Review “Tactile” by Distrito Jazz

Distrito jazz review    15 sept 2011

The second album of the guitarist Albert Vila Barcelona is entitled Tactile (Fresh Sound New Talent) and includes seven songs all written by the Catalan musician.

Albert Vila is one of those unusual cases in the Spanish jazz; face the massive trend and majority going to study in the U.S., and if it´s going to Berklee College Music Boston, better: Vila opted for a European education going for five years to Amsterdam, and even after that he spent a year in the U.S., these European studies is what marked his approach to jazz.

The compositions of Albert Vila are unusualy easy to hear, he doesn´t look for dazzle with harmonic or melodic complexities. The best of his work is that it´s easy and direct, he goes where he wants to go and he does not beat around the bush. A good example about this could be Perception or Talk.

Tactile is a work which, except for Transgenic, the final theme that has more “groovy vibe”, is filled with soft and relaxing music, a very modern jazz that draws on sources as diverse as Tal Farlow and Pat Metheny.

To the general goodness of the recording, the members of the band work very hard, right and with a high degree of commitment with the music, where we have to highlight the work of saxophonist Santi dela Rubia, who keeps the level of the disc and gives very good replies to the leader. On the other hand the rhythm section, by far one the best that now can be heard on the Spanish jazz scene, is excellent as is usual with the pianist Roger Mas,who keeps the rhythm high and shows a great flexibility to approach the music proposal.

Tactile confirms Albert Vila as one of the best jazz guitarists in Spanish and one of the artists I have to keep track in the future.

José Manuel Pérez Rey

http://www.distritojazz.es/2011/09/albert-vila-presenta-su-segundo-disco-tactile/