Marina Albero 
A Life Soundtrack
Self-Released 

Since arriving in Seattle from her native Barcelona, pianist Marina Albero has built a legion of fans eagerly anticipating a recording from the intrepid pianist. That time has at last arrived. 

With her three CD release, A Life Soundtrack, Albero makes up for lost time. The album is presented as three volumes: Albero, Agua, and Music is Love, the latter being representative of her working band in Seattle over the past five years. 

Albero is a 2014 recording centering on her talented family and friends in Barcelona. She teams with flamenco vocalist Alba Carmona for “Mi Secreto,” with Albero’s winding, physical piano supporting Carmona’s unbridled, chant-like narrative. “Indian Jam” reveals Albero on psalterium, revealing a completely different aspect to Albero’s expressionism. 

Agua consists of nine improvised pieces created in the moment. While the music is fully improvised, it flows melodically and freely from Albero’s potent imagination. It seems as though Albero taps into memories vividly recalled, giving them life in real time. 

Music Is Love is performed with her current working band, with the exception of a free interpretation of Miles Davis’ “Nardis” in a duo setting with bassist Jeff Johnson. “The Sweetness of the Edge” features the fine reed work of Hans Teuber, seemingly the perfect foil for the intrepid pianist. Spinning and twisting within a sense of liberation, the melody itself gives life to intuitive soloing by Albero, Teuber and Johnson. “I thought I Knew” begins with Albero’s piano intro joined cohesively by Teuber on flute. The movements within the piece reflect Albero’s connection to classical music, artistically enhanced by the innate freedoms within flamenco and jazz forms. The intricate brush and cymbal work of D’Vonne Lewis opens the door to an explosive exchange between Albero and Teuber, as well as a shared solo by Lewis and percussionist Jeff Busch. 

Albero is an artist that possesses great originality, imagination, and presence. Her music is a multicultural mosaic pushed to the edge of discovery by the jazz tradition. A Life Soundtrack reaches back in time, and delivers us into the present of Albero’s brilliance. –Paul Rauch