Greg Diamond - Avenida Graham (2016)

Modern musicians living in New York City -- those with their antennae up and with the open-mindedness to soak in their musical surroundings -- are invariably the beneficiaries of what the city’s former mayor David Dinkins once referred to as “a gorgeous mosaic.” Rather than depicting the city as a melting pot, in which myriad cultures blend into one homogenized mass of assimilation, Dinkins talked about the beauty of keeping rich cultures together, side by side, in his Inaugural Address of 1990. And so, it is possible, in walking through different neighborhoods in the boroughs of NYC, each with its own distinctive character, to experience Puerto Rican plena and bomba, Dominican merengue and bachata, Columbia cumbia, Peruvian festejo and lando and various other rhythms from the African diaspora in their pure form. And for eager musicians like Greg Diamond, those sounds and rhythms are bound to seep in.

A self-described ‘hybrid musician,’ guitarist-composer Diamond grew up in Queens, and later in a suburb of New York City, with a rich musical heritage in his own household before he began experiencing the cornucopia of sounds the city had to offer. “I’m half Eastern European Jewish and half Columbian. My father’s a New Yorker, born and raised. He was an opera singer who studied classical piano at Juilliard, so I was listening to that music growing up. And my mother is Columbian, soI definitely grew up with that component as well.”

Spending two years in Columbia after graduating from high school was a kind of roots journey that led him deeper into Latin music. “Then after moving back to New York in 1999 I got heavily into salsa, which is something that was created in New York with the Fania All-Stars and musicians of that generation. So I guess the music that I’m creating now is very much a reflection of all these influences. And I try not to limit myself to one part of the spectrum.”

Many elements from the ‘gorgeous mosaic’ find their way onto Diamond’s Avenida Graham, his third outing as a leader. “For example, I incorporated a chacarera, which is a fast 6/8 Argentinian rhythm, into a section of the closing piece, ‘Motion Suite.’ That’s a perfect example of something that I learned while I was here in New York, not from traveling in Argentina. And I learned it because I know some Argentine musicians like pianist-composer Emilio Solla. I learned this rhythm from checking out his music. That’s one of the beauties of being here, that you get to learn from other musicians and eminent musicians from their own respective countries.”

Some of the pieces on Avenida Graham had their beginnings as far back as 2009. Others were written a few months before the May 2015 session at Sear Sound Recording Studio in Manhattan. Diamond, who exhibits a warm, unaffected tone in his cleanly picked lines throughout this spirited recording, is joined by a stellar crew. Drummer Henry Cole (who plays with Miguel Zenon) and pianist Mike Eckroth (formerly of John Scofield’s band) are both returning from 2012’s Conduit, as are tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake (who appears on two searing tracks here) and percussionist Mauricio Herrera. Rounding out the lineup are saxophonist Stacy Dillard and bassist Peter Slavov.

“For my previous album I had more of a heavy overdrive, distorted guitar sound,” Diamond explains. “It was definitely more of a power fusion sound. This time out I wanted a more pleasing sound and I think it’s also more palatable for the listener.”
That palatable sound carries though from track to track and is wrapped in some of Diamond’s most accomplished writing to date. “I think to the discerning listener, they’ll recognize my talents as a guitarist as well,” says Diamond, who studied with Paul Bollenback and also took lessons with Jack Wilkins and Peter Bernstein. “But this is not a guitar heavy recording. It’s definitely showing more of my strength as a composer. And I made that decision consciously, to put the music before showing myself as a guitar hero.”

The collection kicks off with the churning, odd-metered groover “Synesthesia,” which is fueled by Cole’s powerful polyrhythmic pulse and Herrera’s percolating percussion. Dillard, on soprano, engages in some tight unisons with Diamond on the head, and as the piece opens up each contributes free-flowing solos that take the piece up a notch. Cole is also turned loose on the bomba section of the tune, bringing this opener to an exhilarating conclusion. “I think it’s the most powerful track, the most propulsive and strongest ‘wow’ song,” says Diamond. “I like the overall mood and energy of it all.”

“Rastros (Traces)” opens on a tender note with Diamond’s fingerpicked arpeggios against Blake’s melancholy tenor tones. As the piece develops, it reveals a subtle tango flavor and gradually builds in intensity with Blake playing passionately over the top while Cole underscores with dramatic polyrhythmic fills. Diamond’s solo here is elegant and introspective. “That’s one of my favorite tunes on the record without a doubt,” says Diamond. “It’s almost like an etude. I like the harmonic movement and the way the melody works over the harmony. It’s more about simplicity, and the mood of the piece itself is very somber. ‘Traces’ is about what we leave behind when we die. So it tries to go in that direction of being metaphysical, very deep and transcendent as opposed to being ephemeral music that’s here today and gone tomorrow.”

“El Colonel” is a buoyant piece that incorporates an infectious son montuno jam in the middle section. Dillard and Diamond engage in some lively exchanges and Cole erupts on his kit at the tag. “It’s an homage to a character from Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude,” explains Diamond. “It was one of the more challenging pieces for me to write and record. It starts in an even eighth feel, then it goes into a Latin thing at the bridge. It has a lot of different sections and lot of complicated things going on along the way, definitely not something you could read off a lead sheet. But in essence, I think the song itself is all about creating melodies that are very singable, having a certain melodic quality to it even though harmonically and rhythmically there’s a lot going on.”

Diamond plays fingerstyle archtop on the solo intro to the tender “A Hint of Jasmin” for more acoustic effect. This moving piece is also a brilliant showcase for Blake’s expressive tenor playing. “It’s one of my favorite ballads and one of my favorite tunes to perform,” says the composer.

“Gentrix” is rhythmically deceptive because its in five but incorporates lots of tricky subdivisions. And the presence of Herrera’s conga also gives it a kind of Afro-Caribbean feel. “Essentially, it’s more of a simple blowing tune, almost like a minor blues, if you will,” says Diamond.

“Laia,” on the other hand, is full of complexity as it travels from rubato intro before leaping through different tempo changes and meter changes over the course of 8:25. Dillard soars on soprano here while Diamond contributes another remarkably fluid solo, spurred on by Cole’s scintillating and interactive pulse.

“La Ultima Palabra” is a contemplative, graceful number that incorporates an alluring Argentine milonga rhythm. Eckroth contributes a particularly moving piano solo on this thoughtful number. “Cascade” is a lively, affecting piece that shows Diamond’s fondness for melody as a composer and also showcases Dillard’s outstanding soprano sax work.

The collection closes with Diamond’s most ambitious work, “Motion Suite,” a kind of sequel to his “Inertia” (from Conduit). “It took at least two years to write,” he explains. “This one has more complexity than ‘Inertia’ in terms of tempo changes and metric changes. There is definitely a lot going on here.”

Indeed, there’s a lot going on throughout Avienda Graham, an auspicious and richly appointed outing from this promising talent on the New York scene. -- Bill Milkowski