A collaboration between trumpeter
Diego Urcola and the acclaimed clarinetist/saxophonist
Paquito D'Rivera, 2020's
El Duelo finds the longtime bandmates combining their cross-pollinated musical backgrounds in a pianoless quartet. Technically, the album showcases
Urcola's group with bassist
Hamish Smith and drummer
Eric Doob, but the trumpeter has been a member of the Cuban-born
D'Rivera's ensemble since the early '90s, and
El Duelo feels like a celebration of that creative partnership. Born in Argentina,
Urcola came to wider recognition in his twenties while studying at Berklee School of Music in Boston and Queens College in New York. He picked up Grammy nominations for two of his early solo albums (2003's
Soundscapes and 2006's
Viva), both of which displayed his knack for mixing progressive modern jazz with Latin and Argentine traditions.
El Duelo continues in this vein as
Urcola and
D'Rivera bring all of their varied influences together, dipping into introspective modal jazz, dusky tango grooves, and propulsive Latin rhythms. Interestingly, while the choice to work without a chordal instrument like a piano or guitar here evokes a spare, classical chamber group aesthetic, it also opens up the sound of the quartet, allowing more harmonic freedom for the soloists. It's a sound that has taken precedence across the jazz spectrum, and
Urcola's group touch upon much it, drawing inspiration from the straight-ahead style of the classic
Chet Baker and
Gerry Mulligan group of the '50s on the breezy "I Know, Don't Know How," and leaping toward the spritely, free jazz harmolodics of the
Ornette Coleman and
Don Cherry groups of the '60s on "Una Muy Bonita." Primarily, the album falls right in between these paradigms as
Urcola and
D'Rivera push the boundaries of their global sound as on the declamatory Afro-Latin groover "The Natural'' and the middle eastern-influenced "Pekin." Elsewhere,
Urcola's harmon-muted sensuality is nicely contrasted by
D'Rivera's bright alto sax asides on moody, flamenco-tinged "Libertango." We also get several inventively arranged standards, including a tango-inspired reworking of
Juan Tizol and
Duke Ellington's "Caravan" (titled "La Yumba/Caravan"), a supple, flugelhorn-accented reading of
Dizzy Gillespie's "Con Alma," and a wry, ballroom dance-friendly take on
Benny Golson's "Stablemates." Throughout
El Duelo,
Urcola and
D'Rivera display their improvisational bravura, taking extended solos and sparring with a warm intensity. ~ Matt Collar
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