Format: CD
Barcode: 0614427993625
Releasedate: 24-09-21
Salamanca is a city steeped in history, with ancient archaeological sites. For centuries student priests have walked in their flowing robes along the Calle Compañia, a central street shadowed by tall baroque buildings. The city was one of the main stopovers on the Vía de la Plata (‘the silver way’), a Roman route from North to South of the Iberian peninsula.
Daniel García has a deep feeling for what that ancient silver thread through his country means: it gave the peninsula its main artery. Spain exists as a melting pot of different cultures, with influences Celtic and Nordic, from the Eastern Mediterranean and Africa, and from the Americas too. Vía de la Plata is a living symbol of how “all of this melts together in Spain,” as García explains.
The pianist’s awareness of these different cultures which have formed Spain is everywhere in this album: the guests represent musical heritages from different points of the compass. Charismatic clarinettist Anat Cohen, raised in Israel, now based in the Americas produces wonderful emotion on “Pai Lan”, a tune dedicated to García’s wife. Trumpet star Ibrahim Maalouf was born in Beirut; “Silk Road” is a glimpse of the East. Guitarist Gerardo Núñez and García are equally fascinated by the links between Flamenco and jazz. In their first co-operation here they show a natural empathy, notably in “Calima” named after the wind that carries sandstorms from the Sahara. García’s trio fellows – Reinier Elizarde (bass), Michael Olivera (drums) – are from Cuba. García met them on the scene in Madrid. All are in their mid-thirties, close friends on and off stage.
García is also a passionate advocate for Salamanca’s musical heritage. The title track “Vía de la Plata”, with its intoxicating echoes of both Ravel and the Cameroonian coupé-décalé has García and Anat Cohen trading fragments of melodies from the charrada, a centuries-old Salamancan peasant dance, with everything fitting together miraculously and seamlessly.
As a man and as a musician Daniel García is clear, thoughtful and self-aware. This very fine album defines him – and the history which has formed him.