Godard / Weber / Paceo & Ariel Brínguez Quintet

He has now formed a new trio. He is joined by a kindred musical spirit, the versatile pianist Florian Weber, who is an ECM artist, winner of the prestigious Belmont Prize in 2020 and the NDR Bigband’s pianist since 2021; as well as the drummer Anne Paceo, who accompanied Kenny Garrett and Ravi Coltrane as a teen and who was named Artist of the Year 2019 at the »Les Victoires du Jazz« Awards in France. 

And the second half of the concert also features artists with impressive »musical CVs«. In the 1950s, Ariel Brínguez’s grandfather, Juan José Brínguez, was a saxophonist in Benny Moré’s influential orchestra. So the history of the Brínguez family has been closely intertwined with that of Cuba and Cuban music for generations. Ariel Brínguez made a name for himself in Chucho Valdés’s legendary band »Irakere«. As a student in Havana, he met Wynton Marsalis, and he later played alongside David Murray and Paquito D’Rivera.

Since 2009, Brínguez has been living in Madrid, which has a strong Cuban community. While his »Nostalgia Cubana« is a very personal project – a homage to his old homeland – he never idealises the island nation in a romantic light. He simply explores the enduring power of the songs he grew up with. With Afro-Cuban rhythms, styles and dances such as bolero and danzón, his quintet now performs in Germany for the first time, celebrating – in Ariel Brínguez’s words – »passion as the essence of human nature«.