New Music Monday — Adrián Herrera Trio; Michael Pagán; & Spanish Harlem Orchestra

New Music Monday — Adrián Herrera Trio; Michael Pagán; & Spanish Harlem OrchestraNew Music Monday with Arturo Gómez on Lunchtime! Monday, July 1 at noon. Debuting music from Adrián Herrera Trio, Michael Pagán, and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra

Adrián Herrera Trio: “Hope”
A native son of Palmira, Valle del Cauca in Colombia, pianist Adrian has an impressive résumé. Beginning to play the piano at the age of five Herrera attended the Antonio María Conservatory after graduating high school where he earned his master’s degree in classical piano. While attending the conservatory he heard the legendary “Kind of Blue” album by Miles Davis which inspired him to travel to the USA to study jazz at Michigan’s Musicians Institute. Armed with his newly acquired education in jazz, he returned to Colombia to teach jazz at several universities until 2009 when he relocated to the US to become a teacher at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

In 2021, Adrián accepted an offer to become the assistant professor of piano at Colorado Mesa University. Herrera teams up with Gonzalo Teppa on bass and Andy Wheelock on drums, two formidable educators as well. Noted pianist and keyboardist Jon Cowherd produced the album and plays the Fender Rhodes on one track titled “Kaleidoscope,” which represents the diverse sounds of this session.

Michael Pagán: “Paganova”
Originally from Ravenna, Ohio Michael has a connection to Denver as he lived here for many years in the 1990s and early 2000s. He taught jazz piano at the University of Colorado-Boulder, directed the Colorado Jazz Workshop Band for five years, was the featured soloist for Denver’s Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra and recorded albums for Colorado’s own Capri Records. One of Michael’s favorite engagements was playing on the historic Delta Quen steamboat on the Mississippi River. Pagán left the Front Range to become an instructor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he has also been busy playing on the Kansas City jazz scene and serving as the director of Marketing and Communications for the American Jazz Museum.

With his new recording, “Paganova,” Michael returns to his former label, Capri, and features his son, Louie Pagán on stand-up and electric bass. To fill out the quintet, Michael chose Ray DeMarchi to play drums, Michael Herrera on alto-soprano-tenor saxophones, and David Chael who is also a triple threat on sax. This new outing is a fine combination of traditional Kansas City styles with a post-bop slant, very well done.

Spanish Harlem Orchestra: “Swing Forever”
The three-time Grammy® Award-winning group releases its ninth album with their special guest, Puerto Rico’s leading sonero-salsa singer, Gilberto Santa Rosa on one track who has six Grammy® Awards on his shelf. The thirteen-piece ensemble is under the direction of pianist-composer-arranger, Oscar Hernández. Twice in the last five years the SHO, as fans love to call them, played at our signature event, Live at the Balistreri Winery, to the delight of the capacity audience who danced all night long. This latest entry into their discography comes just a few months shy of their 24th Anniversary and they sound better than ever, impressive arrangements by Oscar, superb musicianship, and high-quality song selections put this album on the path to yet another Grammy® Award.

Now in its 21st year of debuting the latest arrivals to the KUVO Jazz library, many of them are played ahead of their official release date. In addition to the music comments, I’ll provide a few tidbits about the artist, if it’s a new or an up-and-coming artist. It all begins at Noon every Monday.

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