Stories about Groove

It is a series of works composed, arranged, produced and recorded by me in 2020. They are a kind of musical production exercise. Their goal was to familiarize myself and capture on the audio track, the sonorities that were of interest to me at the time.  Jazz, Folk music from my country, as well as my knowledge of large format orchestration are some of the distinctive features of this album. Ableton Live 10, Protools 12, as well as different Kontakt banks, were the main production tools.

Some Classical, Jazz and Contemporary Pieces

It is a selection of works that make up an album project recently awarded with the Hermanos Saíz Creation Grant. This is an award given to young creators in Cuba. This project is basically made up of works for classical guitar. From musical impressionism to Jazz, the album converses on different languages that build its aesthetic principles. The formats are varied and always have the guitar as the central character. Other works with a marked jazz influence complete this selection. Such is the case of BastaJazz composed for 10 wind instruments (woodwind and brass).

Guitar Songs

It is a series of songs composed, arranged and performed by me in 2019. The acoustic guitar is the main instrument within different formats. Different music such as jazz, flamenco and classical music are present as obvious influences in this series of works, grouped together by their primordial condition of wordless songs. Other instruments also compose the different arrangements such as charango, double bass, electric bass, all played by me; as well as some percussion instruments and some synthesizers. It is a studio album in its essence, composed of songs that are reminiscent of all the music I enjoy.

Ballet La Casa de Bernarda Alba
(Contemporary flamenco dance)

It is a Ballet I composed in 2020 for the Ecos Flamenco Dance Company. This Ballet is based on the work of the writer and playwright Federico García Lorca, La Casa de Bernarda Alba. Beyond a purely flamenco approach in terms of music, this work is strongly influenced by contemporary music, jazz and electronic music; keeping flamenco music as a stylistic base. It is a contemporary look at a play that belongs to the last century. The ‘cante jondo’, the guitar and the rhythmic base of the different ‘palos’ are those elements that maintain the contact with flamenco. The formats, textures, harmonies and structure belong to a way of saying that has more to do with electronic music, jazz and even pop music. Ableton Live 10, as well as different Kontakt banks were the main production tools.

Music for Cinema and Television

It is a sample of the main works for Film and Television in which I have composed, arranged, performed and produced the music in its entirety from my HomeStudio. Fernando Perez, Fernando Timossi and Yoel Infante are some of the directors of the different projects that make up this selection. Music for Short and Feature Films as well as Documentaries are included.

Paso Firme

Directed by: Yoel Infante
Script: Amilcar Salatti
Duration: 83 minutes.

This is a feature film made in 2020 for RTV Comercial and Televisión Cubana. All the original music was composed by me. The themes rely mostly in electronic music and Cuban percussion instruments.

La espuma de los días

Directed by: Fernando Timossi
Script: Fernando Timossi
Duration: 108 min.

This is a feature film made in 2018 for RTV Comercial. I composed part of the original music. The present selection showcases exclusively my contributions to this project. I worked mainly with acoustic formats, guitar and piano as main instruments.

Él y Ella

General direction: Fernando Perez
Direction: Yoel Infante
Script: Amilcar Salatti
Duration: 23 minutes.

This short film is part of a feature film made by ICAIC under the general direction of Fernando Perez in 2021. The feature film, called “Cuentos de un día más” comprises 6 different short films; “El y Ella” was one of them. The sonority of this soundtrack is strongly shaped by the work with samples of musical themes recorded in the 50’s, in order to reproduce the tone and essence of the Cuban popular dance music of that time.

Reversa

Directed by: Yoel Infante
Script: Amilcar Salatti
Duration: 30 minutes.

It is a short fiction film made in 2021. I composed the original soundtrack. Inspired by the story and the cinematographic aesthetics, I included elements of rock and jazz.

La noche Bocarriba

Directed by: Yoel Infante
Script: Alberto Luberta
Duration: 23 minutes

Based on a short story by Julio Cortazar, it is a short film made in 2021. The aesthetic principles of both the musical work and the cinematography are those of Surrealism. The formats are mainly acoustic and the guitar, played by me, is the main instrument.

Un golpe de suerte

It is a 25 minutes short film produced by Cuban television made in 2021. The aesthetics of the music show elements of electronic, jazz, urban music and some Asian components justified by the story.

Other works for Stage

El Mito is a dance piece I composed in 2016 for Irene Rodriguez Dance Company. The dramaturgy is based on the philosophical thought exposed by Plato in Allegory of the Cave. Although it is a work composed for dance, it has a large extra musical programmatic component, almost cinematographic. Elements of Cuban Folklore, Flamenco, Jazz and Electronic music make up the aesthetics of the work. Each of the musical gestures is closely related to the visual components in the choreographic work. When I started creating the music, the choreography already existed and this determined the character and duration of each of the musical phrase.

Cover excercises

It is a series of Beatles’ songs arranged and interpreted by me. More than a finished album with a speech and a concept, it is a series of harmony exercises where I experimented with different formats ranging from purely acoustic to electronic. Being songs by The Beatles, they have a special importance to my family and shaped my formation as a musician. There is also the fact that the singers in the covers are members of my family as well; I consider this to be a family album rather than an album with commercial purposes.