HAROLD LÓPEZ-NUSSA “TIMBA A LA AMERICANA” feat. GRÉGOIRE MARET with Luques Curtis & Ruy Adrian López-Nussa

Pianist Harold López-Nussa is one of today’s great innovators of Latin jazz. Born in Cuba in 1983 into a family of musicians (he is the son of drummer Ruy López-Nussa and pianist Mayra Torres), he began to delve into jazz after studying classical music. He honed his versatility by sharing the stage with the likes of Chucho Valdés, Orlando Valle and Horacio El Negro, participating in the Buena Vista Social Club, forming part of Omara Portuondo’s band and playing in orchestras such as Klimax.

Winner of the Audience Award at the Montreux Festival in 2005, he began to consolidate his solo career with albums such as Inheritance (Herencia) (2009), on which he was accompanied by Omara Portuondo, Felipe Cabrera and his brother Ruy Adrián López-Nussa, and on which his version of Eric Clapton’s “Tears In Heaven” stood out.

His latest work is entitled American Timba (Timba a la americana) (2023) and has been released on the Blue Note label. Marked by his decision to leave his native Cuba for Toulouse (France) and produced by Michael League (Snarky Puppy), it features the participation of harmonica player Grégoire Maret, bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Ruy Adrián López-Nussa. A fascinating exploration of the Afro-Cuban sounds of the Caribbean island from the perspective of distance, in which jazz meets evocations of conga, rumba, mambo and tumbao.