combination of every influence that shaped Rodrigo Almonte’s musical persona: from Maria Schneider, through Lage Lund, all the way to Pat Metheny, in a special encounter with the traditional Peruvian music of Raul Garcia Zarate, Gabriel Alegria, among others.
The campaign has 18 days left. This is your opportunity to contribute to the manufacturing & design process by advance purchasing the album - as well as some unique special offers - you will be among the first to own a copy of this great record. You can get anything from an album itself to private lessons and even a private concert.
The Band
Lorenzo Vitolo – piano
Rafael Abdalla - double bass
Roberto Pistolesi – drums
Rodrigo Almonte – guitar
Daniel Juárez - tenor saxophone
The quintet features musicians with an international career (with incredible projects under each of their names) whom share the experience of graduating from the Jazz Performance Master program at the prestigious Prins Claus Conservatoire in The Netherlands.
DISTANCIA STORY
How far do you need to go to experience music more intimately? In what direction should you embark on a musical journey? I can’t think of a straight and universal answer to these questions, but I know that beautiful and enticing music comes from a plethora of experiences, a creative journal nurtured by different cultures, moments in time, places in this world.
Every piece of music on DISTANCIA is an honest representation of a pilgrimage of different distances that I had to walk, musically and geographically speaking, in order to find inspiration and to create a representation of myself and my experiences as a musical nomad.
Every image on DISTANCIA is also a search for beauty and uniqueness in nature. I was inspired by photographer Kel Portman’s project Walking the Land, for which he decided to walk a set distance in different directions starting from the same place in order to capture the complex variety and beauty that this world has to offer, and to celebrate this variety by creating artistic masterpieces that are only possible thanks to the visual syncretism created by the influences of different environments.
I relate this process of artistic syncretism to my musical journey; different distances travelled, different directions taken, different cultures that nurtured my way of composing and improvising, from classical music to contemporary jazz, passing through traditional Peruvian and Brazilian music.
All of these influences, together with the unique musical path that each member of the band has walked and projected onto the performance, and the improvisation recorded on this album, represent a glimpse into a musical journey that hopefully inspires others to embark on their own adventure.
More About Rodrigo Almonte
Music has brought me around the world. I was born in Arequipa, Peru. Since I was a kid I have always been surrounded by music. From the traditional Afro-Peruvian rhythms heard at every family celebration, through Andean Peruvian melodies on my daily journey on public transport, to contemporary popular music on the radio. It was hard to comprehend music as a path of life, professionally speaking, in a country like Peru back then, but I first realised that music was more to me than just a pleasure when I used to spy on my older brother getting guitar lessons in order to understand the magical language of this beautiful instrument.
That spark of discovery became a flame once I witnessed jazz improvisation, and I realised that I wanted to create music every day for the rest of my life in order to share a bit of myself and my story with the rest of the world.
I found myself on an endless quest: to discover my own musical persona; to create music that evokes honesty and emotion in the ear of the listener. From the deep rich musical culture of Peru, through my Bachelor studies in Brazil (Faculdade Souza Lima and Berklee) and Ireland (Newpark Music Centre), to my Masters studies in the Netherlands (Prins Claus Conservatoire) and New York (Queen’s College of Music), where I studied with masters of this craft like Lage Lund, Yotam Silberstein, Lupa Santiago, Victor Gould, Ari Hoenig, among others. Through 20 years of experience I continue to focus on creating the most beautiful, meaningful and memorable music I can imagine.
Connect with Rodrigo Almonte
Website: www.rodrigoalmonte.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rdrg24
Instagram: www.instagram.com/rodrigoalmonte.music
