Etienne Charles: Traces feat. Vincent Ségal, Jorge Glem & Or Baraket / Harold López-Nussa: Timba a la Americana feat. Gregoire Maret, Luques Curtis & Ruy Adrian López-Nussa

Hailed by The New York Times as “an auteur” and by JazzTimes as “a daring improviser who delivers with heart-wrenching lyricism,” Etienne Charles is also the Assistant Professor of Jazz Trumpet at Michigan State University. He has received critical acclaim for his exciting performances, thrilling compositions and knack for connecting with audiences worldwide. In June 2012, Charles was written into the US Congressional Record for his musical contributions to Trinidad & Tobago and the world. Perhaps more than any other musician of his generation or Eastern Caribbean origin, Charles brings a careful study of myriad rhythms from the French, Spanish, English and Dutch speaking Caribbean to the table. With Traces, Etienne Charles enlists the endless talents and inventiveness of cellist Vincent  Ségal, cuatro player Jorge Glem and bassist Or Baraket.

Harold López-Nussa was born in 1983 in Havana, Cuba. His father is an esteemed drummer and educator, his uncle an acclaimed pianist and his late mother, Mayra Torres, a highly-regarded piano teacher. At age eight, López-Nussa began studying at the Manuel Saumell Elementary School of Music, then went to the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, ultimately graduating with a degree in classical piano from the Instituto Superior de Arte. Early in his career, he recorded Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Fourth Piano Concerto with Cuba’s National Symphony Orchestra and won First Prize at the Jazz Solo Piano Competition at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, in 2005. Today, his tightly-knit band captivates audiences with a relentless vivaciousness that “bridges generations and genres” (Billboard). Harold Lopéz-Nussa’s Timba a la Americana features harmonica player Grégoire Maret, bassist Luques Curtis and his brother Ruy Adrian López-Nussa on drums.

Pianos by Steinway & Sons | A Faircloth Jazz Series Performance