I wrote this post in the middle of this past April. I have no idea why I didn't publish it. It says I wrote it at 1:13 AM. Maybe I was out of steam, or maybe I was thinking I might have more to say. It's been two months, and if there was anything more I might have wanted to say, I don't remember what it was. I have told you innumerable times about South Miami-Dade (now also called the Dennis C Moss Cultural Arts Center) and if you're not there a lot, it's your loss. Yes, I know it's a long drive. If you want to go, let me know, and we'll go together.
Last night's concert at South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center was Harold Lopez-Nussa and his combo. Harold plays piano, his brother plays drums, and he has a double bass player and a harmonica player.
Harold, and presumably his brother, are Cuban. Harold lives in France. I don't know where his brother lives. I spoke to the other two, and they don't have accents, as Harold does. I have no idea where they were born and reared, and where they live. They were busy mingling, and I didn't have a good opportunity to ask more.
Someone in the know told me the bass player and the harmonica player are both award-winning musicians. I don't know if this combo is relatively fixed, or if they got together for this tour.
I have been to very many concerts at SMDCAC. It would be hard to say that one was, let's say, the best concert ever performed there. But if one was, it's very possible it was this one.
Harold is a magnificent Cuban jazz pianist. I could hear influences of Bebo Valdes, Chucho Valdes, Ruben Gonzalez, but also fleeting bits of Stevie Wonder and Leon Russell. But I think a lot of it was just Harold Lopez-Nussa.
I don't know if Harold's brother, who looks a bit younger, is the best drummer in the world. But he's at a very high level, and I'm not completely sure I've heard better. And his kit was compact (from where did all that percussion sound come?), and it included bongos. He was absolutely all over that kit.
The best upright jazz bass players are commonly considered to be Ron Carter and Stanley Clarke. This bass player was considerably better than both of them.
The best jazz harmonica player was considered to have been the late Toots Thielemans. After Thielemans died, the mantle was sort of passed to Hendrik Muerkens. I've seen videos of Thielemans, and I've heard Muerkens live. The guy in Lopez-Nussa's group was better than both. And as a creepy aside, he looks very much like a friend of mine who is the best portrait painter I've ever seen. I'm talking about someone who paints better portraits than did Da Vinci, Caravaggio, Sargent, or anyone.
I doubt you were there, because if I know you, I'm sure I would have seen you. You missed one hell of a Cuban jazz concert. Eric Fliss, who is the impresario of SMDCAC, told me Harold Lopez-Nussa was there several years ago. He doesn't in any way seem forgettable, so I probably missed that concert. And even if he was there, I doubt very much it would have been with this particular group of musicians.
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