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The Way We Are Created

by Gabriel Vicéns

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mlin8
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mlin8 A delightful album full of chill yet groovy jazz and my favourite for relaxing with a cup of herbal tea in the late evening. ❤️ A must-have for any modern jazz fan! Favorite track: The Way We Are Created.
Jochi Dávila-71 Associates
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Jochi Dávila-71 Associates Gabriel Vicéns is a True Gifted & Devoted Musician. Creative & Out of the Box Guitar Player and Composer. Humble but with an inner Fire that is very evident. We are pleased to be able to help and collaborate in this great project. “The way we are Created” is Salsox. #slhj
elanahedrych
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elanahedrych I love this whole album. The energy and groove are infectious. You can't help but dance and sing along with the melodies. I also love the cover painting. Favorite track: The Mystery of S.T..
ogungbemi
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ogungbemi Longtime fan with all of his records in my collection. This one is a treat.
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    High-quality compact disc in 8-panel Digipak with a smooth matte finish.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Way We Are Created via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 4 Gabriel Vicéns releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Mural, The Way We Are Created, Days, and Point In Time. , and , .

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The Upcoming 06:12
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Retorno 01:47
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about

24 bit / 96 kHz
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PRESS QUOTES

"The meticulously constructed compositions benefit from canny arrangements utilising all the instruments in a perfectly balanced formation of tonality and harmonic colour."
- Roger Farbey, Jazz Journal ★★★★

"... a remarkable voice and an artist with something valid to say."
- R.J. DeLuke, All About Jazz

"Blessed with strong, original compositions and a high level of performance, its own unique flavour makes it a very enjoyable listen."
- Mikes Gates, UK Vibe ★★★★

“We are all born to be creative, he says, and The Way We Are Created is a strong argument in favor.”
- Mark Sullivan, All About Jazz ★★★★

"A joyous jazz guitar album, where leaping songs are lit up by silvery melodic leads."
- Bandcamp (New and Notable)

"Lyrical post-bop originals are delivered by rich-toned guitarist Gabriel Vicens and his team..."
- George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly

"Complex melodies and intricate rhythms inspired by the Puerto Rican music and dance styles bomba and plena showcase his heritage to dazzling effect."
- Julian Maynard-Smith, London Jazz News

"Gabriel Vicéns has created a thoughtful, exciting, and powerful program... dive headfirst into this delightful disk!"
- Richard B. Kamins, Step Tempest

"A fully composed energetic jazz deep-dive informed by the folk sounds of his native Puerto Rico."
- Peter Thelen, Exposé Online

credits

released January 15, 2021

ABOUT THE ALBUM

Gabriel Vicéns blends contemporary jazz and Puerto Rican rhythms in his new album, “The Way We Are Created.”

The guitarist expands his musical expression by combining bomba and plena rhythms from his native Puerto Rico with his unique brand of jazz.

“The Way We Are Created,” the third album from the brilliant New York City-based musician Gabriel Vicéns, offers a detailed picture of his multiple talents. It portrays the evolution of his own voice, not only as a guitarist but as a composer and conceptualist as well.

Vicéns has previously released two widely acclaimed albums, “Point In Time” and “Days.” He has blossomed into his signature sound on “The Way We Are Created;” a delicate sound that conveys robust, cleanly-articulated ideas, with solos that add depth to his melodic and thematic compositions.

The album becomes a part of the Inner Circle Music canon, a label established by influential saxophonist Greg Osby, which “provides a forum for some of the next generation’s most provocative composers and stylists.” Also behind the release of the album is the Puerto Rican non-profit organization 71 Associates, which was created by Jochi Dávila to help experimental musicians.

Vicéns’ music has arrived at a complex but sentimental soundscape, as this set of compositions live within the world of bomba and plena, which are folkloric Puerto Rican styles. This album enjoys a natural, organic blend of Jazz with fiery, propulsive rhythms, in his own original compositional style.​ ​The Afro-Puerto Rican percussion instruments barril de bomba and panderos de plena intertwine beautifully within the harmonic and melodic complexity of jazz, while Vicéns’ compositions utilize nostalgic yet challenging Afro-Carribean rhythms.

Thus, the album is an array of bold themes brimming with personality, including “It Doesn't Matter,” “The Upcoming,” and “A City of Many Mysteries,” which employ yubá, sicá, and rulé rhythms from the bomba tradition. “To The Unknown” is an energetic plena, and one of the many pieces on the record that stirs up your mind as well as your feet.

“This project is the result of my own investigation into the worlds of these traditions,” says Vicéns, a distinguished graduate from Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico (BM) and Queens College (MM), currently pursuing his Doctorate in Guitar Performance in New York. “When I begin a composition, I first establish a rhythmic foundation which comes from Afro-Puerto Rican folkloric traditions, and then I build the composition from that underlying structure. The music you’ll hear on this record is authentic to my roots and comes directly from my life.”

The Way We Are Created” was co-produced by star Puerto Rican saxophonist Miguel Zenón, and confirms Vicéns’ gifts as a skilled bandleader. Several of the finest New York musicians give life to these compositions with Román Filiú on alto sax, Glenn Zaleski on piano, Rick Rosato on bass, E.J. Strickland on drums, and Víctor Pablo on percussion. Their solos shine with a cool, fluid mastery throughout the whole work. Three short interludes work as breathers while reinforcing the album’s coherence as a whole.

“Being able to release this album in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic has been an incredible and challenging experience for me,” explains Vicéns. “There were moments I asked myself if this was the right time, but I arrived at the idea that art is a relieving outlet for people, can build community, and can comfort pain. I feel good about it.”

“The Way We Are Created,”​ i​s an homage to the power of all artistic expressions, including painting. Vicéns is also an accomplished painter, and the cover of the album is a recent work of his. While discussing the thought process behind the album title, Vicéns says that “When I complete a work, sometimes it seems personified. It’s almost like the composition speaks in the first person, and is their own being. If compositions could speak for themselves, maybe they could explain to us how they were created.”

To the listener, it’s a testimony to Gabriel Vicéns’ constant evolution as a musical thinker and leader, able to show new paths of expression for others to follow. Above all, “The Way We Are Created” is a great listen for jazz aficionados, and bomba and plena lovers alike. “When I came up with this title, it had two meanings. It’s a reflection on the way that all living beings are created to be naturally inventive and imaginative. It is a tribute to how we are all born to be creative.”

PERSONNEL

Gabriel Vicéns: guitar
Roman Filiú: alto saxophone
Glenn Zaleski: piano
Rick Rosato: bass
E.J. Strickland: drums
Victor Pablo: percussion

Recorded by Chris Benham at Big Orange Sheep,
New York, May 2019
Editing Engineer: Danilo Pichardo
Mixed and Mastered by David Darlington
Produced by Gabriel Vicéns
Co-produced by Miguel Zenón
Associate producer: Greg Osby
Executive producer: Jochi Dávila & 71 Associates
Cover painting: Untitled, by Gabriel Vicéns
Video art: Poli Marichal
Graphic Design by Abdiel Flores, WIGO Design

All compositions by Gabriel Vicéns, Vicens Music (ASCAP)

www.gabrielvicens.com
www.innercirclemusic.com

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Gabriel Vicéns New York, New York

Described as "a thoughtful improviser with a quiet tone who makes every note count" by Downbeat Magazine and as "an exceptional artist, with a shimmering sense of sonority and the ability to find a keen balance between poetry and intensity" by Latin Jazz Network, Gabriel Vicéns is a New York City-based, Puerto Rican-born guitarist and composer who works across a wide range of musical expressions. ... more

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