I began my review of Gabriel Vicéns’ previous release, 2024’s Mural, with a caveat that basically boiled down to “I might not know much, but I know what I like.” And I really liked Mural. So when I was given the opportunity to review this new release, Niebla, I figured I’d at least be more knowledgeable than last round. That turned out to not really be true, but this time I’m going to take it as a testament to the broadness of Vicéns’ palette rather than cast further aspersions on my limited understanding of jazz-based music. Which is to say that while Mural was what I referred to as “contemporary chamber,” Niebla is something quite different. Like Mural, I also find it a little hard to describe, which is perhaps fitting for an album whose title is the Spanish word for “fog.”

The album starts with Vicéns alone on the guitar playing a song entitled “El Fin de la Noche…” It is gentle and short and really just a way to ease you into the title track, which is not exactly either of those things. Starting with a little bass and sax, the rest of the group tumbles in before too long. The song then finds several different pathways over the course of its eight minutes with instruments pushing to the fore and just as quickly falling away before everyone returns to the main theme. 

What immediately struck me as things got underway was the Latin underpinning to Niebla. I mean, well beyond the title. Vicéns was born in Puerto Rico, and so this is perhaps some reflection of that background. However, the excellent liners not only point out the elements of bomba and plena, traditional Puerto Rican styles, but note that changüí was also an influence. That sent me a-searching the internet where I learned that changüí is a Cuban music which originated in the early 19th century in the eastern region of Guantánamo Province. It was first played by workers in sugar cane refineries and in rural areas where slaves lived and includes, among other things, Spanish guitar and African rhythms. So this is quite a heady stew indeed.

The second thing that struck me was how hot the group can get, sometimes tacking toward be-bop and unafraid of dissonance. The band is a sextet, with Vicéns on guitar, Roman Filiú on alto sax, Victor Gonçalves on piano, Rick Rosato on bass, E.J. Strickland on drums, and additional percussion by Victor Pablo, and they can kick up quite a bit of dust. But then often they… don’t. Thus the third element of Niebla is silence. The songs typically arrive at very quiet passages and sometimes even seconds of complete quiet. This juxtaposition of movement and rest is quite effective, and Vicéns plays additional short solo guitar pieces in the middle (“…tu anhelo” or “your longing) and at the end (“…y la Lluvia” (i.e. “…and the Rain”)) of the record to let the listener (and maybe the players) exhale.  

“Vejigante” is a little more understated, moving along at an unhurried pace before entering an extended middle section of gently intertwining instruments and moments of silence. The piano playing of Gonçalves then really comes to the fore in the second half. “900-50-800” takes its name from a painting by Olga Albizu, an abstract expressionist, and almost feels like something of a painting, its tones and textures appearing very slowly, like small daubs of paint that suggest a scene but never fully reveal it. It sounds, in fact, like fog.

I might consider “Ramaje,” at 15 minutes long, Niebla’s centerpiece, encompassing all the elements described, with cascading alto sax work by Filiú and some very long moments of silence and understated percussion. With complexity and simplicity in close counterpoint, this is not music that is really meant for the background. In many ways, quietude requires more active engagement than volume. There’s also an expressive full kit solo by E.J. Strickland. A drum solo that is both lyrical and natural is never to be taken for granted.

You can feel the Latin roots underpinning “Guaiza,” giving Vicéns a solid rhythmic base from which to take a soaring solo before the band brings things back to earth. “Stray Dogs” turns things up again, a little menace even surfacing in the sax and piano interplay before everyone gets down to business, the group propulsion seeming almost like jockeying for position. Then piano, drums, and bass carry the song across the finish line.

If you’re a fan of contemporary jazz, I wouldn’t hesitate to check out Niebla. Vicéns is personalizing a unique set of influences. But anyone curious about music languages and what can be conveyed through unplanned alchemy and the power of stillness will find something of worth here. I should also mention that while this is Vicens’ fifth release, it is the first on his own label, Clepsydra Records. Hopefully it is the first of many.

Rating: B+

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