ELECTRIC TRIO LIVE

Release date: February 20, 2015
Excerpt from Bruce Lindsay’s review on All About Jazz (July 2015)

At the heart of Electric Trio Live from Barcelona-based keyboard player and composer Iñaki Sandoval, there’s a feeling of warmth. Whether it’s Sandoval’s own electric keyboards, Carles Benavent’s 5-string electric bass guitar or Roger Blàvia’s drums, each instrument has a full, rich sound that lends the recording a welcoming, friendly, feel. (…) Sandoval’s work is always of a high standard, characterized by beautiful, often affecting, melodies. Electric Trio Live features tunes from each of the previous albums, recorded for the first time with Blàvia, one of Spain’s most in-demand drummers, and Benavent, long-term associate of Paco De Lucia.

The album, produced by Sandoval, was recorded at Barcelona’s Teatre d’Argentona on May 10 2014—the sound quality obtained by Sandoval and engineer Pere Pons Fabrés is excellent. The DVD of the concert, part of this deluxe edition package, includes two additional Benavent compositions, “Bluestorius” and “Tirititran.” Like the CD, the sound is top-notch. The Electric Trio’s musical styles range from the soulful “Sausolito” and “Maialen” to the more groove-centred “Copla Para Alberto” and “Hotel Existence.” Two Benavent numbers, “De Perdidos Al Rio” and “Guindilla,” showcase his fluid, melodic, bass guitar playing. “No Excuses” and “Miracielos” both appeared on Sandoval’s excellent acoustic trio album Miracielos (Bebyne Records, 2012) (…).

It rounds out another fine album from Sandoval—indeed, another fine album from just some of the jazz talent to be found around Barcelona. Read the full article

Review at Cuadernos de Jazz, by Enrique Turpin (July 2015). 4 Stars

Here is a good sample of the crème of the crème of the European jazz, which simply means the jazz that is practiced in the Old Continent, nothing more. The musical connections are so open and disparate, they enrich themselves in each personal overlap, which is not worth getting into fruitless discussions: Chick Corea is as European as American is Carles Benavent, without going any further, and there I leave it, that Sausolito sounds and all disputes disappear. Joana follows, intro with Sandoval on the synthesizer that leads to Copla for Alberto, always wearing the appropriate clothes offered by Roger Blàvia’s drums and the dreamy nuances that Benavent’s touch carries with it. All three are old acquaintances and that leads to a complicity that it must be bypassed. In that strength and connection lies the energy of this limitless electric trio.
It does not matter whether a synthesizer, a minimoog, an acoustic piano, a Fender Rhodes or the whole range that may come out of the bowels of the Roland de Sandoval sounds, because the essence remains, and it is essence that not only spices, but also leaves escape its nutrients in a sustained, long-term way, and night comes and you still feel its effects. Benavent and Blàvia enhance the effect; in fact, we are dealing with musicians who offer their best art in a small format. Blàvia, without going any further, is a musician to be discovered by fans from other latitudes (and even by the new generations of ours), as gifted with drumsticks as with brushes and percussion. He structures while he colors, and he becomes indispensable in the musical development of the trio. Almost everything has already been said about Benavent; just come to the DVD edition and discover the secrets of its touch him. The homage to his particular god Jaco Pastorious who is Bluestorius is speechless. And as for the leader, who combines his compositions with those of the bassist, he knows that humility is not at odds with splendidness, so he drops a ballad like Gràcia and prepares to undertake Meet you at Trident in 15 Minutes, which goes from Harlem to Cádiz, passing through Old Havana. If you can, get the edition that adds the DVD of the performance, because it is always good to see where and how the miracle arises. By the way, you will discover that the applause is not canned, but of true appreciation.

> Google automatic translation. Click here for the original version in Spanish.