Aruán Ortiz, celebrated piano cubist, distinguished jazz improviser, award-winning composer and idiosyncratic stylist, presents Créole Renaissance, his second solo piano album on Intakt Records which comes eight years after Cub(an)ism. "Ortiz is renowned for his prodigious technique, and multiple lineages converge in his hands, from Schoenberg, Messiaen, and Ligeti to Bebo Valdés, Don Pullen, and Cecil Taylor", writes Brent Hayes Edwards and adds "Aruán Ortiz’s stunning pianistic reflections on the implications of a Créole Renaissance start here, placing the music within a long history of collective Black study. Ortiz explains that he was inspired above all by the ways Négritude poets such as Aimé and Suzanne Césaire and René Ménil deployed 'surrealist techniques to shape a new kind of narrative of Afro-diasporic life and history in the Caribbean.' If Ortiz’s music is adamantly innovative and forward-looking, in other words, it reminds us of its deep roots in traditions of Black experimentation." Créole Renaissance combines intellectual depth, emotionality and creativity to create a fascinating musical statement.

Cover art: Julio Girona (Manzanillo, Cuba)
Graphic design: Jonas Schoder
Liner notes: Brent Hayes Edwards
Photo: Mario Sabbatani

All compositions written by Aruán Ortiz, except "Lo que yo quiero es Chan Chan", based on a song by Francisco Repilado (Compay Segundo), and "Seven Aprils in Paris (and A Sophisticated Lady)", based on a song by Duke Ellington, arranged by Aruán Ortiz. Recorded on December 17 and 18, 2024, at Artesuono Recording Studios, Cavalicco, Italy, by Stefano Amerio. Mixed and mastered in April 2025 at Artesuono Recording Studios, Cavalicco, Italy, by Stefano Amerio. Cover art: Julio Girona (Manzanillo, Cuba). Produced by Aruán Ortiz and Intakt Records. Executive producer: Florian Keller. Published by Intakt Records, P. O. Box, 8024 Zürich, Switzerland.