Recommended: Txema Riera – “Terror”

There’s a wonderful presence to the debut from Hammond B3 artist Txema Riera.  It sits squarely in modern blues territory, but so many times this music possesses the atmosphere of classic soul-jazz recordings that it’s pretty easy to get nostalgic even when listening to something that clearly comes from a present-day perspective.  Performed live at Barcelona’s Estival de Jazz. , Riera is joined by guitarist Dani Pérez and drummer Roger Guitérrez, and much like their old-school counterparts, they work most of everything through the lens of the groove.

“El Pendulo” works from a Latin groove and solos at will, whereas the groove of “Oompa-Loompa” is all soul.  The patient groove of “El Secret de Judit” syncs into the melody and sways it atop waves on the cadence of a rocking sea.  A few tracks add some contrast at opposite ends of the spectrum.  Title track “Terror” jacks up the heat, and Perez’s guitar sears the melody into the surface of the song.  But from a different approach, the ethereal “Little Green Feet” sighs the melody out one lovely note at a time.

A seriously enjoyable recording, and a very promising debut.

Your album personnel:  Txema Riera (Hammond B3), Dani Pérez (guitar) and Roger Guitérrez (drums).

Released on the Underpool label.

Listen to more of the album on the label’s Bandcamp page.

Music from the Barcelona scene.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic