Aruán Ortiz, acclaimed as a piano cubist, excellent jazz improviser and wayward stylist who strays far from Cuban music while remaining so deeply rooted in Cuba’s musical tradition, presents an impressive trio album with two congenial collaborators Brad Jones and John Betsch. Cuban influences from toques, rumba and Afro-Haitian music blend with European art music and modern jazz. “Serranías is a special album for a double anniversary: the 20th anniversary of the recording debut as a leader in the United States and the 50th birthday milestone of Aruán Ortiz, a pianist-composer from Santiago de Cuba who has become an undisputed protagonist of the New York avant-garde jazz scene thanks to the original processes of abstract Cuban creative crossfertilization that he composes with unusual Afro-Cuban/Haitian accents,” writes Gian Franco Grilli in the liner notes.

Cover Art: Julio Girona
Graphic Design: Jonas Schoder
Liner Notes: Gian Franco Grilli
Photos: Palma Fiacco

All songs written and arranged by Aruán Ortiz (NaurazitroMusic/ASCAP), except “Shaw ’Nuff (Siento un bombo)” by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, arranged by Aruán Ortiz and “Los tres golpes” by Ignacio Cervantes, arranged by Aruán Ortiz. Recorded September 18, 19, 2022, at Hardstudios, Winterthur by Michael Brändli. Mixed September 20, 2022, by Michael Brändli, Aruán Ortiz, Florian Keller at Hardstudios Winterthur. Mastered in January 2023 by Michael Brändli at Hardstudios Winterthur. Intakt Records, P. O. Box, 8024 Zürich, Switzerland.