Timba a la Americana marks a new chapter for the Cuban-born pianist and composer Harold Lopez-Nussa, who recently left the oppressive regime of Cuba to settle in Toulouse, France. The album not only emits a new sound commensurate with his move but is also his debut for Blue Note Records. Snarky Puppy bandleader Michael League produced and co-wrote much of the album, influencing Harold to employ the Fender Rhodes on seven of the ten tracks. League accompanies various synths on seven tracks, six of which where Harold plays electric. Previous offerings from Harold (easier than using the hyphenated surname) were exclusively acoustic. His ten originals feature various combinations of his touring band – harmonica wizard Gregoire Maret, bassist Luques Curtis, conguero Barbaro “Machito” Crespo, and brother Ruy Adrian Lopez-Nussa on drums.
Harold found himself faced with the challenge of making the music sound Cuban in origin even though he was no longer there. Nostalgia set in and he began to flip through voice memos on his phone, fragments of song ideas and jams he had recorded several years before. In Cuba he was surrounded by music, regularly inviting friends to his home to play and to party. He and his family either played or attended several concerts each week. Now that was all gone in his new location, he knew he had to embark on a new direction while retaining his roots. With League’s help, the two found new ways to utilize the clave patterns that are the foundation of Cuban music and they grabbed onto the popular forms – danzon, son tumbao, bata drum rhythms, and mambos – effectively modernizing these structures.
The opener, “Funky” directly states that this sound will be different from the outset as Harold alternates between the acoustic piano and Rhodes while League uses two different synths with bedrock percolating percussion and Maret’s flight on the chromatic harmonica. “Cake a la Moda” employs similar instrumentation but is breezier, featuring Maret, one of jazz’s top players on the harmonica, on both chromatic and bass versions of the instrument. The danceable, polyrhythmic aspects of the tune appear in the second half, tricky ones to navigate for most, but not this crew. That aforementioned wistful element is on full display in “Mal du Pays,” with resonating tones from the Rhodes and Maret gorgeously stating the plaintive theme on his chromatic harp.
League wrote and arranged “Rat-a-Tat,” a bustling polyrhythmic feast of ideas exchanged among the sextet, featuring a colorful blending of League’s synths with Maret’s melodic harmonica and feisty turns from Curtis and Harold’s drummer brother. Although League co-wrote and co-arranged “Conga a la Americana” he sits it out, thereby aside from a few well-placed notes on Rhodes, this tune is the closest to what we usually associate with Harold, especially its folkloric elements.
“Afro en Toulouse” teems with percussion as the core quintet remains acoustic while League creates dreamy backdrops. Again, these intricate rhythm patterns sound quite challenging, but Maret’s melodic lines take the edges off and Harold delivers one of his most expressive piano excursions. “Tumba la Timba” begins with staccato riffs and morphs into a rather triumphant, celebratory vibe with Maret leading on his chromatic as Harold plays both acoustic and electric and League contributes on Moog and Mellotron, giving way in one sequence to the two percussionists. “Mama” is a brief, sweet interlude-like acoustic duet between Harold and Maret. “Tierra Mia,” written by Harold’s piano-playing dad, Ernan, is arguably the most uplifting track and the only one with vocals as Harold, Ruy, Crespo, and League all join in the chanting as Crespo uses four different percussion instruments. The joyous closer, “Hope” is a Harold original featuring mostly his percussive acoustic piano and rather curiously both Maret and Crespo on chromatic harmonicas.
Harold Lopez-Nussa has indeed forged a new path while retaining the exhilarating rhythms and moods of his native Cuba.
